A ticketing blitz was carried out on illegal taxis at the airport, last month. But the authorities know the phenomenon continues.
Updates from March, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
-
Kate
-
Kate
Quebec has signed the contract for $870 million with a consortium that will replace the Olympic stadium technical ring and roof.
Those of you with kids – your grandkids will still be paying this off.
Michael
Can’t wait for next Quebec government 10 years down the line to raise the QST to pay for the cost overruns.
maggie rose
Legault is laughing at us, isn’t he.
steph
Already? I was hoping they would drag out the tender process with more studies and more detailed financial and technical plans. Just copy paste any and all the Blue Line extension excuses we’ve been given over the years.
Kevin
And it’s still going to need millions of dollars in annual maintenance, and substantial upgrades to make it a venue that any act wants to perform in.
The CAQ is wack.
Nicholas
Glad I don’t smoke!
-
Kate
A study shows that among Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City and Montreal, it’s Montreal that’s hurting most from climate change.
bob
The paper is not about global climate change, it is about urban heat islands largely created by urban sprawl, which, so far, have had a larger effect on urban climate and health than global climate change:
Purpose
This study aims at identifying the impact of urbanization on urban climates of Eastern Canada.
Methods
Gridded climate data were used over the 1988–2017 period to investigate inter and intra-annual trends of daily minimum and maximum temperatures and precipitation, within and outside the four largest cities of Eastern Canada (Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City and Toronto).
Results
Montreal was identified as the city where urbanization impacted temperature and precipitation the most. An urban heat island is particularly visible at night in summer and winter and has increased over the period. Urban precipitation has become less frequent and intense in the city compared to its rural surroundings, particularly during summer. The reduced capacity of cooling by precipitation reevaporation, and a modified albedo during winter, may have reinforced the urban heat island. Both rain and snow have a major impact on PM2.5 [particulate matter] concentrations, particularly on the day following the meteorological event.
Significance
Better awareness of the impact of urbanization on urban temperature and precipitation will improve our ability to predict the consequences of its acceleration on citizens’ health, and to adapt our cities accordingly. To the best of our knowledge, no such study has yet been conducted in the region.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212095523003759
Kate
Thank you, bob.
Meezly
This has been known for some time. Wasn’t there a program to plant millions of trees in Montreal for the next 5-10 years?
Kate
Meezly, I riffled back through previous stories about trees here:
March 2022, the mayor promised 17,500 new trees would be added that year.
September 2022, another story said the city had 100,000 more trees than ten years previously. These trees had been planted on private and institutional land.
November 2022, the David Suzuki foundation promised to fund the addition of half a million new trees here by 2030.
May 2023, federal environment minister Steven Guilbeault promised more than 275,000 new trees for the city by 2030. This story doesn’t mention the promise from the Suzuki folks so we don’t know whether the numbers overlap.
September 2023, La Presse did an informal survey, looking at how many trees are missing from public spots where there’s meant to be a tree.
All of this is against the backdrop of the federal plan for two billion trees.
(I’m pleased to see that stories I linked from Metro before it shut down are still accessible.)
-
Kate
A temporary injunction has been granted to keep pro‑Palestinian protesters away from Jewish community buildings in CDN‑NDG borough. The injunction is only meant to last for 10 days.
-
Kate
We already have a “special weather statement” warning us of heavy rain and snow coming this weekend.
jeather
No storm warning image for us? It’s barely gotten use this winter.
Kate
Had to dust it off!
MarcG
While we’re meta-ing, did I miss the calendar for 2024 or did you not make one this year?
Kate
I didn’t make one this year. Nobody noticed till now!
walkerp
I’m not buying it. Environment Canada is just desperate for attention because they haven’t had to do enough this winter.
MarcG
@Kate: I noticed earlier I just never saw an opening to mention it. 🙂 I really enjoyed the “best of” comments and your art.
From the special weather statement: “It should also be noted that the accumulated snow could be heavy and sticky. This could add considerable weight to structures and trees, making them more vulnerable to breakage.” I hope they’re wrong.
Kevin
I want to note that meteorological winter ended last week.
Ian
There’s always the possibility of snow – and not unseasonably – until the end of April. This last week has just been an early taste of Fool’s Spring 😀
@Kate I had noticed too, and was wondering about it. I figured you were just taking a break.
Kate
I was fairly busy before the end of the year, and never found the moments to riffle for quotable bits or work out an effective theme. And then it was already 2024.
I’m touched that people noticed.
I’ve got time to think about a theme for 2025!
Ephraim 20:18 on 2024-03-07 Permalink
There are 4 lanes, 2 next to the terminal and 2 on the next street over. Set the two next to the terminal to work only with a transponder available to taxis, buses and registered cars. So they can’t get close to the terminal. And have to work around the drop off zone. Which will be closed as of this summer anyway.
Joey 11:55 on 2024-03-08 Permalink
Given how badly organized the taxi/Uber pickup area of the airport is, I can understand how someone would accept an offer for an ‘illegal’ cab instead of waiting 15 minutes for an Uber to arrive from 200 meters away.
Ephraim 14:46 on 2024-03-08 Permalink
@Joey – Who would take an Uber from the airport anyway? They manipulate the rates. You get a rate, they cancel in hopes of creating a rush and the price will skyrocket to $80 to $90. The best argument for taking a taxi is Uber. See https://ibb.co/zs9yqnH as example.
Blork 16:32 on 2024-03-08 Permalink
Ephraim, true enough, but for most people under 35 they simply cannot fathom doing anything that’s not app/phone driven. Even if there are some taxi companies that have apps, it means nothing to anyone who already has the Uber app and simply accepts that they are being f*cked over by Uber because they just assume that’s how the world works.
In other words, they assume their only options are (a) be f*cked over by the app I know and have, or (b) be f*cked over by some app I don’t know and don’t have. The choice is obvious.
Ephraim 16:41 on 2024-03-08 Permalink
Blork – There are taxis with apps. But it’s just a taxi rank, at the airport. You walk to the door and into a taxi. We are in the fixed price zone, the price is clearly listed. But to be honest, I think that Uber should be required to honour the exact same zone with a maximum price that is equal or below the fixed price set by the government. They shouldn’t be allowed to gouge people. Of course, in Quebec eventually this exact kind of thing goes to class action. I’m sure some lawyer in Quebec is ready to argue that being a fixed price zone, the extra charged is simply a hidden add-on fee by Uber (even if disclosed, hidden fees are illegal in Quebec) and they will eventually have to settle it in front of a judge for HUGE sums.
walkerp 16:48 on 2024-03-08 Permalink
Maybe it’s because of Uber but I haven’t had a wait for getting a taxi out of the airport in years. Why would you take an Uber when it costs more and you have to deal with all that pick up nonsense?
Blork 18:14 on 2024-03-08 Permalink
Ephraim, I know there are taxis with apps, but my point is that any under-30 who uses Uber on a regular basis is not going to go searching for a different taxi app just for their rare (or even occasional) airport run. Path of least resistance, etc. etc.
And I agree that Uber should be required to honour the same rates if they’re going to have the right to provide airport service.