Carpooling considered for congestion
The ARTM has been asked by the transport ministry to set up a carpooling system to reduce the congestion inevitably coming when the REM construction and the L-H-Lafontaine tunnel work overlap. But why make this a temporary measure? I know some American cities have permanent carpooling lanes and a culture called slugging has grown up around it. Montreal may be attaining that kind of size and sprawl.
Blork 11:17 on 2020-01-14 Permalink
Unfortunately I don’t see slugging culture working very well here.
For one thing, it won’t be allowed to form and grow on its own, organically. Instead, some bureaucrat will be put in charge of it and a few million dollars will be spent on creating nonsensical signs, formulating rules that are hard to understand, and a Sid Lee campaign full of cutesy stick figures with love hearts for heads will be created with posters plastered all over the Metro and buses.
60% of cars will be disqualified for arbitrary reasons (no SUVs, no lone male drivers, no two-door vehicles, etc.) and anyone wanting to be a slug driver will have to apply for a slug sticker via a badly formed web site using outdated scripting that fails on most browsers (either that or bleeding-edge scripting that fails on most browsers). They will have to figure out which of seven categories they fit into and choose one of four incomprehensible “plans” they want to belong to. Then they’ll have to pass a series of tests and electronically agree to a 14-point (and 120 sub-point) terms of service agreement. Commuters who want to slug as passengers will also have to pass a similar battery of tests and agreements, plus they will have to specify where they will wait for their slug ride, under threat of fines if they ever wait anywhere else.
All users (drivers or passengers) will need to go to Berri/UQAM to get a photo-ID created between the hours of 10AM and 4PM, Monday to Friday.
Nope.
Raymond Lutz 11:40 on 2020-01-14 Permalink
Blork, vous oubliez le système de notation mutuelle pour évaluer la qualité du voyage, la compagnie des autres sluggers, la propreté du véhicule et l’entrain de son conducteur. Technocrates are everywhere.
Bill Binns 12:14 on 2020-01-14 Permalink
What Brick said but he forgot about the taxi drivers going bananas once again because people have been given another method of getting around.
I don’t see the Montreal cops doing the massive enforcement that an effective carpool lane program needs. That swiftly flowing lane presents a massive temptation to drivers sitting in gridlock without the required number of passengers. Montreal drivers do not handle temptation well. There has to be a very real possibility of a $500+ fine to keep people out of that lane. This means it has to be possible to pull cars over and write tickets during peak traffic without making things even worse.
walkerp 13:13 on 2020-01-14 Permalink
These comments are all too depressingly accurate. Some things really are insanely backwards here. I don’t drive on the regular so never really realized that there aren’t HOV lanes here. This is the equivalent of not having garbage cans where you sort by type. Dark ages, man.
Kate 14:47 on 2020-01-14 Permalink
Blork, hilarious genius comment.
Ephraim 15:02 on 2020-01-14 Permalink
A camera enforcement system… working or not… would be a great deterrent. About a camera every 100m or so. Heck, if you do mail people the tickets, you could likely pay for a new roof on the stadium just from those tickets.
mare 17:56 on 2020-01-14 Permalink
There are carpool lanes in Quebec. I know at least one in on the 15 North in Laval. No idea how/if they enforce it, probably by cop cars running after you.
Ian 19:47 on 2020-01-14 Permalink
Also on the 20 and on Sources. This is a not a new issue or solution, just the idea of the city sticking its fingers in that pie is new. Like Blork I have my doubts.
John B 09:59 on 2020-01-15 Permalink
I believe strong enforcement and a requirement for 3+ people have been identified as factors in making Slugging a thing in Washington.
As for enforcement, there has been at least some of the Montreal-area ones.
Michael Black 10:07 on 2020-01-15 Permalink
At one point, reserved lanes here didn’t have much limitation. So a taxi was allowed if there was a passenger. It made no sense, and I wrote Richard Holden at the time, and the fact that I never got an answer made me dismiss his value as an MNA.
I don’t know if that’s changed.
Ian 11:30 on 2020-01-15 Permalink
Taxis are definitely allowed if they have a fare. The lane on the 20 seems to be mostly full of cabs bringing fares into town from the airport whenever I’m around there. I only carpool with one passenger as our schedules match up which isn’t always the case in my line of work, so we can’t go in the reserved lane but whatever, the traffic’s not that bad at the time of day we are there.