{"id":7273,"date":"2014-12-23T10:57:37","date_gmt":"2014-12-23T15:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/?p=7273"},"modified":"2021-01-01T11:43:37","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T16:43:37","slug":"letter-stm-offer-low-income-monthly-pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/fr\/letter-stm-offer-low-income-monthly-pass\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter: The STM should offer a low-income monthly pass"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-kjeh9daj-0352c5a66c8e6ed2f36b3f7602406668\">\n#top .av-special-heading.av-kjeh9daj-0352c5a66c8e6ed2f36b3f7602406668{\npadding-bottom:10px;\n}\nbody .av-special-heading.av-kjeh9daj-0352c5a66c8e6ed2f36b3f7602406668 .av-special-heading-tag .heading-char{\nfont-size:25px;\n}\n.av-special-heading.av-kjeh9daj-0352c5a66c8e6ed2f36b3f7602406668 .av-subheading{\nfont-size:15px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='av-special-heading av-kjeh9daj-0352c5a66c8e6ed2f36b3f7602406668 av-special-heading-h5 blockquote modern-quote  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-first '><h5 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Montreal Gazette &#8211; December 23, 2014<\/h5><div class='av-subheading av-subheading_below'><p>(en anglais)<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"special-heading-border\"><div class=\"special-heading-inner-border\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-kjaaelh1-713931baf3ef9684028323749eadeb0a '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><a title=\"Montreal Gazette - Letter: The STM should offer a low-income monthly pass\" href=\"http:\/\/montrealgazette.com\/opinion\/letters\/letter-the-stm-should-offer-a-low-income-monthly-pass\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-7275 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-letter-stm-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Gazette - Letter: The STM should offer a low-income monthly pass\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-letter-stm-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-letter-stm-80x80.jpg 80w, https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-letter-stm-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-letter-stm-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-letter-stm-180x180.jpg 180w, https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-letter-stm-705x705.jpg 705w, https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-letter-stm-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-letter-stm-450x450.jpg 450w, https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-letter-stm.jpg 812w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>What does it mean to not be able to afford basic public transportation?<\/p>\n<p>Last month, the STM announced hikes in its fare structure. Since 2004, the single ride has been increased by 20 per cent and the regular monthly pass by 40 per cent. We doubt that the average rider\u2019s income has increased that much over the same period of time. In fact, in Montreal, there are today over 400,000 people living under the poverty line, according to Statistics Canada. That\u2019s why we are against any hike in STM fees. A single person on welfare is getting $610 a month, and is not eligible for a reduced fare.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7274\" style=\"width: 505px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7274\" class=\"wp-image-7274 size-portfolio\" src=\"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-bus-715-495x400.jpg\" alt=\"STM bus 715 that links downtown with Old Montreal waits for passengers on Metcalfe St. in Montreal Thursday August 28, 2014. (John Mahoney \/ THE GAZETTE) ORG XMIT: 50815-10128\" width=\"495\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-bus-715-495x400.jpg 495w, https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-gazette-bus-715-845x684.jpg 845w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 495px) 100vw, 495px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-7274\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">STM bus 715 that links downtown with Old Montreal waits for passengers on Metcalfe St. in Montreal Thursday August 28, 2014. (John Mahoney \/ THE GAZETTE) ORG XMIT: 50815-10128<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This high cost of public transportation makes it difficult for the ones who most need public transport to use it, the ones for whom public transit is their only means of transport. This makes it extremely difficult for people on welfare to look for a job outside of their immediate neighbourhoods. For people living in poverty, this could also make it difficult to get to a food bank, and hard to get involved in a community or volunteer at an organization at which one could gain work experience. It also becomes difficult to get to medical appointments, and attend free cultural activities. And people can\u2019t take advantage of discounts or bargains on food from grocery stores. When you can\u2019t afford a bus ride, you\u2019re stuck.<\/p>\n<p>When you cannot visit a relative or a friend because you can\u2019t afford the bus ride, but your dignity prevents you from asking them to pay for it, they may just stop calling to invite you.<\/p>\n<p>Why is it that when we see every year an increase in fares and reduction in services, STM executives continue to receive salary increases? The budget priorities make no sense at the STM: Why does it take so much to accommodate the needs of disabled users?<\/p>\n<p>As members of Project Genesis, we decided to be part of Right to Ride, a campaign that is an initiative of different Montreal non-profit organizations. One of the first groups that came with the idea of a social fare is Projet PAL, a Verdun-based group working with people who had a lot of trouble keeping much needed doctors\u2019 appointments because of the cost of the bus ride.\u00a0Places exist where transit is cheaper or even free for certain categories of people, like Stephen Harper\u2019s riding of Calgary, where a low-income monthly pass is available. For more information, visit out Facebook page: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/fr-fr.facebook.com\/pages\/Mouvement-collectif-pour-un-transport-public-abordable\/354248271356786\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mouvement collectif pour un transport public abordable.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Leroy Wedderburn, Alexander Rudavin, Myrtle Anderson, Lady May, Susan Fitch, Daren Laine<\/strong>,\u00a0Members of Project Genesis Anti-Poverty Committee<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-1223-Gazette-Letter-The-STM-should-offer-a-low-income-monthly-pass.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PDF<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Montreal Gazette \u2013 December 23, 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[159,305],"class_list":["post-7273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dans-les-medias","tag-lutte-a-la-pauvrete","tag-une-tarification-sociale-des-transports-en-commun-pour-les-personnes-a-faible-revenu"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 03:35:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7273"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16885,"href":"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7273\/revisions\/16885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genese.qc.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}