Quebec group suggests increasing gas tax to fund desperately needed infrastructure repair

The Alliance Transit group is arguing that increasing Quebec's gas tax will help build revenue to use for infrastructure maintenance.

With the price of gas in Montreal above $2 per litre, an alliance of public transit advocates says Quebec should actually increase its gas tax.

The Alliance Transit group says it would help solve a major maintenance deficit facing the province.

“It has remained 19.2 cents since 2013, which means that every year we’re getting essentially the same income, but expenses are going up,” said Alliance Transit coordinator Francis Garnier.

With more people buying electric cars, the group says the province cannot continue to rely on fuel taxes in the long term.

“It sounds obvious to me that tolls will probably be a solution in the future,” said Université de Montréal professor Jean-Philippe Meloche.

Whether it’s a higher gas tax or more tolls, transit advocates say something is needed because Quebec does not have the means to maintain its infrastructure.

Alliance Transit studied the books and says that Quebec has a repair fund for roads and public transit, but that spending within that fund is five times higher than revenue.

The group says funding for public transit has been stagnant for more than a decade, while the maintenance deficit of Quebec’s road network is about $24 billion.

“In the latest Quebec Infrastructure Plan, we decided to allocate 88 per cent of investments to road maintenance and to set aside significant funds for the maintenance of public transit infrastructure,” said Quebec Transport Minister Benoit Charette in a statement.

Garnier says that a failure to act soon means infrastructure will continue to degrade.

“With worse quality, less reliability,” he said. “That’s true for both the road network and the metro system. The bus system.”