To save money, the STM is abolishing 180 positions to avoid making cuts in bus and metro services. That was TVA’s report, but La Presse says it’s 230 positions.
Update: TVA has now corrected its story to 230 positions.
Updates from February, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
The mayor has shuffled her cabinet with intentions to focus on building more residential units and better supporting tenants. Luc Rabouin is now chairman of the executive committee, Dominique Ollivier having resigned from the role following the mini scandal about spending at the OCPM.
Ian
Ah good ol’ Mr. “traffic flow studies? We don’t need no stinkin’ traffic flow studies” himself. I can hardly wait to see how that plays out with housing “planning”.
The. danger with shooting from the hip is if you’re too rushed you might blow your own nuts off.
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Kate
The Americans are, for some reason, worried about the latest version of Quebec’s language laws, so Bloc leader Yves Blanchet emailed the U.S. Secretary of State to tell him to back off. Likewise, Justin Trudeau’s Quebec lieutenant Pablo Rodriguez has said Americans need to adapt but he was obviously ruffled by Blanchet’s overstepping his role: “Blanchet is not Quebec’s ambassador in Washington, nor Canada’s ambassador.”
Meantime, David Lametti, in his farewell speech to Parliament, asked François Legault to stop making Quebec anglos the scapegoat for the perceived decline of French.
JaneyB
This is such a perfect nugget of Canadian/Quebec news. Has everything! (Though not the acrobats…yet)
Uatu
On my morning commute I noticed that the Farine Five Roses sign will have to be updated with a giant FARINE to ensure everyone knows what’s what.
Ian
via Tourisme Montréal –
“The Old Montréal rooftop sign originally read FARINE OGILVIE FLOUR, then became FARINE FIVE ROSES FLOUR in 1954, until the word ‘FLOUR’ was removed from the sign in 1977”
…so hypothetically there’s already room for it up there?
It is rather exciting to live in an era where historical evidence of languages other than French “needs” to be erased to “protect” the dominant culture.Uatu
I remember when the sign was fully bilingual at night. The Farine and flour parts would light up individually and then all together. It really was a representation of Montreal in one sign
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Kate
The SPVM is thinking of creating an anti car theft squad considering that 12,000 vehicles were stolen here in 2023.
Does that mean the SPVM will want even more money?
Incidentally, Ted Rutland tweeted recently about Statistics Canada’s report on gun crime in Canada’s cities in 2022: “As usual, Montreal’s was well below the average – which is not the impression you’d get from listening to the police and the media that year.” Regina looks like a hotbed of crime by comparison.
Ephraim
It’s pretty standard… our statistics of reported crime are up… we have to do something or everyone will realize we aren’t doing out job. Beg for money for that specific job. Hope to get a handle on it. They should have had bait cars for YEARS. Maybe I’m a cynic in this matter, but maybe the SPVM should be the reporting agency and the SQ be in charge of apprehension, since they have had YEARS to set up bait cars but haven’t… they just wait long enough for it to spiral out of control.
There are so many ways to tackle this car theft problem. The first is passing federal laws on the tracking and encryption standards of cars and a penalty on car manufacturers to cover the cost of policing because the security is so lax. Car manufacturers have an interest in cars being stolen, because they get to sell another car. So you need to disincentivize it. The second is to punish countries that accept stolen cars. Cars are ending up in Africa… what if development aid was contingent on fixing the problem? How soon would they stop the illegal registration of cars if development aid was redirected?
Joey
Seems unfair to peg aid funds to foreign governments putting a stop to crimes… committed here! I imagine that the people who actually wield power in the countries where these cars wind up (i.e., probably not democratically elected officials who are solely accountable to the people) would be very happy to forego aid in order to maintain their stream of illegal income.
Kevin
It’s long past time we had multiple X-ray machines at the Port of Montreal and treated it like something serious.
Instead we have one machine and rarely appearing customs crews at a port that moves nearly 200 containers an hour 24/7.
Kevin
John B
Expansion of the terminal started a while back, and it’s due to open summer 2025.Ephraim
@Joey – There is trade as well. But I’m willing to bet that they would rather check VINs than forego the money that they need to either siphon or buy their votes or support from the army. These are mostly countries with “Palace Guard” armies. Less money is not a good thing.
Ian
It’s not very expensive to get a remote-activated kill switch installed on your vehicle.
If you have one of the more popular models to steal like a CR-V it’s a very good idea.Blork
According to a report on CBC the other day, it’s not just about people stealing cars out of driveways; it’s gotten more dangerous. In Ontario there’s been a spike in home invasions where the thieves actually bust into your house or apartment — while you are there — and demand the keys at gunpoint. Also a spike in car jackings.
Joey
It should be added (and this may be more lore than fact) that the market for stolen electric cars is apparently non-existent. I guess the crime lords of Central Asia or wherever aren’t interested in plugging in overnight. One more reason to go electric!
Blork
Hmmm, fascinating. If that’s true it’s probably because the places where the cars are being shipped and sold (Middle-east and Africa mostly from my understanding) don’t really have the recharging infrastructure built out, whereas gas stations are everywhere.
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Kate
St-Hubert Airport is being renamed, or as we say in our time, rebranded – it’s now the Aéroport métropolitain de Montréal, with the call sign MET and ambitions to become a full second commercial airport for the urban area.
DeWolf
I’m pretty sure the airport code will remain YHU because you can’t just change those codes on a whim. They’re regulated by IATA.
Which means the MET branding is rather confusing…
Kate
Then they’re going to nickname it MET because they know Americans can’t deal with “Aéroport métropolitain de Montréal.”
DeWolf
I’m still mystified by the business logic behind this expansion. St-Hubert is closer to downtown as the crow flies, but with bridge traffic the travel time is the same or longer. At the moment, for instance, it’s 26 minutes driving time from Place Ville-Marie to YHU, versus 17 minutes to YUL.
I’m not sure anyone who doesn’t live on the South Shore will opt for St-Hubert (ahem, MET) when YUL is much easier to reach. Especially after the REM airport line opens in 2027.
Nicholas
There’s a small airport in Australia that already uses MET. As for AMM, observant readers will recognize we already have flights to Amman, Jordan from YUL. I bet IATA will make them knock it off, them being closer to YHU than any other airport.
Joey
@DeWolf not really a fair comparison – it’s so quick from PVM to YUL in the middle of the day because there isn’t too much highway traffic and PVM is a moment away from the highway. From, say, Parc and Mt-Royal it’s 30 minutes… I’d venture to say there aren’t many places on the island (at least the parts not near Dorval) where you can get to YUL in under 25-30 minutes in ideal circumstances. As we’ve seen lately, sometimes the last kilometre can take half an hour or more…
I gather the business case is (a) better terms for carriers – cheaper landing fees perhaps, maybe more of a chance, at least at first, that boarding/disembarking, etc., will be a lot quicker than YUL, which can’t keep up with its volume (compare YYZ with YTZ, for instance) and (b) more convenience for south shore and easter Montreal residents.
Why you would choose a name that is synonymous with the worst highway in Quebec is what really mystifies me.
Blork
The expanded “MET” isn’t really about serving people who live on the island. Nor is it just there to serve St-Lambert and Longueuil; it can provide service to the entire Monteregie region, which is like a million and a half people. That’s a million and a half people who won’t have to cross a bridge and drive across the island of Montreal in order to catch a flight to Toronto or Halifax or whatever. That is significant!
Hopefully this will accelerate the plan (if there even is one) to build a REM line along the 30 between Brossard and St-Hubert, which would create a direct rail link between the two airports.
If only the yellow line expansion had taken place; that would have created a direct Metro link between MET and downtown Montreal. But I doubt that will ever happen. (If I were in charge I would reconfigure the yellow line rolling stock to be rail-based, which would allow it to surface in Longueuil and then run as a tram, which would cut expansion costs tremendously. Alternatively, build out the expansion in a shallow covered trench instead of a tunnel. But that ain’t gonna happen.)
MET won’t be the airport’s callsign, but it will be its “brand,” sort of like the way Trudeau is often referred to as “PET” even though its callsign is YUL. PET and MET kinda work though, no?
Blork
Oh, and BTW there is of course the expected outrage from people who live nearby because of the extra noise. As someone who is sensitive to noise, I get it. But FFS if you don’t like airport noise, don’t buy a house or condo RIGHT NEXT TO A GIGANTIC AIRPORT THAT HAS BEEN THERE SINCE 1927!
For me, in Longueuil, it’s like a dream come true. Chez moi is not on the flight paths (I checked before buying) and it will be fantastic to have an airport WITH ACTUAL COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS only 7km away!
Speaking of flight paths; it’s ironic that Chez moi is on the flight path for PET! Commercial flights pass directly overhead dozens of times a day as the do the downwind leg of their approach. Fortunately they’re usually at about 5000 ft when they fly over, so the noise is not significant. …and when I say “directly overhead” I mean that. If a door plug popped off it would land right in my yard!
John B
There’s already an Exo station at St-Hubert airport – just at the opposite corner of the airport from the terminal buildings. It feels like there should be regular train service between there and Gare Centrale, then a shuttle to the terminal, or maybe move the terminal to be near the train station, since it’ll probably have to be rebuilt or expanded anyway.
However, talking about using an existing railway line to serve a location close to, but not in, an airport terminal feels like the last 50 years of YUL….
Tee Owe
I like YooHoo as an airport call sign
Blork
Correcting myself here: YUL and YHU aren’t “callsigns” they’re “airport codes.”
The EXO station near the St-H airport isn’t really “near” the airport for practical purposes, although it looks like it on a map. In fact it’s abut 2.5km, or a 30 minute walk from where the terminal will (I think) be. Not exactly convenient, even if a shuttle service were put in place. Hopefully any future REM station would dip underground and arrive right at the terminal. Otherwise it’s borderline useless.
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Kate
Kids get hit by cars overwhelmingly in school zones, so the public health department is asking for limits on the presence of cars close to schools.
Joey
Amen. Any pilot project should start at private schools in neighbourhoods among the top 10% of household income in the city.
DeWolf
Dollard Boulevard in Outremont is closed to traffic in front of Collège Stanislas as part of a pilot project. Amazingly there have been complaints from neighbours about… kids making noise when they leave class and hang out in the car-free street.
Ian
Well teens are pesky 😀
Truth be told though I think Outremont is doing a pretty good job in this regard. The street closures and the 20 km/h speed limit on Lajoie really calm things down.
CE 19:27 on 2024-02-01 Permalink
I’m not sure how the STM would even be able to reduce service anymore without making it nearly useless, especially on the bus network.
DeWolf 20:24 on 2024-02-01 Permalink
I was in Chicago on two occasions this month and it’s pretty dire over there. The most frequent bus lines run every 10 minutes, which is okay, but the famous L is down to 12 minute frequencies most of the day, with a lot of delays and cancelled trains – meaning you could be waiting on the platform for up to 30 minutes.
Bus service here is worse than it used to be, but at least the metro is reliably frequent.
Still a sad situation. We shouldn’t have to be content with “better than the rest of North America.”
Ian 20:45 on 2024-02-01 Permalink
If there’s any kind of snow it’s actually faster for my partner to walk home from P-des-A to Mile End than wait for the 80. It still gets stuck on that hill up to Sherbrooke fairly frequently, for one – which was always an issue – but now that the buses come less frequently it could be a 45 minute delay with lineups at UQAM snaking around the corner for a bus that isn’t coming.
Shame to hear Chicago has gone downhill so much, I remember taking the L in the early aughts and marvelling at how efficient and convenient it was.
Blork 10:14 on 2024-02-02 Permalink
CBC’s radio report says that most of the abolished positions are unfilled ones, meaning they’re jobs that no one is actually doing at the moment. Only about 50 actual people will be cut, and they are all administrative (no drivers or ticket-takers).
Ian 19:47 on 2024-02-04 Permalink
THAT makes a lot more sense. I had seen somehting earlier about no public-facing workers losing thier jobs, I guess that’s part of what they meant.