The strength of a public transport network is based on several criteria: the quality of its service, its accessibility, its deployment and, as its name suggests, on the fact of being… a network!
Posted yesterday at 2:00 p.m.
The faster and more efficiently connections are made between rail systems (tramway, train, etc.), the road network (buses, reserved lanes, etc.) and active modes of transport (cycling, walking, scooters, etc.), the more this network becomes attractive to citizens. The more likely we are to see a modal transfer, that is to say to encourage motorists to use another mode of transport.
However, the changes that the Caisse de dépôt has just announced for its Eastern REM, in the Mercier sector, go exactly in the opposite direction. While the North branch will be connected to the metro’s green line via L’Assomption station, it is now proposed to disconnect the East branch in order to move a portion of the route to an existing railway right-of-way that runs along Souligny and Dubuisson avenues.
We are thus dropping the connection with our underground system for the districts east of the Olympic Stadium, where certain metro stations are still underused.
Result: transportation options are eliminated for users and the REM is isolated rather than developing an overall vision to better serve citizens, who do not only need to go downtown. This “disconnection” from the metro is also likely to have a collateral effect: that of reducing the financing of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) through the effect of cannibalization of customers.
At the service of a business model
Note that it is not the role of the Caisse to develop a coherent vision with the existing infrastructures, but rather that of the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM)… which should probably have, at the base, piloted this dossier. . Or at least be more involved in the development of the project. The Caisse thinks above all about its business model, based on profitability. Transferring users to complementary networks is detrimental to its profitability, especially when you receive a contribution per kilometer traveled by your customers…
This change of route in the East is all the more questionable for the residents of Mercier, who will see the worsening of an urban divide that has already hurt the sector for several years.
Anyone who has traveled in the neighborhood has noticed that the Canadian National (CN) rail right-of-way makes north-south travel hazardous, in addition to creating two solitudes on each side of the tracks. Cars have to tediously synchronize to cross at certain intersections, making life rather difficult for pedestrians and cyclists.
And as if that weren’t enough, this urban scar will be amplified by the REM airways, which will reach “10 to 12 meters high” near low-rise residential buildings. Not to mention the noise pollution generated by the Caisse’s trains. If the residents of the area are already used to the noise caused by freight trains, the REM is not comparable with a frequency of passages which will be much higher.
And there, I spare you the security issues under the structure and the cleanliness of the premises. Graffiti artists will inevitably be seduced by the REM’s future concrete pillars, which will stretch as far as the eye can see.
Not surprisingly, moreover, to note that the citizens of the sector gave a very mixed reception to this announcement by the Caisse. Many of them still hope to see an underground REM in their neighborhood in the hope of preserving their quality of life.
In short, the more the project progresses, the more we wonder if it is desirable for the metropolis. In addition to jeopardizing living environments and the urban landscape, the established business model will cost Quebecers dearly, while cannibalizing the current transportation networks. Is it really worth it collectively?