Put a Train on the Champlain

The Harper government has promised to rebuild the Champlain Bridge of Montreal which is a very good move. The infrastructure of Montreal falling apart and that bridge is necessary to the transportation needs of the city. But, when infrastructure must be rebuilt, it gives us a golden opportunity to build it smartly and sustainably.

The new Champlain bridge will have a reserved lane for public transit, it just hasn't been decided what mode. Quebec is studying putting a train on the Champlain bridge. This would be a good idea, to have LRT that can run on the surface downtown and have priority on the bridge. LRT has much more capacity than buses and is a much more attractive option than buses. The Champlain bridge is an example of how to implement the tram-train in Montreal.

MONTREAL - Quebec is working on a plan to put a train on the new Champlain Bridge, part of a 13-kilometre transit system that would link Longueuil and downtown Montreal. 

But it’s unclear who would foot the bill – hundreds of millions of dollars – or even if the train will ever be built

Read more at the Gazette.

Harper Thanks!

I definitely am no Conservatives, but I give credit where credit is due. Stephen Harper and the Conservative party is definitely not the best for the country, but thanks to Harper the Conservatives will tomorrow announce that they will put a plan to replace the aging bridge. It will cost about 1 billion to rebuild a new bridge. I and the Mayor and most Montrealers think this is overdue. We need a new bridge and we need it now. The money that went to try and repair the Champlain bridge was pointless. So I won't say this very often, but thank you Harper for something Montreal really needs.

Replace the Champlain Bridge.

The Champlain Bridge is crumbling down. We need to replace the structure now! Before something bad happens. Because of problems with the bridge the city will lose productivity amounting 2 billion dollars. The Conservative party is moving slowly and not planning to do much.

 So far, federal Transport Minister Denis Lebel has only said the government is studying all options.

 Among the options are a new bridge — with a $1.3-billion price-tag — or a $1.9-billion tunnel.

20 billion in trade crosses the busiest bridge in Canada every day, and yes 1.3 billion is a lot of money, but not doing anything like the Conservatives isn't safe and make the city lose more money and jobs. We need to replace the bridge if we don't soon even if the bridge doesn't collapse the economy of Montreal will be in danger of collapsing. This bridge problem get's bigger every day. the longer we try to ignore it or place small band aids on it the more money we lose and the more problems we will face.

"The Champlain Bridge is really a key piece in the economic engine of the greater Montreal area," said Mai.

 Read more here

Our Crubbling Infastructure!

Our Montreal mayor is right we need more money into Infrastructure I quite frankly am happy to see that the Montreal mayor has taken an unpopular stance on increasing fees in order to help Montreal infrastructure. Montreal needs infrastructure help. The Federal Government should help, by increasing the Gas tax. Even if this will be a tax on motorist over 80% of the Montreal population are worried about the infrastructure in Quebec. I think paying more for the oil to drive a car  more safely in Montreal sounds like a good deal!

"When you look at citizens' comments, when you read the newspapers, citizens are feeling insecure — they're worried," Tremblay said.

Fixing this problem will take time considering economist predict that the cost of fixing all of the Infrastructure in the city will cost 120 billion, but we need to start (stop) now putting little band aids on the issue (that) will only make it cost more in the future. We need to start helping our infrastructure not only in Montreal, but also in Toronto, Vancouver and other major cities that need help now!

"When I talk to my colleagues in other big Canadian cities it's the same issue — we have a $120-billion hole...

Read more here

Bixi will Expand into Westmount

Since a few years ago, Bixi has become an integral part of Montreal. During the spring and summer, you can always see Bixi stands in the street and many people use them as a part of getting around the city. For the third year straight, the service will be expanded. This time to Westmount. I would like to see them expanded even further, along with more bike paths. Bixi and bicycle paths composes a good part of sustainable development in Montreal. We need to reduce the number of cars on the road and that means more bicycle paths.

MONTREAL - With Bixi poised to announce five new stations in Westmount and likely at least two more in Notre Dame de Grâce on Tuesday, cycling advocates are shifting focus to their next goal; a safe route across the Décarie Expressway. 

Westmount Mayor Peter Trent was pleased to confirm his successful negotiations to bring Bixi to Westmount for about $235,000, a lower price tag than initially proffered by Montreal’s public bicycle sharing system.

Read more at the Montreal Gazette.

Related articles

• Bixi bike-sharing returns to Ottawa-Gatineau (cbc.ca)
• Bixi bike-sharing program ready to roll in Toronto (thestar.com)

Montreal's going Green.

In Montreal the mayor Gerald Tremblay has put out his new green plan for the city. In Montreal we are going way beyond our provinces GHG emission reduction. Reducing 30% of the GHG by 2020 rather than the Quebec 20% by 2020. Both these targets are great, and are very ambitious. With more cycling opportunities renovating buildings to be more energy efficient and much more. Quebec is moving forward while Harper is taking us back with his so called "Eco plan" he wants to increase green house gasses from 1990 levels up by 2% by 2020. A disgraceful agenda, and I bet if he doesn't even reach that he will blame Quebec.

Metro Contract goes to Bombardier-Alstom

The new metro cars are coming! But the story isn't that great. The National Assembly of Quebec is to adopt a special law designed just for this occasion so that the contract can be awarded to the Bombardier-Alstom consortium without calling for bidding. Of course, CAF, a Spanish company says they can provide the same metro cars for a cheaper price.

The CAF total would be $670 million, or about $550 million less.

CAF's Montreal spokesman Philippe Roy said this was enough for "a very, very big Colisee in Quebec City," referring the capital's desire for a new hockey arena.

However, the benefit to the consortium winning the contract is that there would be jobs remaining in our province. In my perspective, there should be bids: if Charest really wants Bombardier, I'm sure they could go lower. But the important thing is that the cars get replaced. Hopefully, the buffoons in city hall will change their mind and put AC on the new metro cars.
Read more at the Montreal Gazette.

Town Hall Sum-Up

Yesterday, I attended the first of the Open Mike town hall meetings with uncensored, unscripted questions posed to Michael Ignatieff, MP Marlene Jennings, and candidate for Outremont, Martin Cauchon. Ignatieff responded very honestly to all the questions, very direct answers. He didn't seem to dodge any of the questions. My opinion of him as a leader and as a person had improved over the summer, but this was amazing! He is a great honest guy, and he is going to lead us to victory in the next election. Upcoming Open Mike town halls are in Winnepeg on October 7, and in Toronto on October 13.

This summer, Michael Ignatieff travelled over 57 000 kilometres — visiting every province and territory — on the Liberal Express.

Now the Liberal Leader, along with MPs, Senators and candidates is continuing to listen to Canadians at “Open mike” town halls across the country, leaving the microphone open so Canadians like you can share your views and ask questions on the issues you care about. Ready to take questions from audience members both live and online, Michael Ignatieff is waiting to hear from you.

Read more at Liberal.ca 

Related articles by Zemanta

• Ignatieff kicks off 'Open mike' tour in Montreal (ctv.ca)
• Ignatieff begins another cross-country tour (cbc.ca)

Faster Buses

In Montreal, the STM has sought to reduce travel time on the 467 express bus route. New traffic lights will detect buses approaching an intersection. When possible, the green light will be extended, allowing the bus to zoom through, or it will get a priority light. The STM plans to make this service common throughout the island in a few years. This is a great idea for all transit agencies. The reason why people take the car is primarily because it is faster than public transit. This, with multiple other improvements will attract more people to take the bus.

The 467 Express, a taste of tomorrow’s transit

Since the 467 Express Saint-Michel was introduced in March 2009, commuters have enjoyed rapid transit services on Saint-Michel boulevard, in addition to the 67 bus route, the STM’s busiest.

Then, in August 2009, the establishment of a curb-side reserved lane along Saint-Michel boulevard helped to improve the flow of traffic for both bus lines.

 Read more at the STM's website.

Smog Day!

Today, there was a smog warning in place for Montreal. It was mostly because of the forest fires around but also because of pollution. I could smell the ozone and fine particles in the air. In fact, pollution is the reason for smog. Smog is yet another consequence of polluting in cities. I would guess that transportation is the leading cause for smog. There should be more funding public transit and even more funding for zero emission transportation like biking and walking. We need to reduce the space for cars and replace it with pedestrian, bike and public transit reserved lanes. That is good urban planning and great sustainable development. Nobody likes smog nor breathe it. Cutting down on the polluting cars would ensure fewer smog days.

STM's going Electric!

The STM has announced that 100% of Montreal's buses will be electric by 2025. This will include trolley-buses and fast-charge buses. The STM has bought only diesel-powered and hybrid buses so far, but the authority is going to start testing the trolley buses in 2011. By 2012, all buses bought will be hybrids. This is a great initiative from the STM. Electricity in Quebec is cheap and clean. Public transit is already environmentally friendly. By making all buses electric, emissions from using public transit will near zero. Once again, the STM has looked for ways to be greener. I wish them the best of luck in this endeavour.

MONTREAL – Montreal's public transit system will be entirely electric by 2025, says the Société de transport de Montréal, making the city the first in North America to pledge to use only zero-emission - and zero-noise - vehicles.

The STM is currently waiting for a shipment of 380 new diesel buses, with a lifespan of about 15 years, said Carl Desrosiers, chief of operations for the STM. But these will be the last of their kind in Montreal.

In the meantime, the corporation will begin to introduce more efficient, and less polluting buses starting next year.

Read more at the Montreal Gazette or CBC.

Transportation Cocktail

The transportation cocktail includes public transit, walking, biking, taxis, car sharing, car pooling and more. You choose the one you take depending on the weather and the kind of trip you want to make. Therefore, trips will be fast, while conserving the environment. For those who can't leave their car at home for everything, this is the solution: a mix of everything.

What a Project!

The Plateau district of Montreal is planning to close 10 to 15 streets beginning with on June 17. This borough of the city was swept by Projet Montréal in the 2009 elections. They are the ones doing the right thing in city hall. There need to be less cars on the street and a good way to do it is by closing streets. The closed streets will go to expanding existing parks. Parks are places where people have fun, not in the middle of congestion. I support Projet Montéal and hope they win many more seats in the next municipal election. Only good can come out of this party.

Beginning June 17, the borough intends to open a farmer's market on the street on Thursdays, featuring local and organic producers.

It is the first of 10 to 15 streets that Ferrandez said would be closed to traffic in 2010, adding he hopes other boroughs will follow suit.

"We hope it will send a message and start a movement," he said.

Earlier this year, Projet Montréal announced an end to free on-street parking for non-residents in the Plateau.

Read more at the Montreal Gazette.

Turcot Alternative

The City of Montreal has put up an alternative plan to reconstruct the ageing Turcot interchange to that of the province. The Province of Quebec plans to move 30 years into the past by increasing car capacity, decreasing residential areas, not allowing reserved public transit space and basically, destroying the livelihood of our city. The City of Montreal puts up an excellent counterproposal reducing car capacity, putting two new lanes reserved for buses, a tram and a park. How more green can you get? Even the opposition parties in city hall are praising it. Quebec has to stop expanding highways and sending us into the stone age. Public transit is the way of the future.

The City of Montreal Turcot plan is embedded below

Présentation médias_2010-04-21


Read more at the Montreal Gazette.

Bixi Toronto?

Toronto is starting a pilot project based on Montreal's Bixi bike sharing service. Living in Montreal, I have to say that this service has been largely successful. With bike stations all around, it's hard to ignore the growing reality of the bike being practical. It's made for short downtown trips which is very useful for people making multiple trips per day. The only thing wrong with the service is the helmets, or the fact that there are none provided. My solution would be strategically placed Bixi "stores" where people who have a Bixi pass can get a helmet. One suggestion to Toronto: get ready as this system will be overused. Start big this season, and end even bigger.

Earlier, the committee also voted to move forward on the city’s first bike-sharing program. The program, modelled on Montreal’s successful Bixi system, will see 1,000 specially designed bikes roll out by spring 2011.

People will be able to rent bikes from 80 stations across the downtown core, using day-long, month-long or year-long passes. In Montreal, a year’s membership costs about $80.

Read about it at the Globe and Mail.

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it now!

The Bixi bikes have been very popular in Montreal. The Bixi Bikes were gone for the winter, but today they are back in Business. Since only parts of the city resumed the Bixi program several stations were empty by the station. This is a good thing it is great that people are using diffrent ways other than cars, and use something more everomentaly freindly and economicaly. The Bixi system is so good here and has been doing well that citys like ottawa and toronto want in.

Regis Gamma, an avid Bixi fan, has been waiting for this day since November 30, when he last rented a bike from the service."It's been great!" he enthused. "I use it to do everything, to go to work, to go out with friends, to go to restaurants, to go to the theatre, to go everywhere."

Other Canadian cities including Ottawa and Toronto are interesting in adopting the Bixi rental bike system.

Additional stations have been added in some boroughs, and at the Parc Jean Drapeau on Ile-Ste-Hélène.

 http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/04/20/bixi-rental-bikes-montreal.html#ixzz0lfdntkpc

Reserved Right-of-Way

The tramway is making its comeback in North America. After years of being replaced by buses, cities are lure by the capacity and the environmental benefits. As Yonah Freemark mentions in this article, it's important to design a tramway properly. Europe's "new tramway" concept completely solves the problems. The idea is that the tramway should be completely separate from the cars. That means taking lanes away from the road which encourages cars to get off. The benefits of tramways are too good to ignore for many cities. We can only hope that that of Montreal gets on the tracks soon.

All this at a much more reasonable price than would be possible if you wanted the type of full-scale, independent right-of-way featured by Link. Unlike equally cheap streetcars, these tram lines wouldn’t held up by surrounding traffic or required to have short trainsets because of limited street dimensions.

As I’ve mentioned before, it’s been relatively easy to implement such street-running railin a number of European cities, and where it’s been done, it has often improved the quality of the surrounding streetscape, producing exactly the type of livable environment planners love to see around major new transit investments.

Articulating our Routes

By June three routes will have exclusively articulated buses runnig on them:

• 535 Cote-des-neiges/Park avenue reserved lane
• 121 Cote Vertu/Sauve
• 467 Express St. Michel

Articulated buses hold more people without having to crowd each line. These buses could improve the use of public transit as the more people a bus can hold, the more people will go. Anyway, I’m for anything that involves having more people taking public transit. However, there should still be a tram instated on the 535 route. Tram= more capacity (more than an articulated bus), attracts more people (including tourists), pollutes less, faster. The tram’s revival in Montreal should take place on this line.

Shuttle Bus

The STM will launch a new shuttle bus connecting downtown and Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport on March 29. It’s name will be the 747 Airport express. What a pun! (Boeing 747.) Anyway, this service will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week arriving very often. It costs seven dollars a ticket, but also received is unlimited access to the network for 24 hours after buying the ticket. Holders of passes get on free. Great idea, but a lousy bus doesn’t replace the shuttle train that attracts more people, pollutes less, moves faster and is simply, better. This is only a temporary solution until the rail connection is in place. It’s time the government gets moving on the rail connection. It is only for the better.

Better Taxis

This spring, Montreal taxis will be one. Every taxi will have to be painted the same colour (in six years) and have the same taxi light mounted on top. That means no more of the assorted taxi companies' lights I've seen on the top. From now on, the light mounted on the roof will read Montreal taxis. They will also be able to put advertisements on the roof. However, the taxi drivers will have to adopt some environmental measures. This is great. Being painted the same colour, taxis will be easier to identify and call to be picked up. Incentives for hybrid vehicles will improve the environment while lessening the driver's gas bill. This is a great move by our government for all.

The universal taxi light

In return for being allowed to reap advertising revenues from the rooftop panels, taxi drivers will have to abide by a number of environmentally friendly measures, such as installing an in-car heater so they can keep the cars warm in winter without idling their engines. (Taxis are exempted during cold months from a city bylaw that forbids idling for more than three minutes). 

A greenhouse gas emission reduction program will be implemented over the next four years that will encourage taxi companies to convert to hybrid vehicles. 

A design contest will be launched by the city to create a uniform taxi stand design.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Montreal+taxis+look/2582862/story.html#ixzz0g6Rq2qpE