Many bus users are complaining that the system is overly reliant on using phone and internet to top up Presto cards, with only a limited number of OC Transpo sales outlets selling Presto topups over the counter.
And I still see Presto readers on buses with error messages.

"And now, for something we hope you'll really like!"

Trams have far more carrying capacity than bus lines; they are intermediate between a bus and métro line.

Solidarités Villeray was calling for a "tarif social" for people under the poverty line (however defined). I don't think the fare increases are a huge problem for people with a decent job, but for people on the minimum wage, to say nothing of unemployed jobseekers, they are a huge burden.

But no, I don't know how this could be administered, unless there were photo IDs as for seniors and students.

As for the safety "don't stop in the tunnel", I am thinking that with the new trains, less heat, and better air in the tunnels, this would perhaps be less of an issue.

The problem isn't the air or the heat, it's that a train stuck in a tunnel can't easily be evacuated. When a section of the metro shuts down for whatever reason, which happens occasionally, a train in a tunnel would be prevented from advancing to the next station if there's a train already there, and this would mean either trapping people inside a tunnel for hours or having to do a tunnel evacuation.

There's also the issue of signaling, which is easy when trains are kept a station apart but become more complicated when one train is at a station and the next is speeding toward it.

I'm not an expert in this, but as I understand it there are very important reasons why this policy is in place. And since there aren't many trains to add to rush-hour service anyway, it's kind of a moot point right now.

Since the 3 minute thing is only a peak time issue (they compress the space between trains in one direction to do it, it seems), the extra trains at the times where the gap is 4 minutes would mean 100% more service.

it's hard to deny that so much more service would be more service.

As for the safety "don't stop in the tunnel", I am thinking that with the new trains, less heat, and better air in the tunnels, this would perhaps be less of an issue. I am sure that with a little effort, they could run 2 minute gaps without any problems, and could certainly up the system capacity massively.

I actually think Steve that in this case, your answer is a bit of a apologist view. Don't just tolerate "barely acceptable" service, aim for more. That more might make it more appealing for many more people to take the metro. As a side note for me, I drive everywhere in Montreal, I take public transit everywhere in Hong Kong. It's may be hard to imagine, but the offerings in public transit here versus driving and parking at destination make it an absolute no brainer. The same cannot be said for Montreal, where a 20 minutes car ride is not so comfortably replaced by an hour or more of public transit.

There is still plenty to get the system down to 2 minutes (or even less).

Wait times could diminish slightly with the addition of more trains, but not much. For safety reasons, trains are not permitted to leave a station until the following station is clear. This prevents situations where a train has to wait inside a tunnel. The result is that the time between trains becomes equal to the longest time it takes for a train to travel to a station, open and close its doors and depart. That's about two minutes, except on the yellow line where it's longer.

Further, with a second line running parallel through the downtown core (orange line), it wouldn't be hard to move many more people underground. The real issue in Montreal is a shortage of rolling stock, which really kills things down quite a bit. There really isn't any way to make the system run better when you have nothing more to give.

A tram sounds like a nice alternative, but in reality, they are not a very good option. Montreal could do very much better in the downtown core to make better use of the existing east / west bus lanes, and possible make that service work better with the Metro system. It seems silly to think that with all the bus lanes, and all the metro stations in such a small area that any system could consider itself "maxed out".

There, I said it.

Montréal had an excellent streetcar system, and it should have been upgraded and revamped, and ran through tunnels downtown to ease congestion.

Here is that it could have been: http://emdx.org/rail/metro/pasDeMetro.php

It's absolutely a no-brainer...

Now tell me that the cards will have the picture of a moose and a flying squirrel???

There's gotta be a way to make the trains and stations cooler and that should be the #1 priority at the STM.

There are ways, but most of them are expensive. Air conditioning the trains just pushes heat into the tunnels and stations, requiring even more air conditioning for the stations, which is very expensive.

The STM is instead focusing on other means of reducing the heat. It's upgrading the ventilation throughout the metro system to push heat out. As well, the new trains being purchased will be more efficient, giving off less heat. Since heat generated from the trains is the main source of heat through the system (so much so that most of the metro doesn't need to be heated during the winter), that will make a big difference.

Hopefully, Presto smartcards will be working well enough to launch in Ottawa in February. Then we'll get transferable monthly passes, and cheaper single trip prices by using cash on the Presto card instead of tickets. This makes it easier for a couple with one car to swap the bus pass over the course of the month, depending on who needs the car that day, without stranding the other spouse.

AC is a simple deal, really. You make the product not just bearable, but you make it more than tolerable, you make it (eek!) inviting. You make it a valid choice for 6 to 7 months a year, when sitting in a public bus in your business suit or your decent work clothes leaves you as a sweaty mess. The idea is to make it so that everyone, from top to bottom, feels that public transit is in fact a valid alternative for their cars.

Without that, they fail, they fail completely, and they will spend their time marketing to people who basically don't have a choice.

If the outside temp is 18C, and there is sun, the inside temp on a bus sitting in traffic full of people is well over "room temp". You cannot make that an inviting option to people who are balancing between taking a car or taking public transit, or for that matter someone looking to take a job downtown (where they might have to take public transit) or the same job in the burbs, Laval, or what have you.

That the price of transit jacks itself way up (doubles? Triples?) because people live over an imaginary line created by a natural feature (water) is a pretty poor selling technique too. It's hard to imagine anything dumber than offering expensive and poorer quality service to people who are most likely to be on the road clogging up your streets.

The metro itself has neared its limit and stations like Berri or Mcgill can not deal with more numbers. The fact that they are in the middle of the city and surrounded by other actively used buildings makes renovation difficult, and the last remaining way to increase throughput along the line itself is the new higher capacity end-to-end cars, which will start coming in in a couple years. After that max ridership will be reached and the only solution is a new line.

Look at NY, they are building a 2nd avenue line for $Billions even though there is another one only a few blocks west. Problem is that its also reached max capacity.

No way we are going to build a new metro line through downtown Montreal, so a Tram which can handle more passengers than equivalent buses is the best alternative.

Yes, opening the windows will cool the bus, but it makes it windy when it's moving, and warm when it isn't moving. It's nowhere as comfortable as an AC system.

The question is whether it would be bearable. And except for a couple of weeks in late July, I think it would.

Yes, opening the windows will cool the bus, but it makes it windy when it's moving, and warm when it isn't moving. It's nowhere as comfortable as an AC system.

As for the pools, it's the point that for much more than half the year, they are useless - too cold, frozen, covered in snow... why bother?