Following the Gazette’s last negative swipe at the STM’s plan for hybrid buses, transit writer Jason Magder allows that the model chosen will save 15.4% on fuel. I fear that the closing paragraph reveals who’s pulling this writer’s strings on transit, or at least feeding the Gazette fragments of leverage against the Plante administration.
Updates from February, 2019 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Fodor turns its attention to Montreal; only one of its photos was taken in winter, and we only get to #3 of ten before it sends us to Quebec City. But in general, not a bad attempt.
david100
Pretty good one. This article came up in my feed with the title “Why you should visit Montreal instead of Paris” which is interesting. The whole ‘Montreal is European’ thing wears until you spend a whole in LA or Miami and you understand that it’s shorthand for walkable + different language + older buildings + lots of bars and restaurants. New Orleans is frequently called ‘European,’ as I’d San Francisco. Still, comparing any of the three to Paris, I don’t know.
Kate
They seem to have changed the Paris headline since I linked to it. Maybe somebody in Paris PR slapped them on the wrist.
No, there’s no way Montreal can be mistaken for an old European city, but if you’re American and have a limited budget and/or are nervous about Europe, it might be an OK place for a trip. Mildly adventurous, but not too far from home.
Quebec City comes closer to suggesting a European town but is, of course, smaller and with fewer obvious attractions than Montreal.
Phil
“Montrealians.” That’s new.
CE
There are definitely Americans who think Montreal is “European” in the most literal sense. On more than one occasion, I’ve heard people with American accents walking down St-Paul and say “oooh, it’s just like Paris!”
My friend’s brother, who lives in LA, once went to Toronto for work and commented on how “European” it was because they have restaurants where people could eat on the street and he thought the streets were narrow.
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Kate
An Art Nouveau building designed by Joseph-Arthur Godin, who also created a more familiar one at the corner of Sherbrooke and St-Laurent, is going to be demolished soon. The building, which belongs to the SHDM, is between the tiny streets Christin and Savignac, south of St‑Denis and Ste‑Catherine, and is apparently decrepit beyond saving. It will be replaced by a new building, although this article doesn’t explicitly say the new one will be social housing.
DeWolf
It was “poorly constructed” and yet it has stood for 100 years. Hmm.
Kate
I figured maybe that means the SHDM can’t use it for social housing because it can’t be made to meet modern standards for fireproofing, exits and so on. I’d’ve thought the answer then would be to sell the Christin Street building for a nice price to someone with the cash to preserve it properly, and use that money to convert or construct social housing somewhere else nearby.
Martin
This is unacceptable, whatever the reasoning. When are we going to learn from our past mistakes ?
Ephraim 09:12 on 2019-02-17 Permalink
Is this the fault of the STM, the fault of Nova, or the fault of the Quebec Government, which has a buy Quebec requirement, which means we don’t buy the best, we buy local, even if it’s crap.
Kate 12:59 on 2019-02-17 Permalink
Is there technology that can deliver better numbers in a climate like ours?
Ephraim 13:38 on 2019-02-17 Permalink
The Man City Electric Hybrid is made to cold start at -32C and is supposedly 30% more efficient than diesel. It’s German. I’m sure there are others. And of course, trams don’t use fossil fuels, but electricity instead. And of course, there are electric buses (you know, like in Toronto.) But there are other manufacturers of Hybrids. Of course, none of them were actually consulted. We don’t have a choice, we have to buy from Nova…. no matter the price, reliability or even suitability.