Tunnel, boat or bicycle, which wins the race?
La Presse tested several ways of getting from Boucherville to Maisonneuve‑Rosemont hospital, which it takes to be a typical distance travelled by someone crossing the river in that part of town, and a typical destination.
Despite recent cries of anguish in the media, a car still clocks the fastest time via the tunnel, and a second car came close by taking the Jacques‑Cartier. The boat (plus a bus trip) takes longest but is noted to be the least stressful way of making the trip.
Blork 10:17 on 2022-11-01 Permalink
Interesting test. No surprise that the car was still the quickest, even with the tunnel “nightmare.” Apparently the traffic hasn’t been as bad as predicted so far, but that might partly be because there SO MUCH was said about the coming commuter apocalypse that nothing could have lived up to the anticipation.
It’s also no surprise that the public transportation options take so long. Public transport needs a total overhaul and re-think, not just a few added express lanes and swapping one Byzantine fare system for another. But I do not expect that overhaul to come anytime soon, as it would cost billions and would mean a major do-over of road infrastructure, and no one has the tolerance to do that after we’ve been doing that non-stop for the past six or seven years.
The primary killers of the desire to use public transport are (a) proximity and (b) all that standing around waiting. By proximity I mean how close is the nearest bus or Metro station? In most parts of the city there’s a stop pretty close, but in many cases you might have to wait 20-30 minutes between buses, and the bus might not go anywhere near your destination. Out in the more thinly-populated areas it’s much worse, and when you do get a bus it’s set to feed you into a more central area when maybe you need to go across the system not with the system.
Look at the route taken by the person in the article who took the navette from Boucherville. What are the odds that there’s a bus near her place that takes her directly to the boat? (Probably nil.) So she probably has too walk quite a bit, and if she misses the bus she’s basically f*cked, as that means she’ll miss the boat. STESS! And if she does make the boat, what are the odds of there being a bus on the other side that takes her from the dock directly to her place of work?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… standing around waiting for a bus is the public transport killer. Especially if you have to take two or even three different buses to get you to your destination.
I think what we’ll see over the next three years is basically that the car commute will be as bad as ever and sometimes worse, as opposed to the ALWAYS THE WORST that has been hyped. The part that bothers me (as someone who does NOT commute to the city daily but likes to occasionally pop in on the weekends) is the extent to which weekend traffic into the city (and out again) has gotten bad. We never used to have lineups for a bridge at 10:00PM on a Saturday or at noon on Sunday, but I’ve been seeing it.
BTW, none of the above should be seen as a “pro car” stance. Just calling it as I see it.
Kate 11:11 on 2022-11-01 Permalink
As a bus user, I’d say any wait under 15 minutes is tolerable. More than that, especially in wintertime, begins to be a burden. My worst experiences with buses in recent years have been unexpected detours and cancellations of stops. I haven’t had to get anywhere by bus late at night since the pandemic, though.
Blork 11:29 on 2022-11-01 Permalink
I’d say “tolerable but barely” and some people have no patience at all. But the real problem comes with the accumulation of waits if you have to take two or even three buses. Imagine a 45 minute bus commute where only 15 minutes is spent on the bus but 30 minutes is spent waiting (15 minutes x 2). Ouch!
Blork 12:46 on 2022-11-01 Permalink
Also: the occasional 15 minute wait is tolerable, especially if you’re just going from A to B to do some random thing, as opposed to your daily commute. Waiting 20, 30, or more minutes outside EVERY DAY, maybe TWICE A DAY on your daily commute can make you lose the will to live.
Joey 13:32 on 2022-11-01 Permalink
Sadly, I suspect a lot of the tunnel commuters would sooner quit their jobs or move house before being caught dead on a bus every day. And I say this as a lifelong bus fan.
thomas 13:41 on 2022-11-01 Permalink
I believe that studies have shown that the key metrics for public transport are predictability (i.e. when the bus will be at the start and stop of their trip to allow people to plan their day) and comfort. If these are reliably satisfied people will accept a reduced frequency and longer trip.
mare 15:13 on 2022-11-01 Permalink
Since a hospital has a helicopter pad, I was going to comment that taking a helicopter from the south shore would certainly be the fastest solution. But I checked on Google Maps and Maisonneuve‑Rosemont hospital doesn’t *have* a helicopter pad, although there are some possible landing spots nearby.
Of course I had to look up other Montreal hospitals and found out that only Sacré-Coeur Hospital has a helipad, not even the Heart Institute. As far as I can tell the province has no trauma helicopter service (it had a pilot project 4 years ago) despite having large swats of very sparsely populated areas. Well I guess it’s cheaper not to have one.
mare 15:30 on 2022-11-01 Permalink
The most relaxing way would be an electric bike. I don’t commute but have ridden on mine to off-island places and it’s *much* less stressful than taking the car and often does take less time than using public transport.
From regular commuters I hear that one big advantage is the predictability: they don’t have to account for possible delays caused by traffic jams or missed bus connections, their travel time is almost always the same. It saves a lot of time that you don’t have to spent in the gym too, because despite it being electric you do get a workout. Our winters are an issue though, especially when bikes paths are closed or not maintained. And if many people are changing to a commute by bike we need more infrastructure, especially on the Jacques-Cartier, where it’s already too busy and sometimes a dangerous situation with pedestrians and ebikes sharing the same, narrow and bi-directional path.
(The bike network on the south shore and in Laval is surprisingly good btw, and of very smooth road surfaces.)
Blork 16:26 on 2022-11-01 Permalink
Mare, as you know, I’m a big fan of electric bikes. But that’s just not a realistic or desirable option for many people for a variety of reasons. In the article above it took the cyclist 1h 21 min. Not everyone wants to spend almost three hours a day on a bicycle just to get to and from work, especially given the volatile climate we have. Also, some people simply don’t feel safe cycling in the city, or they have health or mobility issues that makes it not very feasible (especially in the rain or a snowstorm). Plus, people often have to pick up their kids from daycare on the way home.
That said, if it’s doable then do it! 🙂 I used to love riding my bike to work from Longueuil to downtown back before the plague. It took about 40 minutes or so, and was good exercise. But not without its inconveniences, such as WHERE DO YOU LEAVE YOUR BIKE? (I was lucky; my office had a locked “bike room” just for that purpose.) Plus the whole changing of clothes thing, and sometimes a shower, which is always a bit awkward at work. And I wouldn’t ride my bike if there was any threat of rain because I cannot stand biking in the rain (and not all electric bikes are weatherproof). I also wouldn’t take it if I were going out after work for drinks or other entertainment, as I didn’t want to be riding at night with a belly full of beers (I would take the Metro on those days).