The Quebec government’s financial framework for the funding of public transportation is mainly comprised of the following programs:
- The government’s Green Fund public transit assistance program (PAGASTEC).
- The Land Transportation Network Fund’s government assistance program for the public transport of people (PAGTCP).
- The public transportation capital assistance program sponsored by the Société de financement des infrastructures locales (SOFIL).
Green Fund
The Green Fund is financed through revenues from the carbon market. This is what is commonly referred to as the Quebec government’s Cap-and-Trade System for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Allowances (SPEDE). The revenues generated by this market are fully reinvested in the Action Plan on Climate Change (2013-2020), which contributes a share of the funds to the government’s public transit assistance program (PAGASTEC). This program is of vital importance for all the public transportation organizations, as it represents a considerable contribution over the last few years, reaching $100 million annually. It is also the only program which allows a significant enhancement of the overall service offering.
Transitional government assistance program for the public transportation of people (PAGAEETRP)
The PAGAEETRP is another program supported by the Green Fund. In 2013, it replaced the Program for Improving Energy Efficiency in Road Freight Transportation, which provided an annual contribution of $5 million to promote the introduction of new technologies and improve energy efficiency with respect to passenger transportation.
Land Transportation Network Fund (FORT)
The Land Transportation Network Fund (FORT) helps to finance the government assistance program for the public transport of people (PAGTCP), which allows the maintenance of public transportation assets and the absorption of the maintenance deficit.
The Land Transportation Network Fund’s structure incorporates the activities related to the following services: The sale of goods and services fund, the transport infrastructure partnerships fund, the automobile drivers’ public transport contribution fund and the road network preservation and improvement fund. The FORT was established to improve the budgetary management of certain governmental activities, but especially to enforce the “user-pays” principle.
As a result, the FORT is funded through revenues generated by driver’s licence and vehicle registration fees, the fuel tax and revenues derived, for example, from projects developed as public/private partnerships. In 2014, the share reserved by the FORT for public transportation was increased by close to one billion dollars, over a five-year period, from 2015 to 2020.
SOFIL
The mandate of the Société de financement des infrastructures locales (SOFIL) is to provide financial aid to municipalities and their agencies in order to help them deliver infrastructure and public transportation projects. This program therefore helps create conditions which favour public transportation and contributes to the maintenance and development of networks, thus ensuring service efficiency.
The SOFIL’s revenues are derived from four main sources:
- a portion of the receipts from the federal excise tax on gasoline;
- additional duty payable for road vehicles having a large engine displacement;
- additional contributions which the Quebec government has committed to provide to the SOFIL;
- investment income.
The program has entered its third stage, after receiving $504 million over a five-year period (From 2005-2006 to 2009-2010) and $700 million over a four-year period (From 2010-2011 to 2013-2014). The amount has now been set at $983.1 million over a five-year period (from 2014-2015 to 2018-2019). Of the $983.1 million, a little more than $938 million are granted to the nine public transportation organizations. The funds are allocated based on public transit ridership levels.