Regulate carpooling, but don’t impede it

Carpooling represents a wise choice for Quebecers not only because it’s efficient in   terms of mobility, but also because it helps reduce both traffic congestion and fuel emissions. As such, it deserves further development, especially when you consider that Quebecers travel by automobile about 70 percent of the time and the mean 2013 occupancy rate per vehicle was only 1.2 persons.

A handful of recent incidents, however, might alarm motorists and put a brake on their enthusiasm for carpooling. The Radio-Canada La Facture program, for example, which aired last February, describes the experience of a driver who was fined $502 by the Bureau du taxi de Montréal for having charged each of her passengers $20 for a 150-kilometre trip. The report itself highlights two aspects of carpooling that remain murky.

It would be disappointing if we were to discourage carpoolers at a time when technology is best placed to facilitate and improve this sensible practice.

First, the carpooling initiative is not clearly defined in the law. The current Transportation Act certainly mentions it, but without providing a precise definition. And yet consumers are entitled to know how the legal limits of carpooling are defined.

The issue of cost-sharing may not be apparent either. Certain carpooling websites suggest some guidelines and the CAA Driving Costs Calculator, accessible from caaquebec.com, can also contribute to a clearer under- standing of the issue (subject to the specification on page 28). All this is helpful, but in a free-market context, people should ideally be free to agree among themselves.

Sooner or later, the government will need to revise its manner of regulating these practices. Public mobility is going through an important transformation. Mass transit will never be the solution to all traffic-congestion problems, and Quebec’s geography weighs heavily as regards the needs of inter-regional transportation. The arrival of new players and the evolution of technology also oblige us to react.

The context continues to evolve, as do the needs of consumers. Will we be able to encourage the practice of carpooling and at the same time give it the necessary flexibility? It would be disappointing if we were to discourage carpoolers at a time when technology is best placed to facilitate and improve this sensible practice. The much-expected adoption of the new sustainable mobility policy would be an ideal opportunity.

One thing is sure. The government must send a clear message to motorists: Do not fear carpooling!