A woman was found dead Sunday evening in a Rosemont residence. A man was taken in for questioning. So far, that’s all there is to this story.
Monday afternoon, the question remains whether this was a murder or a suicide – the TVA link above has been updated – although the presence of a man with a criminal history does tend to weight things toward the former conclusion.
A study done at McGill finds, to no one’s surprise, that the STM bus network needs better funding. The pandemic led to a permanent cultural change and the system is still running with a scant 80% of its pre‑pandemic ridership.
After Denis Coderre’s slashing of bus services, the system barely had a chance to rebuild confidence before Covid came along. Now it will take time and money to win riders back.
In other transit news, Exo trains are seeing increased ridership in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 2023. Even so, ridership is only at 47% of what it was in 2019.
Like every other indoor environment, they’ll need to provide safe, clean air, to win back this user.
How do you feel about the air conditioned STM buses?
I can’t find enough details about em to know if they ventilate or filter, they could just recycle the air. That wouldn’t be super smart, though, since the CO2 would rise throughout the day and probably have the driver half-asleep by the end of their shift. But we don’t give a shit that this happens in school classrooms and causes learning loss, headaches, constant illness, etc, so…
The New Flyer buses seem to use Thermo King (a division of Trane) TE15 HVAC units. The only information I can find about filtration is that they have filters for intake so that the HVAC unit itself doesn’t get damaged by road dirt, salt, debris, etc. So, not sure how good filtration is.
I’ve only ever been on one air conditioned bus. IIRC, it was an EV bus on the 36 line. So very little experience with them. It was pleasant, though!
When I have a 10 min bus ride a fully AC bus is nice for the cooling factor, but I’ve now taken an express bus from Cote Vertu to DDO and the 40 min bus ride ( express in traffic… :-/ ) was a bit too much, the air felt stuffy and I would have killed for an open window, even with highway fumes! I know I am rather sensitive to CO2 I’m the one opening the car window regularly in winter because I find I lack air too fast in a closed car.
So anecdotal evidence is anecdotal, but I’m not a fall of AC buses where windows don’t open….
>Like every other indoor environment, they’ll need to provide safe, clean air, to win back this user.
Yeah, but there are vanishingly few ex-users like you. If they spend all that money to change bus HVACs, they’d regain you and 5 other hypochondriacs. With infinite money, sure, I’m all for it; but realistically, just not cost effective.
We’ll eventually have to clean the air the same way we clean the water, me and my 5 friends are just early adopters. And really, to crush Covid and other respiratory viruses we don’t need to spend a ton of money on outfitting busses – schools, hospitals, etc. would get us there. And the tech doesn’t have to be expensive, you can build a DIY air filter and clean a classroom for a few months for $150.
I can’t help but imagine a bunch of janky homemade air filtration systems duct taped to the top of all the buses.
Haha, I was suggesting that cleaning the air in high-density buildings would suffice and that modifying busses wouldn’t be necessary (punctuation is hard). For anyone who thinks cleaning the air to prevent respiratory virus infections is ridiculous or impossible here’s a WHO document from May 2020 explaining the modifications they made to the HVAC at their Geneva headquarters while telling everyone else to wash their hands. Sorry for hijacking this thread with my idée fixe, Kate.
Here’s a study titled A quantitative microbial risk assessment approach to estimate exposure to SARS-CoV-2 on a bus published couple of days ago by a bunch of hypochondriacs at the Journal of Transport & Health.
Test runs on the Deux-Montagnes REM line are to begin Monday between St‑Eustache and Ste‑Dorothée.
It was the first Sunday for the Cyclovia sportive Camillien‑Houde in which the road is closed to motorists from 7:30 a.m. till noon on Sundays and accessible to cyclists only.
Is it blocked off to pedestrians as well?
The sign does say “Rue barrée excepté [bicycle]” but I don’t know if pedestrians are explicitly barred. But it’s never been a pedestrian-friendly road.
No, not really – but if you come up the mountain from the outremont side through the woods, you need to cross.
I was more wondering if it would be possible to walk up on a Sunday morning or if you would get harassed by cops as oppossed to the regular entitled bicyclists cursing your presence on their piste.
I’ve gone to this many times. Lots of pedestrians walked on the road without fear of being killed by some car driver in a rush to get to work. Bikes had lots of room and there was no conflict with other users. A safe environment was had for all. It’s amazing what happens when you ban cars and trucks from what is supposed to be a park path.
Who’s in a rush to get to work Sunday morning? But yeah, good to know pedestrians are allowed. Thanks, marko.
More of this, while we wait for the magical re-imagination of that road that will satisfy all deeply invested and angry Montrealers. In the meantime, off-peak closures for cycling make a ton of sense. Anyway, the MAMIL contingency would do lots for its cause if high-calibre cyclists showed even a modicum of concern for pedestrians, cyclists and (even!) drivers during their return ride through Outremont, especially during rush hour.
MAMILs DGAF. There’s a reason they got banned from the cemeteries.
A wounded man was found beside autoroute 15 Saturday evening, apparently stabbed and dropped there by people unknown.
Trudeau airport is proposing to extend its opening hours till 1 a.m. and people living nearby have already started a petition against it. Right now, heavier planes can’t take off between midnight and 7 a.m.
People can disagree with the hours, but I honestly think this proposal is better than the status quo. Currently light aircraft can operate 24/7. Light aircraft aren’t just two-seater planes: take a look at all the commercial flights that leave at 6 am! And lighter doesn’t mean quieter.
The proposal would put aircraft movements into noise bands, with the quietest planes , based on international testing, given the widest window. Instead of using a proxy (weight) we’d be using what we actually want to measure (noise). And they allow a wider range for landings, which are quieter, than takeoffs in some cases, like today, recognizing that noise is what matters. And they are more stringent in the summer, when windows might be open.
The consultation website is actually very readable, and I think makes a reasonable case, though making some changes might be reasonable. Curfews are not super common in North America, and I don’t think we’ll be getting, say, Zurich-style “nothing scheduled after 11 and no late arrivals past 11:30” curfews.
I should add that the ability of windows to block sound varies immensely, and it’s not just price. Upgrading to more sound-proof, more insulating windows (which often don’t look “historic” but work much better) can make a world of difference, and not just near airports. Lots of people live near highways and train lines, and busy streets, and night districts.
Not to be obvious, but some of us like to keep our windows open. Not everyone lives in a place that’s hermetically sealed and mechanically ventilated.
(I’m listening to planes going over as I type. I don’t mind them but I can see how someone might.)
I like windows open too. But that’s a side point. Regardless, I think it is good to move to a noise model, not a weight model. And today some jet planes can land and take off 24/7, while if this goes into effect that will no longer be true. Today the largest planes are restricted from landing for just 6 hours and taking off for 7 (with a bunch of exceptions allowing operations during the curfew), while the proposal restricts them to 9 hours for the loudest planes and 7 or 8 hours (summer/winter) for the next level, plus 7 hours for takeoffs for nearly all planes except regional jets and propellers. So in many cases this is more restrictive than today.
And, realistically, they’re not going to close the second busiest airport in the country for 7 hours a day. Toronto Pearson operates 24/7, and has 6 hours of restricted flight time, where about 4% of passenger capacity occurs. Vancouver is also 24/7, with restrictions on larger planes only for 5 hours. They’re welcome to sign petitions, but they’re not going to close Dorval for 7 hours a day. It’d be like closing the highways on the island at night.
The increase in planes is a good indicator of GDP growth. The petitioners should focus on what counts.
Gonna assume that’s some top-tier sarcasm.
Changes in Quebec tax credits are putting many Montreal animation and visual effects workers out of a job. Studios are closing and much of the work is so specialized that people can’t instantly pivot to other kinds of visual work – and video games are also facing a slump.
Some outdoor Muslim prayers for Eid El-Adha have reliably spooked the usual suspects with MBC calling it “l’occupation de l’espace public par les islamistes.”
QMI is really piling on the dislike and distrust of Montreal, Sunday morning. “La honte a une ville” trumpets one piece, still banging on about the shortcomings of a rainy Grand Prix weekend. While another piece maunders on about trying to love Montreal except it’s so horrible that he can’t do it.
Good for the mayor standing up to the complainers. Catholaïcité is not a good look unless you’re a professional creep like MBC.
Well, I agree that the metro is too hot. That’s about it. Also, what’s up with that “chest” Anglicism? I thought those were the root of all evil.
“Montréal fait penser au New York des années 1970.”… hahahaha… right lol. Well here’s a good example of 21st century Montreal for you out of towners:
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