North Shore mayors want more control of public transit [Video]

The municipalities north of Montreal want more control over their public transit funds and management.

An alliance of the 20 mayors in the region north of Montreal and Laval – the Table des prefets et elus de la couronne Nord (TPECN) – say the population is not being served adequately by the public transit system that is in place.

“Public transport is becoming an issue in the region,” said Deux-Montanges Mayor and TPECN president Denis Martin. “We see growth and we see also a tendency to change the way of transportation.”

The region includes the municipalities from Oka to Saint-Sulpice to Saint-Anne-des-Plaines to Mirabel. The population in the region has grown from around 500,000 in 2005 to just under 700,000.

Martin said there is more and more public transit users wanting to travel within the North Shore (around 60 per cent), and not always heading south into Montreal or Laval. …