Study shows disdain for public transit
A study by some marketing consultancy allegedly found that many Montrealers still love their cars and don’t foresee moving to public transit anytime soon. But note that the study was commissioned by Transdev, described on Wikipedia as “French-based international private public transport operator,” which may have its own motives for phrasing a study to produce this outcome.
Bill Binns 13:40 on 2019-06-06 Permalink
Is it really so hard to believe? The opinion of the STM by people who don’t ever use it is that it’s crime ridden, seriously overcrowded and unreliable. That opinion isn’t really all that far off either.
How many times have we heard of the STM or the cops telling us to “hide our valuables” while using the system? Don’t have to worry about that in a car. Anybody with eyes can see the overcrowding problem for themselves or read about it on the news every other day. Plenty of elbow room in your own car. Reliability is a mixed bag on the STM and decreases sharply if you are unfortunate enough to need to use buses. Traffic is a problem in a private car but it’s also a problem with buses. Sitting in traffic in your own air conditioned car beats the hell out of standing on a sweaty motionless bus in that same traffic.
You can compare our system to those of other cities and I’m sure it will compare favorably to some but it’s a stretch to compare it to the on demand, door to door, private, comfortable (i.e. seated) experience of driving your own car. Not to mention the fact that people often need to travel with “stuff” which is hellish or near impossible on most public transit. Try doing a Costco run on public transit.
Uatu 13:52 on 2019-06-06 Permalink
Well if it means Transdev can convince the gov’t to spend more money to improve transit then ok. I ride Transdev buses and they’re garbage. Any cash to improve them would be greatly appreciated
walkerp 14:56 on 2019-06-06 Permalink
“Crime ridden”?! It is to laugh.
Bill Binns 15:36 on 2019-06-06 Permalink
@walkerp – Crime free but hide your cell phone?
walkerp 16:14 on 2019-06-06 Permalink
If people are hiding their cellphones on the metro, they sure as hell aren’t doing it around me. It looks like a frightening sci-fi movie where the exception is the person not on their phone. Do you hide your cell phone when you take the Metro?
Bill Binns 16:48 on 2019-06-06 Permalink
@Walkerp – I do not hide my phone. I realize that most other people do not hide their phones. The fact remains that the STM, the organization responsible for our safety in the Metro has repeatedly told us to do just that. There have also been a great deal of muggings involving phones, especially around Lionel Groulx and Beaudry over the years. These things make the news and help people who do not use public transport to form their opinions of the service.
Anyway, what’s the sense in haranguing people to give up their cars if there is clearly very little capacity left for commuters on public transit?
Blork 16:50 on 2019-06-06 Permalink
Every parking lot in town has a sign that says to not leave valuables in the car. That’s pretty much the same message as “hide your valuables.” (One might recall a small wave of “grab and dash” cell phone robberies a few years ago; AFAIK that’s no longer happening at any appreciable level.)
But I get your point, Bill. I think you’re talking about people’s perceptions as opposed to any kind of reality.
CE 17:24 on 2019-06-06 Permalink
I think the fact that occasional cell phone robberies are making the news is proof that they happen very rarely. You’d be hard pressed to find a comparably sized US (or even European) city where cell phone robberies on public transit would be reported on TV or in the newspaper.
I’d be more worried about my car being broken into and my phone stolen than someone mugging me and taking my phone on the metro.
Kate 21:45 on 2019-06-06 Permalink
I haven’t seen much in the way of random cell phone robbery reports lately, no. The fact that pretty much anyone who wants a smart phone can have one now might be a reason. They’re not rare and interesting as they were 12 to 15 years ago.
Bill Binns 09:10 on 2019-06-07 Permalink
http://www.iheartradio.ca/cjad/news/look-montreal-police-seek-suspect-in-violent-iphone-mugging-on-metro-1.8683972
Kicked in the face for a cell phone. I was all for the open style of the Azur trains but I had forgotten one huge drawback of this type of train that allows people to travel from car to car while it’s moving. New York / Paris style beggars and muggers who can now victimize the entire train while it’s moving.
Kate 09:54 on 2019-06-07 Permalink
Bill Binns, while Shuyee Lee is a good reporter, I have my doubts about that story. It was posted in late January but the suspect’s in summer clothing. Not saying it never happened but there’s something off about it.
The way you speak I think you’ve got a touch of Mean World Syndrome. I use public transit daily, and have used it at all hours throughout my life, from when I got around alone as a kid from about age 9 onward, mostly travelling as a single unaccompanied female, and doing so has never scared me for one moment. I’ve also been doing this blog for more than 17 years and have seen exceptionally few reports of bad behaviour on transit. Yes, of course isolated incidents occur: this is a big city and there’s bound to be some unruly shit, but there’s no reason an able-bodied adult man should fear taking public transit here.
You talk about muggers. I will link any stories I find about muggers terrorizing an entire metro train. That will leave me with plenty of spare time because IT DOES NOT HAPPEN. The worst “terrorizing” I’ve seen on an Azur was when a man and woman got aboard and started yelling about Jesus. It was annoying, but it wasn’t a crime.
Adding: remember, this is a town where it gets reported if shots are fired but nobody turns up injured.
Kevin 14:47 on 2019-06-07 Permalink
@Kate
The assault happened in September.
It just takes police months to deal with this kind of crime.
Bill Binns 17:13 on 2019-06-07 Permalink
@Kate – I did not say I’m fearful on the metro. The article is about people “loving their cars” so much that they have no plans to ever switch to public transit. You have a small chance of getting kicked in the face for your cell phone on the Metro. You have no chance of getting kicked in the face while travelling in your own car. Private car vs. Metro is really no contest except in really limited circumstances (such as mine – live across the street from a Metro station, wife works a mile away, I work from home, live next to a big grocery store). As I have said before. Make public transit better and people will gladly leave their cars at home. Instead, we try to guilt trip people into “taking one for the team” and willingly switch to an inferior mode of transit.
I have seen tons of sketchy shit on the Metro though and I’m a casual user. As far as your observations over the years, I don’t doubt it but I think you and I observe our surroundings somewhat differently. I will respectfully remind you of your comment a while back that you had only ever seen 3 women wearing niqabs in the city in your entire life. That comment occurs to me every time I visit Jean Talon Market and see multiple women in niqabs or burqas per visit.