A few glimpses of the possibilities in winter pedestrianization here and there around town.
Updates from February, 2025 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
The REM is issuing a mea culpa and making its trains free this week but only during rush hour as defined in the story. They won’t be running at any other time for the moment.
Here’s the big question: will replacement buses also be free? We’ll be having some mixed weather this week.
(I still haven’t taken the REM nor gone over the “new” bridge in any vehicle.)
Chris
I visited a friend in Brosard once, and we decided to take the REM home, just to try it. Got there and it was shut down. Nearby employee didn’t know where busses were. Walked a fair bit to find them, waited forever, and the driver said the bus took a long winding route to the metro. We called a taxi. Never tried again since.
Nicholas
Article you linked says the buses will be free. And I’m getting to the point that jail would be too kind a punishment.
Kate
Ah, I missed that, Nicholas. Thanks.
GC
So, now it will (maybe) run ten hours per day, rather than the advertised twenty? This also feels like a bit of a middle finger to anyone with a monthly pass. Those people presumably ride it the most frequently, or they wouldn’t have bought a pass…and thus are the most often inconvenienced when it breaks down.
Joey
Isn’t the big question whether the REM is a lemon? I understand they are stretched as they prep to launch the next phase, but I don’t think we are obliged to give the powers that be the benefit of the doubt.
GC
Well, we had a preview from Ottawa using similar tech and it wasn’t a good outlook. I believe the models Alstom built for Montreal are different than the ones used in Ottawa…but are the actual trains the problem? Every time I see mention of an outage, it’s usually the switches that are blamed.
Kevin
I took the REM for the first time this past Monday.
It was somewhat prophetic that the area immediately around the station was shoveled, but nothing was shoveled between the station and the nearest sidewalk.I had to take the bus home, but the attendants were nice enough to tell me where to find the best bus station.
Blork
Am I a bad person if I refer to it as the REM(on)?
Nicholas
Kate, it is possible the article was updated between when you first posted and when I saw it, maybe even in response to your question.
Ian
Oh don’t worry, I hear the REM isn’t any worse for downtime than the old train lines were. it’s all just in our heads. /s
dwgs
Rarely
Ever
Moves
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Kate
Aref Salem asks on TVA why, if Quebec City can do its snow removal in six days, Montreal can’t do the same. Maybe someone can draw the man a diagram.
CBC has a little video on why so many people didn’t know there would be no city pickups last week, leading to piles of recycling and garbage here and there.
A lot of people don’t pay attention to local news, is why. The city didn’t have time to do any PR, such as distribute notices, as some in the video seem to think they should’ve.
(My neighbourhood’s been really good about this – I haven’t seen anything like the messes shown in the video.)
MarcG
I got an email from the city about, but I think I explicitly signed up for notices about goings-on in my borough sometime ago.
Kevin
The city took its always-stated priorities of schools, hospitals, metro stations and thoroughfares and threw that in the bin.
Kate
After the first of our two big storms, the city said they’d do a quick cleanup, prioritizing streets with hospitals and fire stations but not mentioning schools or metro stations.
They’ve done an OK but not perfect job of clearing the sidewalks beside bus stops, as I noticed Saturday as I did some errands around town. Only once did I have to leap from the bus back door into a snowpile. Otherwise it was fine.
Nicholas
Last I was in Quebec they had a neighbourhood clearing method: every single street in an entire neighbourhood would ban parked cars for one overnight. I asked someone what do you do if you don’t have a private parking spot, and they said, well, just drive to another neighbourhood and walk home, then walk back the next morning. Yesterday I asked my neighbour, who used to work for the city in snow clearing, why they don’t just do both sides of the street at once, and alternate streets, rather than one side on each street. She said people would complain about having to park one block over.
Tim S.
I found the fact that they had to prioritize clearing routes for the dump trucks to get around fascinating. The kind of decision-making that goes into figuring those logistics would make for a great documentary (for me – not sure about the general appeal).
Kate: was not thrilled to see that the STM crew cleared the bus stop snow right onto the sidewalk in front of my kid’s school. Everyone’s got their priorities!
Joey
IIRC the city only announced the collection postponement on Monday – most folks in my area put their garbage out Sunday evening.
BTW they cleared our street today. One side had no parking signs, and they did both the street/parking lane and the sidewalk at once.
Nicholas
Joey, yes, they did some pickup on Monday until they realized the trucks couldn’t get through on many streets and that the bags ended up under snowbanks. So the Sunday night, absolutely, people were right to put things outside. The city could have done a better job alerting people, for sure. Maybe a cell phone alert, that would be one of the more useful ones ever done. (Probably not allowed, I know.)
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Kate
Don’t let your kids make snow forts, make them wear a helmet when sledding – actually, it’s safest to keep them inside, nice and quiet, with an ipad.
Nicholas
When I was a kid no one wore a helmet while skiing, except one person who liked to do tricks and go very fast. Last time I went skiing all the kids were wearing helmets. Not sure if it’s because of Natasha Richardson, but it’s night and day. Sledding seems much less dangerous, of course. Maybe it is a good idea to have at least one human, even a kid, outside the tunnels who can call for help, but that’s tough.
CE
I just went sledding with my friend and his 10 year old and nobody was wearing a helmet. It didn’t even occur to me that we should. While skiing and snowboarding, it’s probably not too bad of an idea.
Anton
Too much time on an ipad is dangerous for kids. Just sayin’.
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Kate
Friday, a La Presse journalist experienced getting downtown from Brossard on the REM. Or rather, not. Karim Benessaieh makes it clear that when the REM is “au ralenti” this is a euphemism for “not running at all” then gives us the navette bus trip (95% full, 26 minutes). He also shows how the lack of clear communication to passengers is a chronic problem.
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Kate
Artists demonstrated Saturday at the Quebec culture ministry to demand more grant money in a more sustained form. In the news at the same time: Quebec is boosting funding for Fête nationale celebrations.
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