Montreal goes into COP15 mode

Barricaded and ready for any eventuality, the Palais des Congrès is now officially located on UN territory, a few days before the start of COP15 in downtown Montreal. Already, the first delegates, coming from all over the world, have arrived in the metropolis.

This is what most residents of the city center have seen in recent days, as the hotels gradually filled with delegates who came to attend the many discussions on the protection of biodiversity scheduled for the next few days.

Around the Palais des Congrès, the imposing perimeter of security barriers is now ready. Partial obstructions are to be expected on the Viger, Saint-Urbain, Saint-Antoine axes, as well as Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle. The barriers are expected to remain in place until mid-January.

Everywhere in this quadrilateral, the police presence is felt. The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) plans to spend close to $25 million to ensure the safety of delegates and the population from December 7 to 19. The Press reported at the end of November that the Montreal police also plan to spend considerable sums to house their troops, but also to rent additional vehicles and set up a “temporary” post downtown.

In recent days, simulations have also taken place in order to prepare security corridors that could be used if necessary. Remember that demonstrations are planned to denounce the insufficient means of the COPs to fight against the climate crisis. Thousands of students have voted a strike mandate to participate, but it is still unknown how many people will attend.

Good news… and not so good

On Tuesday, the City of Montreal announced its intentions in terms of transport, presenting its 2023 budget. By 2032, we plan to invest 6.4 billion in the road and bicycle network. The Plante administration also intends to accelerate the development of the Réseau express vélo (REV), in addition to setting in motion new sources of taxation to finance sustainable mobility.

The challenge remains, however, as new data from Statistics Canada showed last week that the use of public transit to get to work has dropped by half compared to about five years earlier.

In the metropolis, the budget hole continues to grow at the Société de transport de Montréal (STM). From a total of 43 million last year, it has now reached 78 million. The level of service will also once again be lower for certain bus and metro lines in 2023, even if the operator says it “aims to maintain” the pace.

Last week, we reported that millions of dollars had been spent in Montreal in recent months to convince users to reconnect with public transit. Operators believe that such awareness-raising activities are bearing fruit. But the reality is that the metropolis is still far from pre-pandemic attendance, with barely 75% of users returning, on average.

Concerning the east of Montreal, the City finally assured Friday that it was discussing with several suppliers in order to obtain “better prices” to carry out the extension of the rapid service by bus (SRB) Pie-IX to rue Notre -Dame Est, which had been put on hiatus this fall due to excessive costs.