The approximately fifty representatives of locals affiliated with CUPE’s Conseil provincial du secteur transport Terrestre, CPSTT, attended a provincial council meeting in Saguenay on May 27-28.
“Public transit services are public services in the same way health care and education services are. The funding they receive is not an expense but instead an investment in Quebec’s economic and environmental future. A full bus takes a significant number of cars off the road, which reduces traffic and greenhouse gas emissions. It is high time Minister Guilbault recognize the consensus reached by all of the actors who have commented on this topic and shift away from the views she has held on this issue,” said the president of CPSTT, Simon Mathura, just before the meeting.
The organization has asked the Government of Quebec to shoulder its responsibilities and provide a stable and sustainable source of income for public transit services in Quebec. It has also impressed upon them that, like all other public services, costs cannot be passed on just to customers. Let us not forget that these services benefit all members of the public.
In addition to public transit funding, a major issue in and of itself, members of the council discussed several topics, include automation, the mutualization of services and routes, the numerous pilot projects that transit companies in Quebec are currently working on, Bills 61 and 62, the impacts of artificial intelligence in land transportation and several occupational health and safety matters