Qubec Solidaire promises massive $25B public transit expansion for Montreal

Qubec Solidairehas unveiled an ambitious $25 billion public transit plan for the Montreal area that it's dubbing "The Greater Montreal Express."

The plan includes the construction of the proposed Pink Metro line, extending all existing Metro lines, building two new tramways, adding passenger ferries to the North and SouthShores, and adding dedicated express bus lanes.

Co-spokesperson ManonMasssaid her party would invest$10 billion in its first mandate $25 billion in total and deliver 38 new Metro stations by 2030.

In a previous announcement,Qubec Solidairepledged to ban the sale of vehicles that run on fossil fuels provincewide by thesame year.

All that wouldin come addition to the Rseau Express Mtropolitain(REM) light-rail project currently being built by Quebec's pension fund manager, the Caisse de dpt et placement du Qubec.

"People living in the greater Montreal region will finally be able to leave their car behind wherever they live, wherever they go,"Masssaid at a news conference Thursday morning.

Metros, trams, buses and boats

The main focus of the plan is expanding the Metro system, including:

• A firm commitment to build the Pink line, first proposed by Montreal Mayor Valrie Plante, with 29 new stations running from Lachine through downtown all the way to Montreal North.
• Proceeding with the previously announced extension of the Blue line,with five new stations running from Saint-Michel to Anjou.
• Two new stations extendingnorth past Cte-Vertu on the Orange line, linking up to the eventual BoisFranc REM station.
• Extension of the Yellow linetwo stations westinto downtown Montreal, and also two new stations east intoLongueuil.
• One new station on the western end of the Green line extending to CEGEP Andr-Laurendeau.

QubecSolidaire also wants to build two new tramways, one connecting downtown Montreal to Pointe-aux-Tremblesalong Notre-Dame Street, and another in Longueuil on Taschereau Boulevard connecting a new Yellow line Metro station to thenew Panama REM station.

The partyalso said it wants to expand the dedicated express bus lane currently under construction on Pie-IX Boulevard, and adda new east-west dedicated express bus lane in Laval.

Finally,QubecSolidaire would add passenger ferry shuttle service linking Repentigny, Pointe-aux-Trembles and Boucherville to downtown Montreal.

Overly ambitious

Philippe Cousineau-Morin, director of the public transit advocacy group Trajectoire, says he's glad to hear all parties, including QubecSolidaire, talking about major transit projects.

"That's a good direction, and it's not the same direction we've had over the last decades in Montreal.It's nice to hear such ambitious goals," Cousineau-Morin told CBC.

But he thinks completing allthese projects by 2030 as QubecSolidaire is promising may be too ambitious.

"I'd like to see them all built by that time, but history tells us they won't be able to do all those at the same time."

He believes focusing on simpler, less attention-grabbing measures such as more reserved bus lanes could be a better idea.

"I don't think we should put all our eggs in major infrastructure.There are other real options that are not sexy projects," Cousineau-Morin said.

Whither the West Island?

Qubec Solidaire's plan seems to have one blind spot:Montreal's West Island.

Apart from the REM, which is already under construction, there are no new projects for theWest Island.

CandidateRuba Ghazalsaid the plan is not set in stone, and that other unspecified options for those communities could be considered later.

"It's possible to to review this if we form government, we can discuss it with the public transit agencies and perhaps the plan can change."