Réseau de transport de la Capitale

City bike rentals soar during Festival d’été

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City bike rentals soar during Festival d’été

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Although it was obvious to anyone who observed the packed bike lanes during the Festival d’été de Québec, the data now proves the city’s àVélo bike rental service was a huge success – perhaps too much so.

The Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC), which man- ages the service through its Capitale Mobilité subsidiary, reported last week that users of the àVélo service took some 160,415 trips during the 11-day festival, an increase of 56 per cent over last year.

The biggest single evening for àVélo use was July 8, which featured the French rap duo Bigflo et Oli on the Plains of Abraham, with more than 19,000 trips.

Officials said part of the huge increase was due to the strike by RTC maintenance workers that deprived the city of bus service for 10 of the 11 days of the festival. Another factor was the major expansion of the bike fleet as well as the growing popularity of àVélo.

Coun. Maude Mercier Larouche, the city executive committee member who serves as RTC president, said at a July 15 news conference that the “exceptional context” of the bus strike “caused significant challenges for many customers. Under these circumstances, àVélo has represented a valuable mobility solution for thousands of citizens, who have adopted it in record numbers.” With the surge of 160,000 FEQ rides, the total so far for the àVélo season that began in May is 815,000.

Mayor Bruno Marchand, an avid àVélo user himself, said, “Exceptional circumstances or not, citizens’ appetite for àVélo is undeniable. We are convinced that the service will continue to be adopted by an ever-increasing number of people. That is why we remain committed to improving the àVélo offering throughout the territory, as we have done every year since its launch.”

Besides the huge spike in àVélo usage, city officials also tracked a major increase in traffic of personal bicycles on established bike paths, notably on Chemin Sainte-Foy, known as the VivaCité corridor.

On July 8 alone, according to city information, 4,300 bikes used the path, with a total of 32,000 over the course of the festival. The temporary bike lanes on Grande Allée drew more than 34,000 users during FEQ, more than double the traffic of the previous year.

The city plans to expand its fleet of àVélo bikes from the current 1,800 to 3,300 by 2028, and double the number of stations from 165 to 330.

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FEQ declares success despite challenges of transit strike

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FESTIVAL D’ÉTÉ DE QUÉBEC

FEQ declares success despite challenges of transit strike

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

As heavy weather threatened the final day of the Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) on July 11, organizers were declaring the 57th edition a “resounding success,” despite facing the first transit strike in the event’s history, and yes, unpredictable weather.

A sometimes emotional Louis Bellavance, head of content and artistic direction for BLEUFEU, the non-profit organization that runs the 11-day event, declared this year’s gathering a triumph for fans “who know what they want” and who “come for the music,” not just to take pictures. At the traditional wrap-up news conference, which began with a video montage of Shania Twain’s performance the night before, Bellavance said, “This year we conquered the entertainment industry.” He said FEQ organizers heard from “dozens and dozens” of artists and their teams who said the Quebec City event “is the best festival in the world.”

He said what happened this year was “a recognition without precedent” for the calibre of events FEQ organizes, which creates a special connection between the performing artists and the fans.

The success he described was despite the considerable obstacle of a strike by Réseau de transport de la capitale (RTC) maintenance staff, which paralyzed city bus service for the duration of the festival, and an unrelated strike which halted service on the Quebec City-Lévis ferry.

BLEUFEU president Nicolas Racine, now with his third festival as boss under his belt, said the threat of an RTC bus drivers’ strike two years earlier helped prepare organizers for the real deal this year.

“We put some measures in place to make sure that people would have less trouble coming in. So we just took that again, and maybe pumped it up a little bit.”

He said he was amazed at how the fans adapted to the transit challenges.

“The fans are great. They came earlier, they shared a car, they used their bike. They walked and parked further and they walked half an hour to come in. So why not – instead of staying in your car for half an hour, why don’t we walk? So that’s what happened. So the impact for us was less than expected.”

One silver lining of the transit strike, Bellavance noted, was that because more fans arrived earlier, there were bigger and more appreciative audiences for the “undercard” acts.

Now with 15 years as head programmer for FEQ under his belt, Bellavance listed some of his personal favourites among the more than 200 shows to take the stage, among them Richard Marx, Marjo, Alessia Cara, Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan and Wyclef Jean.

He had special praise for the artists who made themselves available on short notice due to sudden cancellations.

He singled out Slayer for a notable FEQ record: most T-shirts sold, more than previous top sellers, the Rolling Stones and Metallica.

Above all, Bellavance said, the most satisfying bookings for FEQ this year were Twain, whom the festival had pursued for years, and Benson Boone, the 23-year- old American pop sensation who organizers correctly bet could pack the massive Plains stage.

Racine said organizers are already planning for the 2026 edition, and the success of FEQ 2025 “is a motivation for us. We want to do better. We know we can do better. Our main goal is to make the fans happy.”

There was one sour note among the general good vibes of the festival, with the news that some performers are suing FEQ through SOCAN, Canada’s artists’ rights and revenues agency, for unpaid royalties for “carte blanche” shows for the previous three festivals.

FEQ responded to the public release of details of the federal court suit with a statement on July 12. “The FEQ deplores the timing chosen by SOCAN – in the middle of the festival – to initiate legal proceedings. Discussions between the two parties had been ongoing until very recently.”

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RTC bus service resumes amid unanswered questions

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RTC bus service resumes amid unanswered questions

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

On July 13, the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC) announced that city bus service would gradually resume the following morning, and fully return to normal by noon, putting an end to a 10-day strike by the bus mainte- nance workers’ union, timed to coincide with the Festival d’été de Québec.

A labour tribunal ruling in a separate dispute involving the RTC and its drivers’ union in 2023 found that the RTC was not an essential service. As a result, RTC service was completely halted for the duration of the strike, and people without easy access to a car had to rely on long walks, expensive backup plans, creative car-sharing arrangements, or àVélo bikes – assuming there were some available – to reach their destinations.

“We are relieved that the strike is coming to an end and that our customers will be able to resume services as of Monday [July 14], particularly those who rely on public transit and who were greatly impacted by the complete service disruption. We are also pleased that the drivers will be able to return to work,” said Maude Mercier Larouche, president of the RTC, in a statement.

An indefinite transit strike is not off the table. The collective agreement between the RTC and the maintenance workers’ union, the CSN-affiliated Syndicat des Salariés (ées) d’entretien du RTC, expired in September 2024, and no new collective agreement or agreement in principle has been signed as of this writing. The union held a two-day strike in late May, and in June, 100 per cent of members voted for a strike mandate “potentially including an unlimited general strike.” At the time, union president Nicolas Louazel accused RTC representatives of failing to lay out their demands clearly, “wasting time” and “being unable to respond to simple questions.”

Mercier Larouche said negotiations were ongoing between the city-funded RTC and the union. “We are making every effort to reach a lasting agreement that is viable for both parties and respects citizens’ ability to pay,” she said.

“As an organization that defends the rights of low-income people, we support union efforts to achieve better working conditions,” said Émilie Frémont-Cloutier, community facilitator and spokesperson for the Collectif TRAAQ, which advocates for low- income transit users. “However, we cannot ignore the negative social impacts that a complete shutdown of public transit will have on the most vulnerable populations. Thousands of people, primarily women, seniors, people with dis- abilities and those living in isolation, will be cut off from all means of transportation. This means they will be unable to get to the grocery store, the pharmacy, medical appointments or even community outreach centres. During the first strike on May 22 and 23, a Radio- Canada report highlighted these concrete impacts: reduced use of the La Bouchée Généreuse food assistance program, and families forced to pay for expensive alternative transportation to get to school or work.”

Mercier Larouche said bus pass holders would be reimbursed for the impact of the strike, but that a reimbursement system would only be set up once the RTC and the union reach an agreement in principle.

No one from the maintenance workers’ union or the CSN had responded to requests for comment from the QCT by press time.

Editors’ note: Transit users, how did you work around the strike? If you’d like to share your strike story with us, please email editor@qctonline.com.

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Bus strike? They took a bike! FEQ fans find ways to attend shows

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Bus strike? They took a bike! FEQ fans find ways to attend shows

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

There were nightmarish traffic jams, armies of pedestrians on long marches and thousands upon thousands riding bicycles. Others took taxis or ride-shared. Whichever way they used to get there, fans found a way to show up in the usual vast numbers to take in Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) events.

A strike by Réseau du Trans- port de la Capitale (RTC) mechanics and maintenance workers marked the first time ever the festival got underway without public bus service. Last year, for example, RTC buses, including special shuttle buses for the festival, transported some 300,000 people to the event zones.

The maintenance union, with 363 members, has been without a contract since September, and in May had staged a two-day strike as a negotiating tactic. Reports said the union was seeking a 30 per cent pay increase over five years, but other sources say the demand is between 18 and 22 per cent over five years.

Other work issues are also on the table, according to the union. Talks were set to resume on July 8. Members had voted massively in favour of a 10-day strike during FEQ and threatened an unlimited strike if no progress was made.

In the meantime, some 3,000 city bus drivers plus support staff are off the job.

The city’s popular àVélo service, managed by the RTC, was not affected by the strike. Two years ago, the bus drivers’ union threatened a strike on the eve of FEQ, but a last- minute agreement avoided a transit shutdown.

Not only is a bus strike complicating the lives of commuters, but another strike has shut down the ferry service between Quebec and Levis during FEQ for the second year in a row.

The 13-day strike by some 200 unlicensed workers also affects government-operated ferries serving Matane, Baie-Comeau and Godbout.

As for the bus strike, city officials say they cannot give in to union demands; Mayor Bruno Marchand said he is happy to be called a “dictator” by the union if it means dealing with taxpayer dollars responsibly.

While the city took some steps to alleviate the strike impact, such as expanding temporary bike lanes and drop-off zones, mayoral candidate Sam Hamad said the Marchand administration failed to be prepared.

In a statement, the head of Leadership Québec said, “It’s surprising that Quebec City didn’t see fit to have a real Plan B, even though it knew that a service interruption to the RTC was possible dur- ing the festival. In a context where the FEQ’s brand image and that of Quebec City as a tourist destination are at stake, this lack of preparation sends the wrong message.”

Hamad said if his party were in power it would have brought in such measures as working with FEQ to set up shuttle services, called upon businesses to make parking lots available and made parking free for carpoolers.

FEQ officials said they rejected the idea of having bus shuttles on standby, as they did in 2023, in the event of a strike, since the cost was prohibitive. A private bus company, meanwhile, has stepped into the void, offering rides for return trips from selected sites for $20 on buses used during the day for transporting day camp counsellors.

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Possible transit chaos, Twain gift in busy FEQ buildup

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Possible transit chaos, police weapons upgrade, Twain gift in busy FEQ buildup

Peter Black and Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative reporters

The 57th edition of the Festival d’été de Québec opens July 3 with another sell-out of the 11-day event, but with the threat of a transit strike looming and the presence of police carrying assault weapons.

Known as Canada’s biggest summer music gathering, with upwards of 200 shows on six stages, including the mammoth Bell stage on the Plains of Abraham, FEQ will welcome up to 80,000 fans for headliner performances.

This year’s marquee biggies include Canadian megastars Shania Twain and Avril Lavigne, as well as legendary crooner Rod Stewart, breakout American pop heartthrob Benson Boone and classic British rock band Def Leppard.

Just as a point of novelty, the program features Canadian pop star Alessia Cara, not to be confused with up-and-coming Quebec singer Alissa Clara.

This year, the alternating stages return to Place George-V in front of the armoury, where one highly anticipated show will be a tribute to the 30th anniversary of Céline Dion’s record-breaking D’eux album, featuring a parade of Quebec vedettes.

Dozens of shows are free on stages across from the National Assembly and in Place D’Youville. There’s a program for children, called Petit FEQ, happening on weekends.

Twain, perhaps the festival’s biggest draw this year, is not just bringing her top-selling repertoire to Quebec City. As part of her Shania Twain Foundation, the superstar is funding some 375,000 meals for people facing food insecurity.

Each of five tour cities – Calgary, Moose Jaw, Ottawa, Toronto and Quebec City – will receive a $25,000 donation for food programs. Twain plays the second Saturday show of FEQ on July 12.

A late replacement to the lineup is indie rocker Lauren Spencer Smith, subbing in for British singer/model Suki Waterhouse, who cancelled her gig opening for the Irish fusion band Hosier on the Bell stage on July 10.

New weaponry for city police

While most circumstances of the festival have stayed the same, one new and possibly disturbing element would be the presence of city police officers carrying the HK 416 semi-automatic assault rifle.

The Service de police de la Ville de Québec (SPVQ) will deploy a certain number of officers trained in the use of the weapon as both a tactical device and a deterrent.

Capt. Alain Bernier, the officer in charge of weapons training, told Le Journal de Québec the guns “will provide increased precision, range, and ballistic capability compared to the service weapon. We will be able to take action more effectively and from a distance that would normally be inaccessible to us.”

The report said the SPVQ made the decision in response to recent incidents of vehicles driving into crowds, such as in Vancouver and New Orleans.

The SVPQ says the weapons had been available for use in the past, but for the first time, officers will be making them visible.

As yet unconfirmed is whether the city will also install vehicle-intrusion barriers for FEQ, as is the case in a pilot project on Rue Saint-Jean this summer.

Bus strike still possible

As this newspaper went to press on June 30, the threat of a transit maintenance workers’ strike, which would paralyze Réseau du transport de la Capitale (RTC) bus service, still hung over the festival. Unless an agreement is announced by 3 p.m. on July 3, the strike could begin as early as July 4, the second day of FEQ, and continue through July 13, shutting down both regular bus service and shuttles to the festival, Valérie Drolet, executive director of network development and customer experience at the RTC, told a City Hall press conference on June 30.

She noted that the strike could last anywhere from one day to the full ten, and service would return to normal gradually after a strike. “As soon as the RTC knows the union’s intentions, all its communication and information channels will be activated to inform regular customers and festival-goers,” Drolet said, adding that riders who bought Festibus passes and tickets would be reimbursed in the event of a strike. She would not comment on the ongoing negotiations.

The QCT requested an in- terview with a representative from the maintenance workers’ union – the Syndicat des salariés et salariées d’entretien du RTC–CSN – through several channels but did not receive a response by press time.

The àVélo bike sharing program, Flexibus service and adapted transit services will not be affected in the event of a strike, although the city is anticipating increased demand for those services. An additional àVélo station will be set up near the Joan of Arc Garden for the festival. The city will also put in place pick-up and drop-off zones for cars at the Gare du Palais and along Ave. Brown between René-Lévesque and Grande Allée.

City officials and FEQ organizers advised people driving to the festival to consider carpooling and leave plenty of time – at least an hour – to find parking. “We want people to get on board and come have fun with us, and I think that’s going to happen, but you just need to take a little more time to get there,” said FEQ CEO Nicolas Racine.

For up-to-date information on FEQ, go to the festival website at feq.ca/en.

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Threat of transit strikes looms over FEQ

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

Threat of transit strikes looms over FEQ

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

The union representing maintenance staff at the Réseau du Transport de la Capitale (RTC), Quebec City’s public transport network, has formally raised the possibility of a transit strike during the Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ).

On June 19, the union announced in a statement that it had submitted a strike notice for a 10-day work stoppage beginning July 4, the first day of the festival.

The collective agreement between the bus maintenance workers’ union – the Syndicat des salariés et salariées d’entretien du RTC–CSN – and the city expired in September 2024; negotiations for a new agreement began in October, according to the union.

“The goal is not to strike at all costs, but to apply pressure on the eve of the busiest time of year to quickly reach a settlement that is satisfactory to both parties,” explained union president Nicolas Louazel.

Frédéric Brun is the president of the Fédération des employées et employés des services publics (FEESP), a division of the CSN union federation, of which the RTC maintenance workers’ union is a member. He and Louazel struck a reassuring tone regarding the likelihood of a strike.

“The parties are entering into an intensive negotiation blitz – day, evening, night, weekend – and experience tells us that it is entirely possible to reach a settlement quickly,” Brun said. “The concrete threat of a strike during FEQ is only an incentive to prevent the employer from falling back into its habit of marking time and dragging things out.”

The union had previously submitted a notice for a one- day strike planned for April 30, which was cancelled on April 25 after progress at the negotiating table.

The last time RTC transit service was halted was in July 2023, when the Syndicat des employés du transport public de Québec métropolitaine (SETPQM), the union which represents the RTC’s more than 900 drivers, went on strike. That strike ended with an agreement on July 6 – five days after it had begun and hours before the beginning of FEQ. No service was offered during that strike, after a labour tribunal ruled that transit was not an essential service, angering advocates for low-wage workers and people with disabilities who depend on the service.

RTC spokesperson Raphaëlle Savard said 13,000 people use the RTC every day during FEQ. She said the RTC had twice requested that the union “agree on a minimal level of service to offer in the event of a strike.”

“This request aims to limit the impact on regular RTC customers, many of whom rely on public transport to get around, as well as on occasional customers who use RTC services to get to FEQ,” she said.

“The RTC acknowledges the strike notice and will communicate the impacts on service delivery as quickly as possible to provide maximum predictability to its customers. The RTC reiterates its availability to negotiate at any time, including weekends, to reach an agree- ment and avoid any impact on customers,” Savard said. She invited people with questions about bus service to visit the RTC website or call customer service at 418-627-2511, option 1.

The union said in a state- ment that it would make no further comment for the time being, “in order to concentrate on the negotiations.”

Separately, the union representing personnel operating and maintaining the Québec- Lévis and Matane-Godbout ferries, also a CSN affiliate, gave notice for a strike beginning July 4. Members of the ferry operators’ union, which negotiates directly with the Treasury Board, have been without an agreement since April 2023. “The lack of serious progress at our negotiating table has made us understand more than once that for the government, we are not among its priorities,” said union president Patrick Saint-Laurent.

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Bus passenger island will put people at risk, safety expert says

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , ,

Bus passenger island will put people at risk, safety expert says

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

A traffic safety expert and former city councillor is sounding the alarm about a bus stop island now under construction on Chemin Ste-Foy at the intersection with Ave. Brown.

Paul Mackey has been picketing the site almost daily since April 28, when city workers began building a “boarding bay” or quai d’embarquement pour les arrêts d’autobus, as it’s known in French.

According to a city presentation on the project, the objectives of the “boarding bays” are to ensure the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, maintain universal accessibility to bus stops, limit conflicts between cyclists and buses by avoiding encroachment into the bike lane, and limit conflicts between buses and vehicular traffic when merging and disengaging while stopped.

Mackey told the QCT in an on- site interview that the structures violate safety norms and put at risk students, senior citizens and people with visual impairments wanting to cross the street.

“The project itself has some good objectives,” Mackey said. “It’s to not have cyclists have to wait behind stopped buses. The project is to transfer the bus stop onto an island between the bike lane and the traffic lane. But that raises a number of issues.”

Among those issues, he said, is that “cyclists approaching the intersection will not see the pedestrians, because the stopped articulated bus will block sight lines.” He said cyclists often do not follow traffic signals and may run the red light, putting elementary school students crossing from École Anne-Hébert, for example, at risk.

Mackey said visually impaired people wanting to cross at the intersection will also be at risk. At an information session on the project held on April 22, he asked city officials whether “a blind person on the bus going west and heading to École Anne-Hébert would have to cross the bike path when getting off the bus and recross the bike path at the intersection. The answer was yes. The blind person will be put at risk twice within a short time. There are no tactile warning strips to be installed at the intersection itself.”

He said the association for the blind in Victoria, B.C. sued over a similar boarding island design and won, resulting in a moratorium.

Mackey said he has also raised concerns about the width of the boarding islands, which is 1.6 metres under the city’s plans. He said the standard, according to many sources and guides, is 2.4 metres. The lesser width, he said, poses a hazard for the boarding of passengers in wheelchairs.

With construction well advanced on the installation, Mackey said the city shows no indication of recognizing his warnings and suggestions. “I think the consequences are so serious that there’s not really any choice” for the city to make changes.

“The city council says, ‘well, it’s a pilot project, we’ll adjust as we go along,’ and I said that’s not really an appropriate response, because you’ll make changes if there have been incidents – and we don’t want incidents.”

Once the island on the north side of the intersection is complete, an island is to be installed on the south side. Eventually, the city plans to install islands at several other intersections along the Chemin Ste-Foy bike path.

The city said in its presentation that it chose the Ave. Brown intersection for the pilot project because of the “ease of implementation [and the] opportunity to secure an area with high traffic of vulnerable users (school zone). The project was developed by city teams, in collaboration with the Réseau de Transport de la Capitale (RTC) and the consultation table on universal accessibility.”

A series of consultations and assessments is planned to evaluate the impact of the pilot project.

Mackey said, “There’s tons of problems with this project, and if it stays in effect, it’s going to be a safety problem for years on end.”

The QCT requested a response to Mackey’s concerns from city officials and did not receive a response by press time.

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