The problem with the free metro plan
The shoe had been on the verge of dropping in my thoughts, but Taylor C. Noakes got there first: the city’s free metro plan is fundamentally flawed in several ways, not least being that it makes no sense to have the free stations clumped together downtown, sometimes no more than five or ten minutes’ walk separating them.
Making these stations free means you’re basically sending people home for free, not bringing them downtown – although Noakes points out the odd idea mentioned by CBC that people will only be able to circulate for free among that small group of stations, and would have to pay to go beyond them (although how this would be established to the satisfaction of the metro security goons is not made clear).
Spi 17:02 on 2022-06-22 Permalink
It’s a poorly thought out piece. To begin with, this is a city of Montreal initiative, it wasn’t going to offer free entrance to off island residents. Keeping in mind that it’s only free because someone else is paying for it ($2 million from the city of Montreal), not because Plante waved a magic wand to make it so. I don’t see how you justify to Montrealers that people from Laval and Longueuil get free passage paid for by Montreal tax payers.
Taylor presents the initiative as a transit project, it’s not it’s a downtown vitality initiative. His entire section about transit cops pestering people is based upon one article that’s very likely to be wrong in its reading of a press release and then continues to make a huge hoopla about hypothetical transit cops controlling people. I’ve never seen an inspection blitz happen on the weekend and the spokesperson stops just short of telling riders there won’t be.
To his point, why not make the whole system free? Why not start it at midnight so people have a free ride home from the bar? Because again, it’s only free because someone else is paying for it and this isn’t a transit initiative to up ridership, it’s a downtown initiative to get them downtown shopping supporting shops. I don’t know of any shops that are open at 11pm on a Friday night, does anyone?
The entire article is just a straw man argument from the start.
“This feels a lot more like partially subsidizing people to go shopping at underused downtown malls on the weekend” Yes Taylor, that’s exactly what it is, it wasn’t disguised as anything else. I get that you need to write 500 words about something for Cultmtl this month, but you can do better.
Blork 17:41 on 2022-06-22 Permalink
Yeah, it’s a flawed idea, but I also agree with some of what @Spi says above, about the article.
First off, the thing from CBC saying the free ride only applies to rides between those few stations is so patently idiotic that it must be a mistake on CBC’s part, so let’s just dismiss that altogether.
Regarding whether the “free” should be coming or going, I think it’s fine the way it is. The idea that you can get downtown for free but you have to pay in order to leave is just wrong and backwards. (It’s also a bit weird to pay to go downtown and then you’re free to leave is also a bit odd, but less odd than the opposite.)
I agree with Noakes and others that they should just make the whole system free. Ideally from 6:00PM Friday until closing time on Sunday. If nothing else it would be a test of how a free Metro system would work. But it would also encourage more people to try it.
As Noakes points out, many people use a monthly pass, so this free thing means nothing to them. But for people who pay as they go, it’s not clear to them what to expect in terms of when it’s free, where it’s free, etc. (You can’t expect people to memorize the schedule and which stations apply.) So I suspect most non-pass holders will just see this as something else to be confused about and will just forget about it.
Taylor C. Noakes 18:20 on 2022-06-22 Permalink
Hi @Spi, thanks for reading. A few points:
The proposal came about with the involvement for the STM and ARTM, who presumably represent the interests of people not living within the city limits. I don’t see why Plante didn’t contact her colleagues in Laval and Longueuil to get them to chip in on the project. Seems like that would have been an easy couple of calls to make, especially given the ARTM’s involvement.
Sure seems like a transit project to me: Plante states the best way to visit the downtown is by using public transit, and the two major partners are transit agencies, not Destination Centre-Ville or Montreal Chamber of Commerce. The message I’m seeing is ‘try public transit to get downtown’ and it’s tied in with the end of free parking in the city. It’s half-priced Métro, not a free coupon for $5 off at the Phillip’s Square Burger King with every Metro ride, you know what I mean?
I’ve had the misfortune of being surprised by an undercover STM goon validating transit fares, and I’m a big tall white guy. It was unpleasant, and, based on some recent videos circulating online, far less pleasant for so-called visible minorities. The point is that when the STM spox was asked how exactly they plan on verifying fares, he didn’t have a clear answer and only said they were still considering it. For a lot of people in this city, transit goons are a source of anxiety. It’s not a trivial matter.
This whole nonsense idea that it’s only free because someone else is paying for it… no. All public transit in the whole province receives public subsidy to one degree or another, but it’s also not a zero-sum game. The train runs whether it’s full or empty, and it’s being paid for by people who live in Kuujjuaq, Pierrefonds, the Gaspé (etc). We’ve all already paid for that train to run.
I’m not sure this counts as a straw man argument, since I didn’t exaggerate the thing I’m opposed to. I literally quoted the press release and what was reported about the mayor’s actual plan.
Daniel D 10:15 on 2022-06-23 Permalink
For a perspective from another city, The Guardian has an interview with Boston’s mayor on the topic of free transit: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/22/mayor-michelle-wu-boston-interview
Taylor C. Noakes 11:36 on 2022-06-23 Permalink
Thanks for sharing that Daniel. The second paragraph neatly summarizes all the key reasons why transit ought to be free:
“Championing free public transportation as part of a broader focus on affordability and tackling carbon emissions (…) This March, the city dropped the $1.70 fare for three bus lines that serve predominantly low-income areas and people of color. Amid budgetary concerns, the city will use a Covid-19 relief fund to make up for $8m of lost revenue. Ridership on the first free bus line has soared by 48%, from 47,000 to 70,000 weekly riders.”