If there's one thing to note about STM, it's that they rarely change routes. While there has been lots of growth in Montreal in the past decade, and travel patterns have quickly changed, there has been only one major reorganization in that time frame. So when STM announced that they were planning a full network redesign, noting the openings of both REM and the Blue Line, there was hope that the network would be filled it. Not long however, though, progress was stalled.
Earlier this week, the sector redesign for Île-des-Soeurs was released, as the island's new REM has an imminent opening. I was excited, as there had been lots of public participation, and the simple layout of this sector should have made the task relatively straight-forward. However, reviewing the plan, I find it is way too complicated, and there will be lots of confusion on day one. If this was the product that the planners developed on such a simple sector, I'm very concerned about the rest of the network.
In this blog post, I will showcase the current plan, explain why it fails, and present my own solutions for a simple, yet strong, network for Île-des-Soeurs.
What are the Goals of the Redesign?
I think it's important to outline some key goals of the redesign first. I think, with Île-des-Soeurs, it's very simple set:
- Service the entire length of the island;
- Service along both Berlioz and du Golf;
- Connections to the new REM Station Île-des-Soeurs;
- Service to Place du Commerce;
- Connections to downtown (Cité du Multimédia);
- Connections to LaSalle (Hôpital de Verdun); and
- Simple, all-day, every-day services.
I believe that all of these goals are achievable simultaneously.
STM's Plan, and What Went Wrong
STM took the approach of Île-des-Soeurs being a clean slate to redesign, which I think is the right choice. The presence of the REM station completely changes travel patterns. The specifics of STM's plan are laid out
here. Below is the map of the plan.
There are so many things to say here. Why are two routes going to the end of Pointe-Sud, but the 176 Berlioz is not? Why are there four routes still, just as there were prior to REM? Why is the 168 ending at Stn Lucien L'Allier, and not Stn McGill like it used to? Why is there no night service, continuing the isolation of Île-des-Soeurs between 1am and 5am?
What seems to be clear here is that, during public consultation, there were a lot of conflicting needs. As such, STM decided to incorporate all of them into this plan. In practice, however, this means the routes will tend to be low-frequency, and probably low-ridership, instead of a few frequent corridors.
This is not be saying public participation is bad. What I am saying, however, is that hard decisions do need to made. You can't have everything, and that's fine, but you need to make a network that works for majority, and provides reliability, predictability, and consistency.
One thing not on the map is that, due to the 168 Cité-du-Havre going from full hours to ending at 9pm on weekdays, with no weekend service, the 74 Bridge will become an all-day, every-day route, to serve stops in Cité-du-Havre that would otherwise lose service. However, one forum user was quick to comment that the 74's current ridership comes out to about two passengers a trip. Throwing so many resources at a route that performs poorly, in a time where STM is under serious budget pressure, seems irresponsible to me. I have a plan to alter the 74 in my redesign, but in a different direction.
My Network Redesign for Île-des-Soeurs
This may be crazy to say, but I am confident that I can make transit on Île-des-Soeurs great with just two routes.
168 Île-des-Soeurs: Stn McGill to Pointe-Sud via Place du Commerce
My proposed 168 Île-des-Soeurs route will be the primary connection from the island to both the REM Station and downtown. Firstly, it runs the entire way down the island, and makes connections to Place du Commerce. Because of where the autoroute on-ramps are, it easily serves the REM Station and the condominiums north of the highway. On the run-up to downtown, it makes stops at Cité du Multimédia, Stn Square-Victoria--OACI, and Stn McGill, which is more than enough differentiation from the downtown-bound REM trains.
This route would run every 15-minutes or better, until 1am, seven days a week. While some trips may terminate at the REM station, it is overall a strong connection for all.
I also think a night route, which I called the 386, could operate this exact same routing, with no routing changes required. This would finally connect Île-des-Soeurs to the main island at all hours.
I also link a thread from Marco Chitti, an urban planner who lives in Montreal. He makes the point of Montreal's downtown bus network being very poor, in terms of connectivity, and things major changes are required. Unfortunately, a downtown rework is not a part of this redesign, and so the terminus at Stn McGill can be considered temporary, based on how other routes changed. I have linked Marco's thread below, and it provides a number of goals that are very easy to achieve, resulting in significant benefit for customers.
178 Berlioz: Stn de l'Église to Pointe-Sud via Place du Commerce
The new 178 Berlioz is similar to the 168, but with two key differences: one, it runs via Berlioz instead of du Golf, and two, it runs into LaSalle, specifically via Hôpital Verdun and Stn de l'Eglise. The routing is a bit confusing at René-Lévesque and Place du Commerce, but this was unavoidable as I still wanted to make sure this route was able to serve Place du Commerce itself.
This route would run every 30-minutes or better, until 1am, seven days a week.
74 Bridge: Stn Square-Victoria--OACI to Stn Jean-Drapeau via Carrie-Derick
I previously mentioned that I would be adjusting the 74 Bridge, just as STM plans to. For this route, I wanted to maintain current service coverage, but extend the route so that those coming from South Shore have easy access to the employment area. In doing so, I increased coverage along Pierre-Dupuy. Note again that the terminus downtown, at Stn Square-Victoria-OACI, is temporary.
Conclusion
The network redesign of Île-des-Soeurs should have showcased that STM knew how to use its resources efficiently, and build a network that matches the needs and infrastructure of today. While they were unable to do this, I have hope that this approach will be taken in some of the further network redesigns in the future.
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