South Korea's transportation system 'makes Quebec mayor dream'

South Korea's ultra-efficient transportation system “makes dreams come true” for the capital's mayor, who hopes Quebec will achieve that within a few decades, but for that to happen, it will take “courage.”

• Read also: As Canada hopes, high-speed trains have transformed South Korea over twenty years

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Bruno Marchand, on his Facebook page, on Sunday morning, reacted to the newspaper’s report on public transportation in South Korea and its city of Seoul. South Koreans have become masters of efficiency and innovation in just a few decades.

“It's a dream,” says the Quebec mayor. “Developing their transportation system is science fiction, but it is very real. I am confident that we will be able to achieve this goal over the coming decades.”

courage

But the mayor stresses that efforts must be made.

“This will take courage!” he writes. “The future is not just about cars, cars are part of it. The future is a combination of efficient public transportation, bike-sharing, car-sharing, taxis, rapid and affordable interregional transit, and high-speed trains.” And all the ways you can imagine […]. The future lies in multiple options.”

The Marchand administration, and previously that of Regis Labeaume, has for several years chosen to target integrated mobility, i.e. offering several modes of transport to give users a choice. Although this principle has long been established in South Korea, it is still in its infancy in Quebec.

Economic advantage

Seamless mobility, according to Mr. Marchand, is “an undeniable economic advantage: because it makes the city attractive to workers, but also because hours lost in traffic mean lost productivity.” Everyone loses!”

Of course, Quebec and Korea differ greatly in terms of population density and area. But the basic principle can be applied to allow people to move more efficiently, says Quebec's mayor. He asserts that “the future lies in multiple options.”

“Better fluidity means less time wasted in traffic and therefore more time for leisure, it means more options for getting around safely and efficiently, and it means more low-carbon modes that contribute to the health of citizens.”