Tramway system in Montreal?

[Saint Andrew 6]

The Mayor of Montreal, after recently visiting Paris, has suddenly been inspired to implement a light rail system along Park Avenue (Avenue du Parc) from Jean-Talon to Downtown. The line would be 7 kms (roughly 4 and a half miles) long and would cost an estimated 300 Million $CDN (260 Million $US). Is it really worth the investment. Montreal hasn't seen tramways since 1959. What do you think?

[spa 970]

Probably better to put that 300 million into the Metro. Canadian cities have very limited resources and, although I'm not all that familiar with Montreal, I do know that Calgary, Toronto and Edmonton all need more money to expand their train/subway systems and I don't see why Montreal would be any different. This seems like a poor and ineffective use of limited funds.

[Haljackey 17,325]

The only way to solve traffic prblems in any city is to provide alternate types of transport.  Widening a road will tempory patch a problem for cars, but it will soon reach capicity and needs to be widened again, which does not solve the problem.  Implementing France's (and Paris') awsome commuter rail system in Montreal would encourage people to take the trains insted of the cars, easing the congestion on that cities streets and highways.  I think its a tarrific idea that other cities should follow.

But as Spa mentioned, money is a problem.  Biuld big or don't biuld at all I say.  The city, province and federal goverments should all invest so there is actually a moderately sized system that takes riders where they want to go

[Infinite Hexamon Nexus 0]

While I am all for developing tram service in North American cities, I'm not sure this would be the best use of Montreal's resources. My impression when I visited Montreal last year was that the Metro system was struggling and that perhaps that money could be better spent on some upgrades to the existing system to make it more efficient, as well as some station upgrades. At the moment the Metro is being expanded into Laval and this is the first major extension in over twenty years. That would also be a good use of resources, as I found the Metro system to be good for getting around, but staying in Laval I would have preferred easier access to the Metro which would have made thing even easier. Speaking from having seen Metro's in Taipei and Hong Kong, north American rapid transit systems need a lot of work to catch up to their level of efficiency.

[spa 970]

Just to clarify. I wasn't saying that spending on public transit is bad. In fact the I think the exact reverse is true. Expanding roads is often just a waste because expanded roads simply fill up with more cars. Public transit should be the priority. I just think that given the state of things in Canadian cities right now money should be spent where it will have the most effect and this is on upgrading and expanding existing subway and rail lines. Building a tramway from scratch seems dumb when the current system needs the cash. To put it in Sim City terms, it seems like a big piece expensive piece of eye candy that doesn't go to enough different zones to be effective. If you're intersted in Montreal's Metro, you should check out this clip from the CBC from 2000. It outlines some of the problems the system faces.

http://archives.cbc.ca/400d.asp?id=1-75-1099-6108

[Saint Andrew 6]

I too would prefer if the city put more money into the existing infrastructure. Yes, the Metro needs a lot, but also the highways. Montreal is building a reputation of being always congested, which isn't that far from the truth. Though I agree public transport is really important, seeing how Montrealers rather drive, we really need to do something about the highway system.

[chix4free 0]

Originally posted by: haljackey

The only way to solve traffic prblems in any city is to provide alternate types of transport.  Widening a road will tempory patch a problem for cars, but it will soon reach capicity and needs to be widened again, which does not solve the problem.  Implementing France's (and Paris') awsome commuter rail system in Montreal would encourage people to take the trains insted of the cars, easing the congestion on that cities streets and highways.  I think its a tarrific idea that other cities should follow. But as Spa mentioned, money is a problem.  Biuld big or don't biuld at all I say.  The city, province and federal goverments should all invest so there is actually a moderately sized system that takes riders where they want to goquote>

I don't know whether Montreal would be less congested with a Paris-like commuter rail system but what I know is that daily traffic in downtown Paris has been at its worst since mayor Bertrand Delano

[Micah 16]

^ That's the tramway? What a copy off of Houston's rail! It looks almost exactly like Houston's rail!

Well... atleast you people are getting better transportation!

Don't listen to any of the people who say it will increase commercial growth in the area because it never happens...

[chix4free 0]

Originally posted by: Micah

^ That's the tramway? What a copy off of Houston's rail! It looks almost exactly like Houston's rail! Well... atleast you people are getting better transportation! Don't listen to any of the people who say it will increase commercial growth in the area because it never happens...quote>

The Paris tramway's not yet completed, grass is currently being planted on the tracks and the final result will be something like that:





As far as Montreal is concerned, I guess significantly upgrading and extending the current subway system should be the top priority.

[Micah 16]

Originally posted by: chix4free

Originally posted by: Micah

^ That's the tramway? What a copy off of Houston's rail! It looks almost exactly like Houston's rail! Well... atleast you people are getting better transportation!

The Paris tramway's not yet completed, grass is currently being planted on the tracks and the final result will be something like that:

http://www.mairie13.paris.fr/mairie13/images/local/data/bibliotheque/maquette_tramway.jpg' alt='maquette_tramway.jpg'>

As far as Montreal is concerned, I guess significantly upgrading and extending the current subway system should be the top priority.quote>

Oh... then I take back what I said, Montreal's tramway looks much better than Houston's rail-line. See, we have colored bricks, but in Montreal, there is grass instead of brick which looks much better (Until the grass dies, of course).

[newyorkstate 6]

What do you mean by since 1959? And yes it would be great! I am very envirnmentally conscious, and the pollution in Mont. is horrible (I live there)

[hamsterTK 93]

the grass is pretty. Maybe Metro could consider doing that for the new University Line in houston...

[simtowner 0]

yah but with 300 M$ at Montreal we only do 1 kilometer of metro

[jvlm.123 0]

It kinda sounds like the LUAS, the Dublin light rail/tram network - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luas