REM de l’Est is in question
La Presse has a big story Tuesday: the ARTM has brought out a report saying the REM de l’Est is poorly conceived, and the Caisse de dépôt says it can’t proceed with the project given the list of negatives presented.
Chantal Rouleau, responsable de la Métropole, insists the project will go ahead nonetheless, and is going to try to make the ARTM “redo its homework” so that the results come out in favour of the project. Mme Rouleau, that’s not how objective studies of transit needs work.
If anything, I’m mostly surprised that the Caisse is prepared to bow to the ARTM in this. It suggests that they may already have had their own serious doubts about the profitability of the project.
Kevin 10:31 on 2022-02-08 Permalink
I think the multiple waves of the pandemic in the 14 months since the REM de L’Est was proposed have sunk the project.
The STM is losing money, remote work is here to stay, tens of thousands of francophones have left the island… and it’s evident that the REM will do nothing but cannibalize existing transit users.
Add in the construction headache as we enter a generation with fewer workers, and there is no way anyone is starting to build this thing next year, let alone finish by 2029.
Jonathan 10:58 on 2022-02-08 Permalink
O-M-G. Shit hit the fan.
Mme. Rouleau is roiling!! I can only imagine. But this report can really be our saving grace.
ant6n 15:21 on 2022-02-08 Permalink
Ha. Very interesting.
But one should be careful with some arguments. For example, it may be desired that a line serves many ppl who already take public transit – if it allows them to travel more quickly and comfortably. New metro users shouldn’t be only built to convert car users to transit, but to improve as many ppl’s lifes as possible. It may even make sense to cannibalize existing metro ridership — if it’s used to relieve over-crowding. But those aren’t really the objectives of the REM est.
Daniel D 21:42 on 2022-02-08 Permalink
Anyone know if the REM est has / would have had a non-competitive clause like the one in the West? I.e. to removing bus routes to downtown to funnel passengers onto a single route?
DisgruntledGoat 02:06 on 2022-02-09 Permalink
I’m happy that some due diligence is being done on the project beyond the single stakeholder (Infra). I have been pro-REM in comments here but if the experts say it’s a bad idea *shrug*
That said, the East End is going to suck for transit for the foreseeable future then. I was hoping I could buy some kind of shoebox hovel near a plastic thermoforming plant and commute into downtown by 2030. Instead it will be some kind of hellish crammed bus trip like the Longueil to downtown route before the original REM.
The Integrated PIE-IX BRT Project might be finally getting up and running by Fall 2022, fucking hell! Originally tried in 1989. This is the speed of public transit planning and investment in this city since the late 80s. It’s shocking not not really looking promising.
Uatu 14:48 on 2022-02-09 Permalink
@daniel there’s a non compete on the south shore so it would probably be in the East as well
Faiz Imam 21:18 on 2022-02-09 Permalink
Stopping buses on the south shore makes complete sense, its quite normal to replace dozens of buses with a single high volume trunk line.
Even if they didn’t formalize it in a non compete contract(which I indeed find distasteful) good planning practice would be to terminate all buses at Panama anyways.
Wheras transit in eastern Montreal is totally integrated and complex, Theres really no way at all they could cut it up that wouldn’t be totally stupid.