By dint of letting the REM project develop in a vacuum and for the sole interests of its promoter, a monster has been created. A cannibal who can only live if he is allowed to devour other modes of public transport.
Posted on February 13
Except that now, we know: 94% of users of the REM de l’Est will come from existing modes of transport. Even if these studies were imperfect, we see that there will be very few passengers who could leave the car at home to use public transport. Ten billion is a dear price paid for so few results.
It was predictable that any study of the Eastern REM project would reveal to us the cannibal hidden there. Because everything stems from the business model chosen by the promoter, the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec – whose job is not to transport people, but to generate profits.
To find its profits, the CDPQ chose a royalty model: 72 cents per kilometer traveled by each passenger for the REM de l’Ouest. It will probably be higher for the East one due to lower traffic.
It’s good performance, but it’s completely exaggerated compared to other public transport networks. Thus, 72 cents per kilometer is four times the fee that the Caisse receives for its Vancouver SkyTrain.
But the Caisse was thinking big. While the initial project was to be a train to the airport and another on the new Champlain Bridge, we quickly arrived at a service to the West Island of Montreal.
To do this, the Caisse was allowed to acquire the right-of-way for the Deux-Montagnes commuter train line, where an electric train that was working well was replaced by another smaller, less comfortable electric train, since passengers will have to make the trip standing. Prime example of cannibalism.
The second REM line to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue serves the same clientele as the current Vaudreuil-Hudson commuter train line. Users will only swap one train for the other. Second example of cannibalism.
For political leaders, the REM is a trap. For a limited contribution, the Caisse will build the train, determine the route, do the required expropriations – all the difficult work, in short – and then deliver everything turnkey. Even though it’s a “get now, pay more, later” thing, it’s irresistible.
At the time, Philippe Couillard was looking for a legacy. He chose the REM. But he had to grant advantages to the Caisse, such as special powers of expropriation and the right to sell the entire network after only five years of operation.
But above all an obligation for all the other transport companies not to compete with the REM and to fold their bus lines on the REM. Third example of cannibalism.
Enter François Legault, who placed an order for a REM in the east of Montreal, the area least well served in terms of public transport.
Except that the Caisse did as usual: ignore the existing networks and build according to what would bring in the most money.
This has resulted in a network that competes rather than complements the metro, with minimal connections because the longer the passenger stays in the REM, the more the Caisse earns. Fourth example of cannibalism: the biggest and most harmful.
So what do we do now?
First, demand transparency. The Caisse set great store by its expertise and its ability to deliver the REM de l’Ouest “on budget and on time”. We now know that this will not be the case. We now need an accurate cost estimate for the Eastern REM, including the various landfill scenarios that will need to be considered.
Then, we reject the “without the REM, there is nothing” approach. It is possible, and still time, to rethink a project, with lighter, less expensive and less ugly infrastructures than the horrible concrete pylons.
We must work from the metro, in addition rather than in competition with it.
Service from a metro station to Pointe-aux-Trembles and further east. By tram, light rail or other means. We are also maintaining the idea of a line on Lacordaire towards Montreal North and we are pushing to Rivière-des-Prairies.
With a total bill that will probably be lower than the 10 billion of the REM, which would serve more passengers and would be more suited to the needs of eastern Montreal – where the majority of residents do not go downtown.
But what matters now is getting rid of the cannibal. He’s done enough damage already.