Public transit has long been understood as a more environmentally sustainable transportation model, but the issues of the environment and the economy have often been pitted against each other.

A new study released by the Metropolitan Community of Montreal (MMC) dispels that myth, showing the economic benefits of public transit are far greater than personal automobiles.

“We tried to look at public transit, not only through the lens of mobility, but through the lens of economic growth as a whole,” Marie-Michèle Cauchy, director of the MMC, told Global News. “It improves productivity, it supports businesses, it increases household purchasing power, and it generates stronger economic returns for Quebec.”

The research, produced in partnership with Montreal’s Board of Trade, makes a case for the city to consider public transit a viable investment.

“There’s an issue with public finances. We want to get the most returns on our public investment. And there’s also an issue with the cost of living for households. So we wanted to do the study looking at public transit through this lens to see if it was a good investment,” Cauchy said.

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The study found that in 2024, there were more than two million automobiles on the road in Montreal and $24 billion in annual spending for households, marking the second highest expenditure next to housing costs.

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The high car ownership rate also contributes to traffic congestion which led to $6 billion in economic losses in 2023, representing 2.1 per cent of the region’s GDP.

According to the research, public transit generates more than triple the amount of GDP compared to single-vehicle use.

“We need to do better,” Cauchy said, adding that investing in public transit would also keep more of the economic benefits in Canada, something that is particularly promising given the shifting trade tensions between Canada and the U.S.

The study shows that the public transportation sector supports 2.5 times more jobs in Quebec than the equivalent expenditure on automobiles.

“If we want to depend less on other economic regions right now, we need to invest in public transit,” Cauchy said.

Municipal officials have been urging their provincial counterparts to make public transit funding an election priority.

In August, Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said the city is facing a $7 billion budget deficit by 2030 to maintain its current offer with the city’s transit operator.

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Transit experts say the entire funding model for public transportation needs to be modernized.

“Montreal is lacking in a budget that is permanent and completely dedicated and up to our discretion here on what we’re going to do with public transit,” said Evan Roncace, a project coordinator with the Transportation Research Lab at McGill University.

He pointed to cities in the U.S. where congestion pricing and payroll taxing helps fund more robust public transit systems.

But Roncace said that increasing investment and promoting public transit takes a whole society approach.

The City of Montreal currently has the goal of reaching a 75 per cent active mode share, including cycling, walking and public transit, by 2050.

“In order to achieve that level of public transportation use, we need a lot more than just densifying around public transportation,” Roncace said. “We also need to discourage car use. And we need to change people’s attitudes around using public transportation in general.”

According to Statistics Canada, 29.1 per cent of Montreal residents used public transit as their main method of transportation in May 2025.

– With files from Phil Carpenter, Global News