Behind The Curtain (14 July, 2023)
Accessible Audio for this week’s Behind The Curtain will be available soon!
The REM Train - Losing My Obsession
Photo courtesy of REM.info
I am a self-proclaimed transit aficionado. I love almost all new transit projects. I hoped beyond hope (and still do) that the Montreal Metro will be extended. And I’m not just talking about parts of the blue line that they’re already doing. I’m a full-on Pink Line-stan. So much so that when I wrote our April Fool’s Day post about a proposed Purple Line, I feared that it would be playing to people who laughed at the idea of a new 29-station line from Montreal Nord to Lachine when Montreal Mayor (then mayoral candidate) Valérie Plante made it the centerpiece of her campaign in 2017. Then I realized it was, in fact, playing to people who only leave the Plateau if they absolutely have to (Editor’s Note: Ehhh, I was in Mile End last week, without being forced!), and I was fine with that. I’m always thrilled with any indication that this project is moving beyond the planning stages.
I’m talking, of course, about the $6.9 billion Réseau express métropolitain, or REM, above-ground light-rail network. They’re currently testing the first leg of five stations, running from Brossard on the South Shore to Central Station (aka Bonaventure Metro) Downtown, and it goes into operation July 31st. We’re supposed to get the next 19 stations at the end of 2024, presumably when they’re all built.
There is a gap between the stop on Nun’s Island and Gare Centrale which will be filled by the Griffintown station (I’m not calling it by its official name of “Griffintown - Bernard Landry” until I have to. That was a huge mistake by Plante). Then the train will head north, stopping at McGill, then Édouard-Montpetit Metro in Outremont, presumably (I hope) going underground as it traverses the Mountain.Then it’s off to the Ton of Mount-Royal, then west a bit, and then it splits. The main branch heads north through Laval to Deux-Montagnes, while another branch goes through the West Island all the way to Sainte Anne de Bellevue. In 2027, there is supposed to be a third branch heading south to the Airport.
So why am I less than enthused by the major transit project that is not only well beyond the table scraps of hope stage, but actually going online, at least partially, at the end of this month? It’s not the train cars themselves. They’re sleek, modern, and fast. I’d also say quiet, but some residents of Pointe-St-Charles, who aren’t getting their own stop, complained about noise during the tests, claiming that sound barriers were needed. It’s not that the project isn’t a bold, progressive, and environmentally conscious one. In fact, it proves that large-scale transit projects like the Pink Line aren’t a pipe dream, or at least don’t have to be. But there needs to be political will to do it. The problem is where that political will needs to be. Just electing that political will to Montreal City Hall isn’t enough. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) gets most of its funding from, and has to work within the framework of, the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), which is an agency created by the Quebec Provincial Government in 2017. And one thing has become abundantly clear over the years: if it’s a major costly project that doesn’t involve travel between Montreal and Laval and/or the South Shore, it won’t be on top of the list. You only have to look at the first five REM stops and see what the priority is. Only two are considered part of the City of Montreal (Nuns’ Island is part of Verdun for some reason), and only one is on the Island of Montreal itself.
Photo courtesy of REM.info
Now, don’t get me wrong, when the network is fully (or mostly) completed, I’m sure people who go to McGill, or work in that part of town, and live near Édouard-Montpetit, or in TMR, will absolutely love this train. Also, the trip to the West Island is an interesting addition, though a real roundabout one. I’m all for making it easier for people to travel to and from the island while leaving their cars at home. But what is being done to encourage people who live in one part of Montreal to leave their cars at home when they travel to another part of the island? Just ask anyone who’s rode the eastern leg of the Orange Line, or tried to get home to NDG at rush hour if the sardine can is really all that encouraging.
The Pink Line would be a solution (it’s even supposed to go above ground, near de Maisonneuve in NDG). As would extending the REM west, through areas already served by buses and the metro (sort of), stopping at the airport and ending where one of its legs currently does. So would the now scrapped REM Est leg heading east. Not only are they not a priority, they get laughed out of the room in some circles, and declared unfeasible in others. Well, if a massive project to ease mobility between cities is feasible, so is one to ease mobility within a city.
Making transit easy to ride is one part of the equation, making it affordable, or, dare I say, free, is the other. This also is no pipe dream, or at least it shouldn’t be. Several US cities are experimenting with fare-less transit, some just a few bus routes, and some the entire network. In Scandinavian countries, they were already there decades ago. Here in Montreal, a few years ago, we effectively turned Metro security guards into collection agents, and, at one point, even referred to transit riders as clients instead of passengers in loudspeaker announcements (they’ve stopped doing that). You should never treat a public service as a business, even as a subsidized one.
Recently, though, the Plante Administration has been heading in a better direction. Waving fares permanently for people over 65, as of the start of this month, and making metro service downtown free for a few months last summer. It's a start, but where they should have started was after their initial election. When they blocked cars from crossing Mount Royal via Camillien-Houde for a few months in 2018, they should have made it a complete block and, most importantly, made the 11 route, running over the Mountain from Snowdon to Laurier metros come more often, make more stops, and be completely free to ride. Unfortunately, they didn’t take those other steps, and the project wasn’t renewed. Too much stick, not enough carrot.
While I hope the Plante Administration will start making more and more parts of our transit system free, I realize that they will run into the same problem the Pink Line did if they go too far. STM fares, and the Opus card itself, are controlled by, you guessed it, the ARTM. Montreal doesn’t set the fares, and under the current setup, needs to really work to get small improvements passed. We could have the most progressive municipal government in history, but with Papa Legault (who really doesn’t like us, btw) in charge provincially, it’s, sadly, an uphill battle to say the least.
When Montreal takes charge of its own transit, strives to reduce, then eliminate fares, and gets projects passed that help travel within the city, then I’ll get excited about the REM and start singing “Shiny happy people on the train”.. Until then (and with apologies to Michael Stipe):
That's me on the corner
Below the train bridge
Losing my obsession
Trying to find a use for you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no you go real far
But don't go far enough
I thought that I heard you running
The Pointe they heard you running
I think I'll wait until you try
NOTES THIS WEEK
Stone Cold Accessible Comedy
As you may have seen on the site this week, FTB’s own Abby Stonehouse will not only be performing in Zoofest this weekend, as she has done twice before, but she will also be part of Just for Laughs with a live recording of her Heart of Stone Podcast. And she will serve as JFL’s Accessibility Ambassador. Her Zoofest show, Include ME, is itself a fully accessible comedy show for the hearing impaired, including a live ASL translator. Laughter can be, and should be, for all.
Radio GaGa
I was at Barfly entertaining Josh Smith, an out-of-town artist from Buffalo performing comedy and spoken-word in the Montreal Infringement Festival. That’s where I was when I heard that Michael Jackson had died. And Josh didn’t believe me, or my phone (I had my first smartphone), instead deciding to wait for confirmation from news sources he trusted. If you want to know why If you want to know why I’m bringing this up, it’s because our Creative Director Andrew Jamieson and our Editor-in-Chief Dawn McSweeney were on the Go Plug Yourself Podcast talking FTB, and other stuff (hence the Michael Jackson reference. Give it a listen!
GoGo Almost Gone
You have just over a week to donate to our IndieGoGo campaign. If you’re like me and do everything last-minute, well, this is the last minute!
Well, that’s it for this week. Since I’m typing this conclusion Thursday afternoon, and there’s a tornado warning (?!?) in effect for Montreal, I find it only prudent to say that unless I get swept away to Kansas (I think that’s how this works), I’ll see you next week!
FTB Founder Jason C. McLean returns every Friday for another installment in his series, Behind The Curtain.
