It is not easy for users of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) to park their cars at the light rail stations. Since the fall, free parking has filled up quickly in the morning at the Panama and Brossard stations, and even drivers who pay to reserve a space do not always find one when they arrive.
Parking spaces have been available at Panama and Brossard stations since the REM opened in July 2023. Brossard station has 2,948, including 2,099 free spaces. Parking at Panama offers 324 spaces, including 227 free spaces. Management of paid spaces has been entrusted by CDPQ Infra to the company Indigo.
But with the start of the school year, free parking spaces disappear quickly. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, they are a rare commodity from 7 a.m. onwards, and motorists must then resign themselves to paying the daily rate of $10.39 to park their car.
The choice of car
Michèle Caron, a student at the Université de Montréal, has lost patience. Since this summer, she has been taking her car to get to the city rather than taking the REM. “We already pay so much for public transit. I don’t see the incentive side of this system,” she says. “By taking my car, I have taken away this stress. But in the Université de Montréal area, parking is very expensive. It’s not profitable every day.”
In 2023, the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL) completely overhauled its service to redirect its buses to REM stations, which has a monopoly on crossing the Samuel-De Champlain Bridge. For Michèle Caron, the bus is not an option. The bus stop is far from her home and the frequency of the buses, every 30 minutes, is not enough to dissuade her from taking her car.
REM breakdowns are now less frequent than in the months following its entry into service, but the difficulty in finding a parking spot has tarnished the appeal of the light rail. “I can’t rely on that when I have something important. If I have an exam or a meeting professional that I can’t miss, I don’t take the REM,” she explains.
Pay for nothing
A fan of public transit for years, Chloé-Anne Touma has also given up on the REM. “I’ve gotten to the point where I have to take my car to get to Montreal and pay to park there. It’s no more expensive than if I were paying on the REM,” she says.
“Now, we can get cheaper parking in Montreal. We don’t get mugged on the metro. With a car, we get to Montreal directly. For me, the choice is quickly made. It’s a shame because I was someone who took public transit without any problems, but now, there are many advantages to taking your car in Montreal.” She regrets the days of the Chevrier parking lot, which closed last May, which offered 2,300 free parking spaces and a bus (line 90) going directly to Montreal.
Étienne Lespérance, for his part, wanted peace of mind. Since the REM came into service, he has been paying a $121 monthly subscription to have a parking spot at the Panama station. Except that since the start of the school year this year, he often finds himself driving around in circles in the paid parking lot because there are no available spots. Last week, his three attempts to find parking at the Panama station were in vain. The first day, he had to resign himself to driving to Montreal. The next day, he parked (illegally) elsewhere. The third time, he finally went home. “I complain every time, but there is no one who can respond,” he says.
The Indigo manager he finally managed to reach explained to him that he was paying a parking fee, but that nothing guaranteed him a spot, he says. For him, taking the bus, which runs every 30 minutes, lengthens his transit time. Taking the REM and the bus to Montreal takes him 1 hour 30 minutes, compared to 40 minutes by car, he says.
CDPQ Infra recognizes that anyone who pays for a parking space should have access to it. “We are currently working with our operator Indigo to ensure that this is indeed the case,” Francis Labbé, assistant director of media relations at CDPQ Infra, said by email. For its part, Indigo did not return a call. The Duty.
How does it work elsewhere? The Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) also offers a paid section in the six park-and-ride lots it manages in the Montreal region. Subscribers who pay for their parking space are guaranteed to get it, no matter the time, assures Simon Charbonneau, director of public affairs at the ARTM.
Like others, Étienne Lespérance misses the pre-REM era and the 90 bus, which took him directly to downtown Montreal. “We created a system where there is no competition. We are kind of left to our own devices,” he says. “There are people who benefit from the REM. But for us, it just costs more for less service. It is not serious to tell people to take public transit and not put measures in place so that people actually do it.”
For a better bus service
The problem with the REM is not the lack of parking spaces, but the insufficient bus service, says Axel Fournier, spokesperson for the Association pour le transport collectif de la Rive-Sud. “The parking lots were designed to be used to their maximum capacity. Parking is not something that is free for society. […] And it is legitimate that parking is limited because we want to encourage bus feeder services. It is normal that there is a part [de son coût] which is passed on to users,” he says.
But he says transit companies have little financial room to maneuver. “We need to improve bus service because we’re not going to expand parking lots.”
Currently, the RTL offers 1,400 daily trips on 30 lines connected to the three REM stations, says Maxime Laliberté, advisor to the communications department of the Longueuil-based carrier. “With the redesigned network in service, more than 97% of households in the urban area have a bus stop less than 400 metres from their home,” he says. Mr. Laliberté adds that the network’s performance is monitored regularly so that the offer can be modified according to the RTL’s needs and budgetary capacity.