Category Archives: Public transit

| Public transit

About those two stations

A curious bystander who looks at a map of Montreal’s subway and train networks together would quickly ask themselves a question: Why are there no transfer points where some of these lines cross?

Recently, the Agence métropolitaine de transport decided to ask itself this question in terms of two crossings of the Montreal-Deux-Montagnes train line:

Edouard-Montpetit

Edouard-Montpetit

McGill

and McGill.

Both of these stations are close enough to the Mount Royal Tunnel that such a concept theoretically would make sense.

But it’s not that easy…

Continue reading →

| Public transit, West Island

City bus drivers are not nannies

An interesting story out of the West Island: After an elementary student spat on a bus driver and others refused to pay their fares, the driver took the bus to the police station to complain, leading to the arrests of three children on assault charges.

It all started at (the former) Allancroft Elementary, when a student spat on the driver and others in a group of 20 rowdy students refused to pay their fare getting on the 217 bus, which goes from the school to the Beaconsfield train station and then Fairview Pointe-Claire.

It’s a little-known secret that paying fares is entirely optional on city buses. Drivers are trained never to leave their seats or start confrontations with passengers. Instead, if someone refuses to pay their fare and goes to the back of the bus, the drivers tend to do nothing and continue on the route rather than start an incident.

Probably because of the spitting, this driver decided to do something about it. He pulled the bus into Station 1 on St. Charles Blvd. and complained. Rather than profess their innocence and blame it all on the driver, one of the kids kicked a police officer in the back. For their troubles three of them got charged (including the one who spat on the driver) and issued fines for everyone who didn’t pay their fare.

Considering there hasn’t been mass protests in the streets against the bus driver, the police, the school and everyone else parents could possibly blame besides their children, I’m guessing they had some long talks with their little troublemakers.

| Montreal, Public transit

Take your bikes outside – the metro doesn’t want them

A letter in today’s Gazette complains about bikes being rejected in the metro. Normally, bikes are allowed outside of rush hours on the first car of every train.

Normally.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of exceptions. Days when there is, to use an STMism, an “achalandage important” which prevents bikes from being used safely. And looking at the list on their website, it looks like it’s just about every day this summer.

The STM is maybe being a bit over-cautious about safety, but not as much as people may think. On Wednesday, as I took the train to see the fireworks, the human traffic was insane. Tens of thousands boarded trains (some had to be added to handle the extra load), crammed in tighter than during the peak of rush-hour, all headed to Papineau to either get on the Jacques-Cartier Bridge or the parking lot underneath it. All the escalators were set in the up direction (those going down had to use the stairs), and police were called in to handle the crowds.

Imagine having to take a bike on that.

The other concern is that allowing one person to take a bike on the train means you have to allow everyone to take their bike on the train. So events that involve bikes, like the Tour de l’Ile mean they have to ban bikes on those days too, even though other traffic is pretty close to normal. (The STM has since relented slightly on the Tour de l’Ile, allowing some stations to accept bikes but not others).

Consult the list for exact times, but as a rule of thumb don’t count on using the metro during the evening or pretty well at all on weekends until the summer festival season is over.

| In the news, Montreal, Public transit

Kitty Metrovese

For those of you following the buck-passing on metro security passing the buck, we’re getting some interesting and, of course, contradictory reports from all sides. The STM says it never ordered anyone to stand by and laugh do nothing while some guy beats up on his girlfriend. The security workers union spokesperson says the police told them not to intervene while calling it “absurd”. And the public safety minister wants an investigation.

A few comments from the peanut gallery here. First, why is nobody talking about the report that the employee in the ticket booth refused to call 911? That doesn’t require putting anyone in danger, yet for some reason it was apparently refused. It’s unclear if that led even in part to delaying police arrival (they came 17 minutes later), but if it did I would expect that to be an even more serious story.

Second, why didn’t anyone do anything? There were plenty of ordinary people around who had plenty of time to bark at the metro employees. Why did they not intervene? The guy didn’t have a weapon. You could argue that putting people in harm’s way like that is dangerous, but if so why are these metro employees who don’t have arresting power, don’t carry firearms and are not supposed to intervene in these cases expected to do so?

Finally, with over a hundred police officers patrolling the metro, why were none in the system’s busiest station? Or the library or bus station next door? Why did it take police 17 minutes to get there?

UPDATE (Sept. 6): An “error in judgment” but no disciplinary action.

| Montreal, Public transit

Da-ba-dee-da-ba-da da-ba-doo-doo-doo

Starting this week, the blue line of the metro will be running at six cars at all times.

This is yet another step in the slow rollback of an idea that started many years ago to cut the length of trains during off-peak periods. The blue line would drop to three cars, and the orange and yellow lines to six each. The orange line plan was quickly reversed, and the yellow line is staying at six cars throughout the summer as people spend more time outside and those crazy students aren’t going to school.

While the train-shortening idea does have its advantages, mainly the savings on power, the drawbacks are also annoying: the time needed to split trains up for the weekend and reconnect them afterward, the installation of mirrors and other equipment in the stations, and the problems associated with a train using only part of a platform, for blind people for example.

Of course, for me, the one thing I’ll miss most about the shorter trains is watching people run after them having not realized that they were standing in an unused area of the platform.

| Public transit

The STM transit strike is over (for now)

STM maintenance workers are voting to approve an agreement in principle, ending Montreal’s strike after four days. The union’s executive has ordered employees back to work immediately. Service will resume slowly, with partial service tonight (they’ll get as many buses out as they can) and full service expected to resume tomorrow morning.

CBC Radio crack reporter Catherine Cullen is flirting with Bernie St-Laurent at the union meeting and reports the following:

  • No deal has been reached on a contract. In fact, both sides are still at a stalemate, so the agreement only covers ending the strike and sending everyone back to work.
  • The STM would reimburse transit users $3.50 ($2 for reduced passes) on their September passes to compensate for the reduced service.
  • Montreal Museums Day is still on for Sunday and will have the free shuttle provided by the STM, however there will be only one transfer site at the Journal de Montréal on Frontenac.

Meanwhile, an hour after the strike was declared over, the English online media is still silent, despite the thousands of Montrealers who need to know how they’re getting home tonight (and couldn’t care less whether the government falls tomorrow, unless it’s through a coup). The CBC.ca story sits unchanged since 3:25, and The Gazette and CTV (can someone get them a copy of WordPress so they can build a real website?) still say it’s a deal in principle but the strike isn’t over.

Of course, it’s all an academic point I suppose. Everyone knows Fagstein is the city’s most trusted source for STM-strike-related information.

| Montreal, Public transit

Revolutions are so disorganized

With today’s anti-STM-strike protest still 45 minutes away (wish I could go see it, but the buses won’t get me there fast enough), there are already rumours circulating of similar protests planned for Friday and Tuesday.

The media picked up on today’s protest (4pm, Berri-UQAM metro), so it may get some decent activity despite the last-minute planning.

UPDATE: Since there’s been no news following the protest, I’ll assume that it either didn’t happen or didn’t make much of an impact.

UPDATE (Fri. 4pm): Apparently nobody showed up but the media and a single organizer. I don’t know if I’d agree that it was “heavily hyped”. In fact, other than a La Presse brief, a vague Facebook post and some mentions on the morning all-news channels (which only the media watch anyway), nobody even knew about the protest.

| Montreal, Public transit

Everything you need to know about the Montreal transit strike

UPDATED: Friday at 6:50pm – It’s over. STM and union negotiators have come to an agreement in principle. Service is resuming slowly. See the latest developments.

Just in case you were curious, no, there wasn’t a last-minute agreement between the STM (Société de Transport de Montréal) and its maintenance workers (the Syndicat du transport de Montréal). So the strike is on, and everyone’s going to need to spend more time planning how to get around town.

I’ll dispense with telling you the blindingly obvious (bike, walk, carpool, taxi) and get down to some things people have been confused about with the coming strike.

The basics

  • The people on strike are maintenance workers, not bus drivers and metro ticket-takers. They belong to a different union, so don’t blame them for the disruption.
  • Service is still being provided during rush hours and late at night, on a schedule established by the essential services council.
  • Nobody knows how long the strike will last (basically it’s until one side cracks from the pressure), but the last strike was 8 days long if you need a ballpark figure. The union insists it could be over “in minutes” while the STM and city warn it could be a long strike.
  • The government has the power to impose a settlement through legislation, but is reluctant to do so. Nevertheless, the labour minister has given both sides a 48-hour deadline as of Wednesday to settle the conflict.

The timing

Buses and metros will work on the following schedule:

  • Weekdays: 6:00-9:00, 15:30-18:30, 23:00-01:00
  • Weekends: 6:00-9:00, 14:00-17:00, 23:00-01:00

At the start of these periods, buses will start up mid-route wherever they would normally be at that time. And any bus that starts will finish, even if it reaches its terminus after the service period is over. (Note: This works out for most routes, however some longer ones like the 211 may lose a departure or two at the end due to logistical problems — the last departure of the morning 211 Westbound is at 8:39am)

Metro trains will also start mid-route at various points in the network. Stations open 15 minutes before the first train, and schedules are posted at metro entrances.

The metro end-times are somewhat complex:

  • Green (1) and Orange (2) lines: Last trains start at the two terminuses at the end of the morning service period (9:00am), passing through Berri-UQAM at 9:25. For the afternoon and evening periods, the last trains will depart the terminuses 20 minutes before the end of the service period (6:10/4:40pm, 12:40am), all passing through Berri-UQAM at the last minute of the period.
  • Yellow (4) starts from both terminuses at the end of the service period
  • Blue (5) starts from both terminuses at the end of the morning and afternoon service periods. The last trains of each day leave at 12:15am as they normally do.

The STM has replaced its normal bus and metro scheduling pages with a hacked-together system that notes which bus stops are cancelled and when metros will run through a particular station. In case you’re unclear about a particular departure, check the STM’s website and it will give you a definitive answer.

All this being said, this strike is still nothing short of chaos for STM management. So expect the network in general to be less reliable than normal and give yourself a margin for error.

Services unaffected

  • AMT commuter trains are not run by the STM, so they will be running on a normal schedule.
    • Those of you who have not taken commuter trains before should know that regular bus pases are not accepted on board. Individual tickets are $3.75 to $5.25 on the island, one-way. Check the link to confirm rates and zones.
    • In a hilarious twist of irony, an unrelated CP Rail labour conflict may cause delays on the Blainville, Dorion and Delson train lines. The Deux-Montagnes line is unaffected (it’s run by CN).
    • Just in case you thought it couldn’t get worse, the AMT is coincidentally experiencing technical problems with its diesel-powered trains the likes of which it hasn’t seen in decades.
  • Transit service in Laval (STL) and the south shore (RTL) as well as other off-island-run services are unaffected. In fact, the STL will be increasing service on lines that come onto the island to compensate for the STM strike, including running their night-time shuttle between Montmorency and Henri-Bourassa during the daytime when metro service is not running in Laval.
  • Paratransit service is considered essential and will run on a normal schedule.

Cancelled services

  • Night buses will not be running (they all fall out of the service periods)
  • School extras (special buses added to handle increased loads from people leaving classes) will be suspended. So if you take the bus with lots of other people from high school, consider other transportation options or a long wait.

The demands

The STM is demanding/offering a five-year contract with:

  • Pension eligibility be reduced by five years (meaning you’ll have to work five years longer, or be five years older, before you qualify for the same benefits)
  • Reduced pension benefits for those retiring after 2019
  • No salary increase this year
  • A 2% salary increase for each of the next four years

The union wants a three-year contract with:

  • No changes to pensions (they’ve since offered to take the cost for this out of the salary increase)
  • A 2% salary increase for each of the next three years plus cost-of-living protection which would add on another 1-3% per year

The history

2,142 maintenance workers, who comprise people like mechanics and janitorial staff but not bus drivers, metro booth operators or supervisors, last went on strike in November of 2003. That strike lasted 8 days. Their latest contract ended Jan. 6, 2007, and they voted to strike on March 4. On May 6 they set the date for the strike.

There have been 15 transit strikes in the past 40 years. The longest was in 1974 when maintenance workers shut down the metro (but not buses) for 44 days.

The politics

Both sides are trying to win this battle in the court of public opinion. The STM took out a full-page ad in Wednesday’s papers.

The union says:

  • They are paid less than private-sector counterparts
  • They have been open to negotiating at any time (while the STM team goes home at 5 p.m.)
  • They are paid less and get less benefits than Laval transit maintenance workers
  • They have already made concessions and are willing to end the strike even with only partial concessions from the STM
  • The strike is our fault
  • Other arguments summarized on this blog post

The STM says:

  • The deal they offered is the same one being given to other city unions
  • They have a $22 million deficit this year and can’t afford more money
  • The union has been without a contract for only a few months and are “taking the city hostage”
  • Their benefits package (especially the pension) make up for any salary difference with private-sector maintenance workers

So far most people are on the STM’s side, noting that $22-$25 an hour is a lot to pay someone to clean vomit off a metro station floor, and that those suffering from this strike are mostly the poor and working class.

The media have come largely on the STM’s side as well, with The Gazette, La Presse (again) and Le Devoir all printing editorials saying the union already has the rights it needs and the strike is overkill. Of course, the crazy union lefties don’t like that idea.

The law

This is a perfectly legal strike. The government has the power, through special legislation, to force and end to the disruption or force a settlement. However, a mutually-agreeable settlement is far preferable to this drastic action. Though some people suggest that charter rights have somehow been violated, no court has ruled that convenient public transit is a charter right.

Your employer has no obligation to change any working conditions due to the strike. This includes changing your schedule, compensating you for cab use, providing alternative transportation, or anything else you might think you deserve because you work at odd hours. You’re still responsible for getting to work on time and working whatever hours you’ve agreed to. Unless public transit is part of your job somehow, the strike becomes your problem, not theirs.

You may be eligible for a partial refund of your monthly or weekly transit pass once this is over. After the 2003 strike, the STM offered a $5 discount for the following February 2004 bus pass ($2.50 for reduced-fare passes). Three years later, it settled a class action lawsuit and discounted $2 off the November 2006 transit pass ($1 off the reduced pass). Hold on to this week’s/month’s pass in case it becomes necessary. Note, however, that it could be a while before you see anything, and it won’t be that much.

Alternatives

Among the more interesting alternatives, CJAD is turning this into an opportunity for a publicity stunt, offering a free shuttle from the West Island to downtown during the strike (between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.).

The Journal today has a list of ride-sharing services, where you can offer and look for a partner to carpool with. And there’s always communauto, which is bound to be busier than normal.

As expected, at least one taxi driver (whose blog is apparently the second-most influential in Quebec) is going to profit heavily from very angry people.

How about informal taxis? Hitch-hike with a tip in hand.

Protests

Though it won’t get you to your destination any faster, writing angry letters might help alleviate your stress a bit.

Or if that’s too much for you, just join the “I don’t support the strike” Facebook group. Or the other “I don’t support the strike” Facebook group. Or the other one. Or the other one. Or this one. Or that one. Or the one over there. Or this one right here. Or this group. Or that group. Or this one. Or that one. Or that one. Or, if you support the strike, join the lone Facebook group that’s taking their side.

So far at least one online petition has started up demanding the government legislate an end to the strike.

The first (and only) attempted protest against the strike by concerned citizens is planned for Thursday at 4pm at Emily-Gamelin Park (aka Berri Square, corner Berri and Ste-Catherine). It was an utter failure, with only three people showing up (not including the media).

Finally, just to balance things out, here’s an interesting blog post arguing that the union’s demands are justified in the big picture.

| Fun, Montreal, Public transit

Success is in the eyes of the flashmobber

On Saturday night I decided I’d stop by this metro party thing that was going on. I had my doubts about it, since it hadn’t been well publicized, but people showed up anyway.

Most of the crowd showed up together, being friends with each other. Some came alone. None of them seemed to know what was going on, and started asking around for whoever organized this thing. Whoever it was wasn’t there, and the group was left without music (a rather important part to any party).

Nevertheless, at 9:07pm we got on the train at Snowdon and everyone started stomping and cheering and blowing through noisemakers and stringing lights.

The real fun part about things like this is the reaction from unsuspecting bystanders. Some of them looked confused. Others had a blank, mindless stare. Some giggled, and some even joined in the fun. But everyone noticed.

By the time the train got to Jean-Talon, metro security was there to meet it. Nothing particularly nefarious had taken place. Doors weren’t held, alarms weren’t pulled. All they were doing was making noise, most of which got drowned out by the sound of the train speeding along.

Still, everyone got out there. And after a short delay while the tangled mess of lights was being freed from the support bars they were tied to, the group found itself on the platform, thanking the security guards for being such good sports about it all (the guards weren’t actually being insanely nice, but the cordial atmosphere took them off guard (no pun intended) and discouraged them from escalating the situation further).

After a post-mortem on the escalator, the group split up, and I found myself following the larger faction to the orange line heading downtown. They still had all their stuff with them, so they decided they’d have another party on the orange line from Jean-Talon to Berri. I debated whether to stick with them and watch what happened or go home.

I’m glad I chose to stay. Once they got on, they quickly gained the support of a small group of young men. One sat in the middle of the party, enjoying the scene playing around him and grooving with the noisemaker-generated rhythm. Another got up and started dancing like he was in the middle of a nightclub, grinding against the pole and breakdancing on the floor. The third sat in his seat, his eyes half-closed and looking like he was either high on valium or low on sleep.

Again, the same set of reactions. One couple looked like they were in a waking coma, but the rest of the people in the car stared and laughed at the entire scene.

Just as the train pulled in to Berri, I realized what was wrong with valium guy. He jerked forward suddenly and alcohol-soaked vomit magically appeared on his jacket and the floor. I decided it was time to leave before the place got stunk up. (Should I point out the irony that this kid’s vomit is going to leave a more lasting impression than a group of noisemakers who cleaned up after themselves?)

After some coaxing from one of the partyers, who introduced me to his friends, I decided to join them for some karaoke at a bar near Ontario and Papineau.

“Dive” isn’t an apt description for this place. It was cliché. Sea-green walls, glittery curtains, VLT machines, a claw prize machine, giant 40 oz beer bottles and tiny glasses (cheapest alcohol I’ve ever seen at a bar by the way), middle-aged waitresses who think they’re more attractive than they really are, and fat, bald 40-year-old men badly belching out 80s rock songs. I should start recommending it to tourists.