Mayoral hopeful Hamad proposes SRB transit plan rejected by Caisse
Peter Black
peterblack@qctonline.com
Mayoral candidate Sam Hamad has unveiled his promised alternative to the tramway plan. It is based on the service rapide par bus (SRB+) plan initially proposed in 2015 but subsequently rejected.
Hamad, a former Liberal provincial transport minister and engineer by profession, revealed details of SRB+, which he acknowledged was not a fully fleshed out proposal, at a June 18 news conference at a hotel on Boul. Laurier.
Hamad, vowing that the tramway would be dead if he and his Leadership Québec team win on Nov. 2, said his plan would be less disruptive to build, cost much less and provide greater service to the suburbs.
The key difference from the current tramway plan is the mode – a train of elongated buses in dedicated lanes instead of rail cars running on tracks – and the central trajectory – Boul. Charest between Université Laval and Saint- Roch, as opposed to Boul. René- Lévesque.
As a prelude to Hamad’s presentation, Daniel Lessard, former longtime head of engineering services for the city, gave an overview of transit plans dating back to 2015 under the administration of then- mayor Régis Labeaume.
Lessard concluded, “For over 25 years, I have planned and managed this city’s infrastructure. The SRB+ is the most realistic, technically robust and quickly deliverable project to meet the mobility needs of Quebec City residents.”
Hamad said the project, based on reams of previous studies, creating 29 kilometres of SRB lanes serving the Lebourgneuf, Charlesbourg, D’Estimauville and Le Gendre sectors, could get underway by 2029 and be completed in two years, at a cost of $4.2 billion.
He said, “It’s time to turn the page on the uncertainties sur- rounding the tramway and move forward with a realistic, credible project that’s resolutely forward-looking and based on the best available technical recommendations. This project is the modern, sustainable and immediate solution that Quebec needs.”
A plan for an SRB system running along Boul. Charest had been proposed in 2015 by the Labeaume administration, partly to accommodate the demands of the city of Lévis. At the time, Hamad was a minister in then-premier Philippe Couillard’s cabinet, responsible for the capital region.
When Lévis changed its mind about the project, as Labeaume recounted in his recent memoirs, Quebec City also abandoned the plan. In 2018, the city presented the first edition of the tramway plan, and quickly won support and a funding commitment from the federal government.
Since then, delays and associated mounting costs prompted the Quebec government to commission the Caisse de depot et placement infrastructure division (CDPQ Infra) to study the region’s transport needs and offer solutions.
In June 2024, that study was released containing the recommendation to build a scaled- down tramway system, with the central corridor running along Boul. René-Lévesque. The study rejected an SRB system as providing inadequate capacity for future needs, but did include the mode for subsidiary routes.
Whereas a key element of the tramway system is the complete electrification of the rolling stock, Hamad said the SRB system would not be powered by diesel, but when a call for tenders is made, “we’ll see what technology there is that responds to what we need. So hybrid (gasoline-electric) would be a good choice.”
He named several cities in the world that have electric SRB systems.
As for how he plans to convince the Quebec government that has committed to funding 50 per cent of the tramway to support his plan, Hamad said, “In my experience, usually the [Quebec] government responds to the mayor who is elected by the people.”
He said his plan’s $4.2-billion budget is half that of the current system, and given the government’s current financial situation, “This is an advantage for us.”