Driver’s license to remain cheap
As a non-driver I’m puzzled: Quebec has decided to keep the annual cost of a driver’s licence down to $26.25, but recently they also announced an increase in registration fees to raise money for public transit.
These are separate things? Is there any point in increasing one and decreasing the other?
Nicole 11:33 on 2024-12-21 Permalink
Drivers’ license is for the person, registration is for the car. Perhaps this is a way to increase the price for drivers but not those just using a license for ID?
Nicholas 11:41 on 2024-12-21 Permalink
Yes! If you drive but don’t own a car, or own fewer cars than you otherwise would, you come out ahead. Communauto and car rentals also get marginally more expensive, but those are spread out over many people.
The money from your licence goes to pay for SAAQ processing (employees, buildings, etc) and the no fault insurance premium (which again is being lowered, ostensibly due to a large surplus). Car registration fees pay for processing and for transit. Note this increase is, I believe, only in the Montreal area (CMM), so most other Quebeckers, who mostly live in CAQland, will just see the decrease, I think. Not saying I would design the system this way, but it does have some logic.
Blork 18:11 on 2024-12-21 Permalink
As others have said, they are very different things. A drivers license is just that; a license. A license to do something (drive). It doesn’t mean you will own a car or even drive very much, but it means if you have occasion or need to drive, you can.
But a car registration is for the car. You don’t even need to have a driver’s license to own a registered car AFAIK; you can buy and register a car that only your spouse or your kids drive.
And when it comes to all the evils associated with cars, it’s the CAR that’s the problem, not the license to drive them. Many people have drivers licenses and virtually never use them. It’s the car that’s the problem, not the latent drivers.
(Side note: I’m always a bit baffled as to why someone would opt to not get a driver’s license. It doesn’t mean you have to use it, but it gives you flexibility and makes you less dependent on other people when travelling, etc.)
Kate 18:46 on 2024-12-21 Permalink
I didn’t really opt at any point. My parents never drove. I grew up in the city with a circle of a dozen friends. We weren’t suburban mall rats. Nobody had a car or drove then, as we reached our twenties. I’m sure most of them drive now, but we didn’t then, because between bicycles and public transit we managed quite well.
I’ve mentioned before: I have lousy depth perception. It’s not a failing you’d notice, and in fact it took me awhile to make sense of why I could never catch or hit a ball. I’ve mentioned giving up cycling because of having too many close calls in traffic. This was why. I can’t tell where things are in 3D space, especially at speed.
It’s mostly not a hassle, although I created an embarrassing social situation not long ago in a house I’d not visited before: someone directed me to take a specific seat, and I didn’t notice some steps down to a sunken living room on one side, because they’re just the sort of thing I don’t perceive well, and I slipped down them like an idiot. I’m sure everyone thought I was drunk, but I wasn’t. I was just experiencing poor depth perception – again.
So that’s why no driver’s license for me. It’s safer for everybody this way.
Ian 18:54 on 2024-12-21 Permalink
I didn’t have one until I had kids because I figured, hey, I live in a city. Paying this kind of rent to live in a city that has transit makes up for not needing a car., and if you don’t have a car, who needs a license? I had a passport for ID should I need somethign official. Then I got kids. You ever try to carry a stroller with a 2 year old in it and a bag of groceries hanging off the handles up the metro stairs? It sucks. So I started using communauto for trips to the biodomw or whatever with the kids.
When I got a job in the west island I found taking the STM three hours (at best) to get me back and forth to a two hour class didn’t thrill me either – and the train wasn’t running when I needed it. I tried commuting with Communauto for a while, looked at the numbers, and figured I’d get a car.
That said, if I didn’t work in the west island, I would probably still be fine with Communauto. Even Car2Go was useful if only one passenger was coming.
DavidH 18:55 on 2024-12-21 Permalink
Call me cynical but I think it’s all a show. Otherwise, we would have had these hikes before. The current raise in car registration is being blamed on the ARTM and public transit, the low driver licence has been presented every year as a CAQ miracle. If they could not divert the blame (and funnel the praise), I feel like they would keep things equals.
Last year, the ARTM asked publicly for CAQ’s help in getting more funds and it let to a public bras-de-fer. The ARTM publicly blamed the government for not honoring their engagements to cover covid-related deficits before things were finalized. Low and behold, public transit was portrayed as the evil trying to rob the suburbanites’ well-earned money and CAQ as the defender of the working man. They refused any hike even though we were also getting a rebate on our licenses. This year, they learned to play within CAQ’s rules and keep the blame for themselves and they got what they wanted.
Blork 14:35 on 2024-12-22 Permalink
Kate, for you I will make an exception. 😉 And bear in mind my perspective is coming from a time and place where if you didn’t drive you didn’t go anywhere or do anything. Driving gave one the freedom to escape; it was the gateway to adventure. Even as an adult, I think of the various places I’ve been and jobs I’ve done (including a two month gig travelling throughout UK and France taking photographs for a travel guide) that would not have been possible without a driver’s license. Not owning a car; just having a license to drive one. I’ve never used my own car for work, and I have rarely used my own car for travel. But I’ve rented and borrowed cars all over North America and Europe and have had great adventures doing so. I’m not saying it’s for everyone. Some folks are happy to stay in one place or to play connect-the-dots by train. I’ve successfully travelled that way too, and loved it. But sometimes it’s nice to be able to go where the trains don’t go.
EmilyG 13:15 on 2024-12-23 Permalink
Not everyone can learn to drive. It isn’t just “opting not” to get a driver’s license.
There are various reasons someone might not be able to learn to drive – from the expense of paying for driving lessons, to not having someone to practice with, to various conditions some people might have (physical or mental.)
I did learn to drive (once I finally had the money for driving lessons.) I currently haven’t driven in years, and don’t intend to again. There are many reasons, including that there are so many things involved in upkeep of a car, and having to know a lot of rules around parking and the like, but mostly because I have a lot of anxiety and I think I’m much too nervous to drive.
As for my license, I used to pay the fee for it every year, but I think it’s lapsed by now.
I’m lucky to live in the Montreal area, where public transit is good enough to go all sorts of places. I wish society in general was friendlier to people who don’t drive.
Joey 13:44 on 2024-12-23 Permalink
I think the province has medium term plans for a digital ID – I assume a non-trivial number of Quebecers rely on their driver’s license to act as a legit form of identification.
Blork 14:30 on 2024-12-23 Permalink
@EmilyG, I understand. My bafflement only applies to people who can but choose not to. Seems a bit silly to me (which I know is an opinion informed by my particular background).
jeather 15:32 on 2024-12-23 Permalink
Can’t you use your medicare card if you don’t have a license for ID? I know in Ontario you can’t use your OHIP card, but I don’t believe that’s a law here. (Maybe you can’t use your medicare card in Ontario?)
Kate 18:11 on 2024-12-23 Permalink
Yes. I’ve used my health card many times for ID.
jeather 19:04 on 2024-12-23 Permalink
I use whichever one I grab first for things like package pickup. I suppose a non license ID with address can be handy
Kate 19:17 on 2024-12-23 Permalink
Yes. I have no ID with face, name and address. Even a passport isn’t evidence of a street address, as you fill that part in yourself and can change it if you need to. I’ve always brought some recent official letter or bank statement with me when I vote, along with my health card, to attest to where I live, but it’s never been asked for.