CANADA: The province of Québec has tasked the Mobility Infra Québec centre of expertise in the analysis and implementation of complex transport projects with reviewing the TramGO project. This covers plans to build a 24 km Y-shaped light rail line connecting western and central Gatineau with Ottawa in neighbouring Ontario.
MIQ has nine months to update existing studies and propose changes to the project to optimise costs. MIQ President & CEO Renée Amilcar said ‘in close collaboration with the city of Gatineau and the Société de Transport de l’Outaouais, we will fully contribute our joint expertise to analyse the work carried out, examine possible options and support the development of a responsible public transport project adapted to the needs of citizens.’
Jonatan Julien, the province’s Minister of Transport & Sustainable Mobility, said ‘our government is resolutely committed to promoting the development of various modes of public transit in Québec’. The announcement on February 17 ‘is an important step for mobility in the greater Gatineau area as well as for Mobility Infra Québec. In the end, all citizens of the region will benefit from this collaboration between stakeholders, which is essential to the continuity of the project.’
However, Gatineau Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonette told local media that she feared the province was trying to defund the project and spend the previously announced funding elsewhere.
