The need for the city of Quebec to equip itself with a structuring public transit network is beyond doubt. On the other hand, the choice of a traditional tramway on rails with suspended cables still seems questionable to us and not suitable for our city. Recent polls indicate that a majority of citizens do not support this project. We think there is still time to ask questions that could help the community reflect on the relevance of getting involved in its realization.
Why question the project again? The more time passes, the more the initial arguments which led to the choice of the tramway on rails lose momentum. Electric vehicle technologies have advanced phenomenally over the past five years. Electric vehicles of all sizes are appearing massively on the streets and on our roads. Road traffic observation and control systems have multiplied. Intelligent position control systems are now so widespread that the majority of citizens have applications that make it easier to get around, all means of transport combined.
In this context, an autonomous electric tramway, on pneumatic wheels, combined with a real-time control system for fleet movements, traffic and traffic lights seems to us to be an option that must once again be considered.
This solution would eliminate the main expensive and invasive elements of the traditional tramway: rails, concrete, tunnel, overhead electrical wires. It would significantly reduce tree cutting. An electric tram on pneumatic wheels is a solution that would be agile and flexible, evolving with the needs of users, demographic changes and the inevitable appearance of new technologies. A railless, wireless tramway would even make it possible to integrate the south shore of Québec, as of now, into the tramway implementation and development plan. This would give unprecedented meaning to the “structuring” aspect of the planned public transport network.
A major argument is in our opinion too little considered in the reflection on the choice of technology. In reports and studies, a tramway has always been compared to other technologies. Now, the comparison that must be made is not simply between a tramway and something else; you have to compare a tram in Quebec with other technologies that can be implemented in Quebec. Two intrinsic characteristics of the Québec tramway make it considerably less attractive than other technologies: the necessity, in Quebecto build a tunnel to make the tramway viable, and the harsh winter conditions in the city.
Express service by bus
The main argument of the tramway project seems to be its transport capacity of 3900 passengers per hour per direction (pphpd), while the needs of the city of Quebec projected in 2041 would be 3600 pphpd at peak hours, according to the BAPE report on this project. However, as the BAPE noted in this same report, “in the previous feasibility study conducted by the cities of Quebec and Lévis, the SRB mode [service rapide par bus] was considered sufficient to meet demand until 2041”. Indeed, an SRB has a capacity of 3000 pphpd, which is therefore very close to that which seems to be required at peak for 2041.
Need we remind you that the SRB mode of transport is much less expensive and its longer route would make it possible to reach more of the boroughs of Quebec, including the airport service, without a connection. In addition, unlike the tramway on rails, electric buses or the tramway without rails do not require the digging of tunnels, duplication of maintenance equipment and training to use this same equipment, equipment specialized in track maintenance (snow removal, grinding, etc.), install catenaries and fell trees, to name but a few examples.
The advantage of the tram compared to the electric SRB or the tram without rails is therefore only conceivable if a ridership of 3600 pphpd was reached in 2041 and the transport capacity of the buses did not change by then. In either case, nothing is less certain! Remember that the City of Quebec has already changed its mind about its projected traffic and that the pandemic has reduced the travel needs of citizens.
In addition, large-capacity double-articulated electric buses (tramway without rails) (more than 300 passengers) have been developed and deployed in China since 2018. Such vehicles can complete their journeys quickly, among other things because they have as many doors as a tram on rails and that they can control traffic lights. These electric buses or “tramless without rails” and those that will follow them promise capacities in excess of 4500 pphpd.
Faced with so many uncertainties, is it wise to choose the least flexible and most expensive solution? Current analyzes give little consideration to the uncertainties of needs and to all possible solutions. Considering that the effects of the choice of mode of transport will be felt over decades, we therefore propose a moratorium of at least one year so that these uncertainties and solutions are better studied and taken into account.
This would also leave enough time to update the cost of the project and thus allow citizens to better understand the risks and benefits of the City’s choices. Ultimately, this would generate better acceptance of the mode of public transportation chosen for Quebec.