The NDP needs more members from Quebec if it’s to progress with the breakthrough we saw in the last election.
Updates from September, 2011 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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metrodemontreal.com has a list of the 26 STM bus routes that will change numbers as of 2012. Probably the most major route that’s being rebaptized is the 535 that replaces the 80 and 165 at rush hours, which will become the 435 to fit in with the new numbering scheme and keep some STM fonctionnaire happy. (Wouldn’t it have been cheaper to buy this person some OCD meds?)
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Marc
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MB
Marc, oh please. Every time the STM moves a finger people come running out of the woodwork saying “zOMG they should install wi-fi and air conditioning and GPS apps instead of wasting money!” Directing a cotent argument or complaint is far more useful than imagining a money tree to avoid attempting to understand something complex.
Branding bus networks can have important effects on ridership. Most of these 26 changes seem to streamline nomenclature for the express services, and I think that’s actually quite useful. Knowing a 4xx is an express bus is much more meaningful than wondering what the difference is between a Metrobus or a Trainbus or if it runs in a reserved lane. It looks directly related to efforts to make frequent & express lines apparent and legible (réseau 10 min. max & the new 4xx series), thusly more useful, and potentially resulting in a lot more people riding buses. This is not just busywork. There is a tremendous amount at stake with the current deal for the STM and their ridership goals.
Here’s a link to Jarrett Walker’s interesting discussion of different approaches to line numbering: http://www.humantransit.org/2011/08/do-line-numbers-matter-at-all.html
…and the rest of his blog includes many brilliant discussions of how important a legible network of frequent surface routes can be for transportation agencies. The STM is more ambitious in this respect than most other transit agencies on the continent.
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Marc
@ MB: This would be a very good idea if they were dripping with cash. But they aren’t. So please, spare me your baloney.
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Doobious
On a more fun note: This movie, shot partly in the metro, just oozes awesomeness. Better to right-click and save as, unless your internet’s real speedy.
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William
But the 535/435 isn’t an express bus, is it? It lumbers painfully, painfully slowly down Park and then dawdles along Côte-des-Neiges aeons later. At any rate, I think Marc is right to call out the STM – they’re putting a lot of effort into window dressing lately when they can’t even get the fundamentals right (anyone remember the “doors-wide-open” incident last year?)
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ant6n
Maybe they got some extra money by out-sourcing the student Opus card registration to some private contractors this year.
It’s become so ridiculously slow and painful, the lines are moving less than half the speed of last year – they must be saving tons of money there. -
Kate
@Doobious I remember this movie. They added train sound effects to our metro, which was disorienting.
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MB
@Marc: I don’t live in a land of money trees and baloney. How do you think the STM gets more cash? Through increasing ridership, and making deals with the government based on ridership targets. This change is probably a fraction of a percent of the overall budget of the STM. *There are bigger fish to fry* such as infrastructure spending and actual changes in service. They’re not avoiding buying trains because they spent too much money simplifying the labeling of the buses.
@William: I wonder if “express” might have more to do with the frequency & route rather than the actual duration of the trip? I mean…unless the STM can start to make traffic vanish, but they’d need big expensive grade separation for that…it’s kind of out of their control. I don’t think the re-numbering is one of these bloated PR stunts, I think it’s part of an overall strategy to change how the bus network is used (like the efforts at the “reseau 10 min. max”). They’ve gotta find ways to keep people coming to the network, and making the network legible is part of that. Judging from the latest ridership statistics, some of these things might be worthwhile investments even if it’s superfluous to some of our specific daily commutes. Hence “public” transportation.
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walkerp
Doobious, thanks for that link. That movie really was cool! Amazing effects, and I’m guessing by the period that they weren’t digital (unless this is some super hipster film from 2011 with amazing production values).
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Doobious
2007 according to IMdB, walkerp. So it is pretty hipsterific. You can get a little insight into the director’s mind here.
What I find most disconcerting is the rear end of the train seen about halfway into the film. Never in my life have I seen a trailer car at the end of a metro train.
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ant6n
@MB
I thought “express” is just another way of saying “only runs during rush hour”
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The Mirror gives us this year’s student survival guide, a useful compendium for living in Montreal on the cheap whether studying or not.
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The Pop Montreal program is up and Voir has the high points of the September 21-25 fest and Hour expands on it.
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Metro has a nice little piece with photos about the reopening of the Stewart museum on St. Helen’s Island, but I’m confused because they say it was officially reopened Wednesday evening, while I recall linking to this La Presse piece about how it reopened on June 29. Maybe it was just an official reopening party, as the museum site also gives that date.
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The airport now known as Trudeau is celebrating its 70th anniversary on Thursday. Originally a World War II military installation, it now sees 13 million passengers per year. Detailed and well presented history via a tweet from Andy Riga (whose blog I can’t point to till the Gazette stops locking workers out).
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Doobious
I wonder if they’ll do anything to celebrate (other than write up a press release).
Anyway, see here for a nice gallery of historic airport pics, complete with informative commentary, and a couple shots of the original war-time terminal building.
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Kate
Oh thanks, Doobious – nice contribution.
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Doobious
My pleasure.
To answer my own question, they published a special insert in Saturday’s Gazoo (and at least one franco paper I presume). Pretty interesting stuff. Sorry, but I couldn’t find a PDF.
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Doobious
Duh. I guess I wasn’t looking hard enough. See the links at the bottom of this page. The aerial view of the old terminal building is something sweet.
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Choosing its moment, the union of the support staff of McGill University walked out this morning, 1700 workers now picketing over salaries and benefits.
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Jack
Sorry but would you expect them to strike in the summer? These folks are the backbone of the university and what they have been offered is ridiculous.None of the stories even mention what management has offered.McGill certainly seems to have the funds to expand and renovate but not to pay their employees.Its interesting that profs can be paid by huge endowements but not the clerical staff.I wonder who will cross those picket lines and what it will tell us about our future elite……..the same as always.
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Kate
Jack, I was not dissing the union. Of course it would’ve been futile for them to strike in the summer. They chose their moment. I didn’t say that was a bad thing!
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Guy fishing in the Back River on Wednesday spotted a seal on the river shore and got some photos. It’s an unusual plight for the marine mammal, which rarely gets up the river as far as this. Maybe Michel Rivard can do a song about it.
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walkerp
This province is so friggin’ backwards when it comes to animal protection. Nobody could come get it? Why because they were all on their mandated lunch breaks. What the frak are they doing there? They only intervene when it is menacing the population. So weak. It is rare that I find B.C. superior to Quebec, but the Vancouver Aquarium has a program to rehabilitate abandoned seal pups.
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There will be a vigil Thursday evening to remember the victims of the Blue Bird café fire; Kristian ponders the impact of the fire and its aftermath on the city’s demographics and its laws.
The group supporting the creation of a memorial has a Facebook page but it’s not accessible from outside Facebook. However, it says the vigil will be taking place between 7 and 9 p.m. in the parking lot on Union between René-Lévesque and Ste-Catherine where the building used to be.
(Maybe this isn’t the right moment, but I’ll say it again: if you want to publicize your event or your cause, don’t put your main PR instrument on a page that requires a login – no, not even if it’s a massively popular one.)
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People person
Saw a bit of the ceremony on CTV news and found it very moving and impressive. Glad to see the city sent a rep who all-but-guaranteed that they’d get a plaque. I’d assume that Darren Becker (the mayor’s pr rep who brings a lot of wisdom to the Tremblay regime) was behind this but I’ve heard he’s been on leave of absence.
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Le Devoir notes that this year’s car-free week is becoming something of a joke as the downtown area actually closed to cars has become smaller and the cross streets will remain open. A few boroughs will close parts of streets for one day as part of the event, but the streets closed by Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension and Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie are so minor that hardly anyone is going to notice the gesture. Rue Greenshields, forsooth.
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William
Transport Quebec has ironically done more to organize a car-free year than the “car-free day” organizers ever managed to achieve.
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On Wednesday, a driver making an effort not to hit a dog on Ontario Street instead went onto a sidewalk, injuring four people and shattering the window of a Tim Hortons. Amazingly, nobody was seriously hurt.
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Chris
Were the pedestrians wearing helmets? :)
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Alex
Haha, bon point.
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Jack
Was the dog taken to the hospital for a”shock nerveux”, were the pedestrians looking both ways.
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Kate
If you read the item, you’ll all see the folks on the sidewalk were sitting outside the Tim’s, which I’d say absolves them from having to look both ways. If you’re having a drink on a terrasse (even a Tim’s) you’re entitled to think you’re safe. The dog’s owner ought to be fined for having it off leash but I doubt anyone will bother tracking them down for this.
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The Bell Centre and the city are continuing a longtime fight over the tax value of the land even though the owners of the arena had a judgement in their favour this summer. They want to pay even less tax than that.
Obviously this busywork is going to cost money; lots of money. I’m guessing it’s cash the STM continuously claims it never has? If not, then does anyone know where I can buy seeds to grow one of those elusive money trees?