Ambitious $16.8 billion mass transit expansion plan for Montreal

$16.8-billion plan aims at big transit boost
Vision 2020; Money a major stumbling block

By ANDY RIGA, The Gazette November 16, 2011


An ambitious plan to significantly improve Montreal public transit in a bid to get more people to leave cars at home was unveiled Tuesday.

But it's unclear how authorities will deal with key stumbling blocks - the $16.8-billion price tag and the cacophony of competing interests that tend to stall transit projects in the Montreal region.

To answer those questions, the Agence métropolitaine de transport - the regional transit planning body that unveiled the Vision 2020 plan - is counting on new committees.

One will focus on finding fresh ways to finance transit. Other committees would look at how to improve transit along individual transportation corridors, bringing together all the bodies with an interest in the corridor. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/billion+plan+aims+transit+boost/5717046/story.html#ixzz1e4UiWof8

oil industry shills coming to town and writing op-eds full of lies like, "Transit ridership in Portland has gone down since the light rail lines were built" and "Nobody in Europe rides the trains except American tourists" and appearing on AM radio to tell the zombies that "those Communist Nazi environmentalists want to force you to give up your cars."

I spent a fair amount of time on it a couple of years ago, when I was on my own for 8-10 hours a day while my husband was doing research in Montreal. It's relatively easy to comprehend and use, many of the stations are beautiful—they have excellent artwork--and the tires on the trains are rubber: it's quiet and smooth! It's the third biggest (in terms of ridership) system in the world, behind New York and Mexico City. Which is amazing for a city that is, comparatively, not that large.





http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9f/Crémazie-StationArt.JPG/220px-Crémazie-StationArt.JPG

in North America, you mean.



1. Japan Tokyo Subway 3.160 billion (2009)
2. Russia Moscow Metro 2.392 billion (2009)
3. South Korea Seoul Subway2.048 billion (2009)
4. People's Republic of China Beijing Subway 1.595 billion (2010)
5. United States New York City Subway 1.579 billion (2009)
6. France Paris Métro 1.479 billion (2009)
7. Mexico Mexico City Metro 1.414 billion (2009)
8. Hong Kong Hong Kong MTR 1.41 billion (2010)
9. People's Republic of China Shanghai Metro 1.3 billion (2009)
10. People's Republic of China Guangzhou Metro 1.18 billion (2010)


http://encounteringurbanization.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/ranking-the-worlds-mass-transit-systems/

Still, the point remains: it's 9th largest in population in North America, but 3rd in ridership on its metro system. So they're doing something right in terms of public transport, and want to extend that even further.

..... than is typical in the United States.

international city it is.

nt

I love Montreal. Wish I could go there for a vacation.

Time to seriously think about moving to Canada