Public transit development assistance program – Stream 1

• Financial support covers 65% of eligible operating costs for fully electric buses and taxibuses.
• Financial support covers 50% of eligible operating costs for other transportation modes and types of motorization.
• Annual funding amounts for service maintenance are based on previous years’ funding levels and adjusted if the service offer is reduced.

• The applicant must be a recognized public transit authority in Quebec (such as the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain, a public transit corporation operating outside Montreal's metropolitan area, or a municipal/intermunicipal transit organization).
• The proposed public transit services must be implemented within the applicant's geographic territory (services with connections to points outside the territory are also eligible).
• The application must include a triennial service improvement plan with annual service forecasts and a comparison to the previous year, using the prescribed form.
• The application must provide a detailed breakdown of operating costs by budget item, based on the most recent available financial statements.

Who is eligible?

• Regional public transit authorities in Quebec (e.g., ARTM)
• Urban transit corporations operating outside the Montréal metropolitan area
• Municipal and intermunicipal transit organizations, including individual municipalities, RCMs (regional county municipalities) with public transit authority, municipal and intermunicipal transit boards, and joint municipal associations that organize and fund public transit services

Who is not eligible

• Private companies not recognized as transport organizing authorities.
• Companies whose main activity is not the organization and financing of public transport services.
• Industries that do not operate in the urban public transport sector.
• Companies located outside the legal or territorial framework of public transport in Quebec.

Eligible expenses

• Operating costs related to the maintenance, development, or optimization of public transit services.
• Costs of service delivery provided by transit personnel or contracted transport operators.
• Expenditures detailed by budget line items as reported in recent financial statements.

Eligible geographic areas

• Organizations located within the province of Quebec.

• Demonstration of maintenance, development, or optimization of public transit services compared to the previous year.
• Quality and completeness of the three-year service improvement or optimization plan, including annual service forecasts and comparative analysis with the previous year.
• Clarity in the breakdown of operating costs by budget items, based on recent financial statements.
• For optimization funding, evidence of improved performance according to pre-established indicators by the Ministry.

• The financial support is structured into three envelopes: maintaining, developing, and optimizing transit services.
• Environmental impact, specifically reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is a focus for the program's assessment processes.
• Supplementary documentation, such as the program's application terms and GHG reduction methodology, is available in PDF format.
• Annual performance improvements must be demonstrated to access optimization funding for subsequent years.