On Wednesday morning, the President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM), Michel Leblanc, surprised many by proposing to ban solo cars in the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel during peak hours. His leadership was rewarded; he was applauded by several mobility experts and, better still, François Legault, the Prime Minister himself, echoed the proposal and said he was considering it.
So let’s imagine it’s applied. What’s going on ? A good proportion of the population will change their departure times; another will take public transit or opt for carpooling; others will transfer to the Jacques-Cartier and Samuel-De-Champlain bridges. Remember that the thresholds for use of the latter are already at 105% and 121% of their pre-pandemic levels…
Let’s be clear, the CCMM’s proposal is excellent, but it needs to be complemented by other measures. The simple fact that the communication campaign of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility is entitled “What is your plan B? underlines the extent of the problem: the car is plan A. We have built a system through which the car is indispensable.
So what can be done to provide more support to commuters?
An obvious solution is to stimulate carpooling and public transport. A great way to do this is to provide dedicated lanes, especially in very congested places, such as bridges and the tunnel. With good will, this could be put in place in a few weeks.
The logic is simple: if we can double the number of people per vehicle, transforming a general lane into a reserved lane is equivalent to adding a lane.
In order to maximize the use of these reserved lanes — and therefore to further relieve the other lanes — a pricing system could be applied for single motorists wishing to use the reserved lanes. Moreover, this money could in fact be used to improve the quality and frequency of the intercity bus system, in particular by setting up a network of eco-shuttles — remember that shuttles already exist through the “What is your Plan B ? “.
That said, a problem remains. People love their cars because it picks them up at point A and drops them off at point B. However, suburban transit does not yet offer this flexibility.
This is where car-sharing and micromobility take root, including, for example, bicycles and electric scooters.
Subsidized car sharing
It’s common to think of apps like Uber and Lyft as substitutes for public transit. However, a recent study shows that car sharing, when subsidized for the last mile, is in fact complementary. That is to say, it helps to increase the value of the network. In this sense, individuals opting for eco-shuttles could not only benefit from reserved lanes — thus allowing them to save time — but also from having the support of car-sharing services during the last mile.
This option is particularly attractive for the east and west of Montreal, which are not as well served by public transit. Especially since companies wishing to do so could also contribute; they would do well to do so in these times of labor scarcity.
Bike sharing system
An even more affordable and decentralized system is bike sharing. Although imperfect in our winter context, it allows you to complete the last kilometer easily. An American study on mobility in the city of Washington reveals that it also reduces car congestion by approximately 4%.
Moreover, a bike-sharing system is more effective in heavily congested areas — a bit like the Jacques-Cartier and Samuel-de-Champlain bridges. In this sense, “Bixi” stations on the South Shore of the bridges, in particular equipped with electric bicycles, are assets. That said, it is up to the government to offer incentives to Bixi — or other sharing entities — so that the fleet takes this avenue or that of micromobility, with electric scooters.
The partial closure of the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine tunnel will put pressure on the road system. However, it will also be a golden opportunity to reform our mobility to improve affordability and efficiency. The above proposals go in this direction and are achievable in the following year.