Montreal City Weblog

Kate 22:30 on 2019-02-26 Permalink Reply  

• mare 01:08 on 2019-02-27 Permalink

  Public transport should be extra *expensive* on those days. So many drivers, not wanting to dig out their car, already take public transport after snow storms, and the metro is filled beyond capacity. Making it free will funnel even more people in, who after surviving that ordeal will think “That? Never again!”
  Not a good way to promote public transport and make people change their mode of transportation.

• Jonathan 04:32 on 2019-02-27 Permalink

  Somehow i feel it’s unjust to make it free just so that people who own cars can more easily get to work. There are people who take public transit everyday who have to contend with it no matter what happens the day before.

  While I don’t think it’s the best solution, what mare is suggesting seems more just. At least, increase the cost of a single ticket that day, so that it doesn’t penalize people who regularly take the metro (and usually have weekly or monthly passes).

• Hamza 05:54 on 2019-02-27 Permalink

  Who takes their car to work because taking the STM is too expensive?

• Chris 09:32 on 2019-02-27 Permalink

  I’d just like for public transit to *work* the day after a snowstorm. It’s basically the only time I use public transit (I bike otherwise) and the bus is never on schedule, or even doesn’t show up. (Or is that how buses always are? I realize my impression in likely skewed, as I only use them when weather is bad.)

• Blork 11:28 on 2019-02-27 Permalink

  Hamza, people who don’t commute on a regular schedule might find pubic transit more expensive than driving. These are people who own a car regardless, so the long-term cost of the car is not relevant.

  So someone who only goes into the office one or two days a week from the south shore, for example, might spend a dollar or two on gas for that ride but public transit would be $13.00 (there and back, single ticket on two transit systems). That assumes they have access to free or cheap parking of course (some people do).

• jeather 13:00 on 2019-02-27 Permalink

  If you own a car, it’s rare that the variable cost of any one trip is more than the bus tickets are (depending on parking/number of people), because the cost of an occasional round trip bus ticket is not low. If you want to get regular car drivers to use the bus, it needs to be less expensive in money than a car, because it will often already take longer, and “more expensive plus takes longer” is a really losing proposition.

• Ian 15:11 on 2019-02-27 Permalink

  More to the point having people on the road in private vehicles is a safety risk and makes it more time consuming to clear the roads. Maybe a more effective route than free public transit would be for the city to declare an emergency, forcing employers to let people stay home unless they are working in essential services.

• Kate 21:41 on 2019-02-27 Permalink

  Apparently a lot of people did stay home on February 13 – almost every school was closed and the radio was telling me the roads were surprisingly empty. Makes me wonder how much rush hour traffic is caused by school runs.

• Ian 08:54 on 2019-02-28 Permalink

  Quite a bit would be my guess. The buses and even the highways are a lot clearer when school is out. I suspect this is also because a lot of people are away on vacation, though. When I’m teaching summer classes I can get from Mile-End to Sainte-Anne is as little as 35-40 minutes any time of day, but when school’s back in it’s 45-60 even if I’m teaching early morning classes.

• walkerp 14:50 on 2019-02-28 Permalink

  I suspect the decision to close CSDM schools was based on your point, Ian, rather than because people couldn’t get to them. At most public school as far as I know, everybody lives nearby and driving your kids to school is the exception. I think they were like, ah f*** it we have only had one snow day so far, let’s just close them all and make everybody’s life easier. The decision was made the night before, when the storm hadn’t even really started.

  If that were the case, I am in agreement. It was kind of a hassle for some parents job-wise, but collectively made it easier and safer for everybody.