allison hanes: mobility as big an issue as ever in montreal

the stm, facing a $62-million shortfall for next year , may have to resort to service cuts. but a more worrying sign is that more than 100,000 new vehicles were registered in quebec last year, meaning when and if commuters do come back, they could be driving more often.

these include the blue line, which is stalled, and the rem, which is under construction but behind schedule, but also the proposed rem de l’est to the east end and a yet-undefined rapid transit route from downtown to lachine . these latter two initiatives could pick up parts of plante’s pink line .

so plante is looking at low-hanging fruit, like rolling out new reserved bus lanes on major axes like henri-bourassa blvd., and maximizing the impact of existing ones by extending their hours or improving their configuration. she wants to deploy 300 more buses in the network to improve frequency in under-served areas, although it’s unclear how that fits in with the stm’s financial realities.

after long accusing plante of being anti-car, ensemble montréal promises to take a more pragmatic approach to transportation planning.

“we will not favour one mode of transportation over another,” the party platform states . “mobility must be thought of as a cocktail of possibilities whose main challenge is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while facilitating travel from point a to point b.”

he wants to get more people taking public transit by making passes free for montrealers age 25 and under as well as seniors, eventually.

an exchange between incumbent plante and former mayor coderre during the economic debate hosted by the montreal metropolitan chamber of commerce last week was a reminder that it is easy to cast blame for a problem that is difficult to control.