Transportation | Winning conditions for a successful REM de l’Est

If the fights in the public square about the data and the planning choices of the Eastern Metropolitan Express Network (REM) are not constructive, they have the merit of bringing to light the problem of governance of the REM of the East. ‘East.

Since urban public transit is recognized in Quebec as a local skill, it is curious that other players present themselves as playmakers for the Eastern REM. Will these role changes apply in the same way to Gatineau, Longueuil, Sherbrooke, Quebec?

Determining the orientations of a public collective transport project is not normally the responsibility of an operator. It is the responsibility of city or urban community officials, the transport companies involved and the government that finances it.

It is therefore counterproductive to have excluded the mayoress of Montreal, also president of the Metropolitan Community of Montreal (CMM), whose cities share the public transit bill, and the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), to which the National Assembly has given the mandate to plan and fund public transit in the Montreal region.

Those who plan the city and public transport must have a strong voice, because they will live with the repercussions. Their presence at the decision-making table is therefore essential.

Discrepancies on the data needed to plan transport projects should not exist. The five-year origin/destination surveys are managed by the ARTM and the data analyzed by the École Polytechnique. These surveys have been in existence for 54 years and are internationally recognized. That the ARTM is accused of methodological errors and poor forecasts is difficult to sustain since it uses certain data provided by the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec (CDPQ), which, in six months, revised upwards 34% its attendance forecasts without notice or justification.

We shouldn’t have to decide who is right and who is wrong. It would be enough for the ARTM to regain control of the interpretation of the data in collaboration with the CDPQ and for everything to be reconciled in a common and calm analysis.

A project to be integrated into the transport system

Everyone agrees on the need for a structuring mode of public transport for the East of Montreal. The REM de l’Est is not limited to a transportation infrastructure that must maximize the return on the CDPQ’s investment. It should be a backbone component of the metropolitan area’s integrated public transport system and its design should grow and be attractive enough to encourage citizens to leave the car behind. The project must support the vision of land use planning and economic priorities of the East in a spirit of collaboration. Established in an already built urban environment, it must integrate harmoniously into the life of the neighborhoods it crosses, while respecting the built and landscaped heritage. The project presented to date responds poorly to these concerns and raises strong resistance both for its urban impact and for its effects of cannibalization of existing public transport services. Ongoing benefit/cost analysis should be available to guide decisions.

Conditions for success

In order to resolve the impasse, a collaborative work of revision of the route and validation of the chosen mode is essential. On the program: optimization of service to the Anjou and Rivière-des-Prairies hubs, interconnection with existing networks, non-cannibalization of structuring modes – metro, Mascouche train, Pie-IX bus rapid service (SRB) – , better use of the CN right-of-way, validation of the downtown section, involvement of residents, successful urban integration, choice of mode.

The agreement signed within the framework of the REM de l’Ouest deserves a review. The mandatory drop-off clauses for buses on the REM and the non-competition of other public transit services near the REM make the objectives of effective integration of transit services in the East obsolete.

The terms of redemption and sale are losers for the government. The standard of passengers/km used to establish the invoice skews the planning and is expensive. The 99-year term (renewable) of the government’s financial commitments is equivalent to paying six times what a conventional loan at 3% over 25 years would have cost, i.e. a total commitment, which continues if there is a sale, of 23 billion dollars against 4 billion.

The costs of the Eastern REM must be exposed before any decision. The West REM is ending. The 82 cities will contribute and do not know that they will be obliged to pay a bill of 120 million additional, indexed annually. This bill will be higher for the East since the investments are more expensive and the traffic lower.

The extension of the blue line

In all these debates, the extension of the blue line remains the big forgotten. Its pool of 238,000 daily trips is a priority for the East, and has strong potential for economic development. We are still waiting for it. In the meantime, the SRB Pie-lX opens in 2023 without connection to the blue line!

Let’s dare to collaborate

We are hopeful that a structuring project for the East will succeed. But first, let’s learn some lessons from the REM of the West. Let’s assess the state of the public transport network battered by the pandemic, struggling with the likely effects of telework. Let’s measure our resources. Let’s start again on new bases of collaboration. This is the best guarantee that an improved project can be carried out.