Team 1-F Members: Amritjot Ghotra, Ben Oates, Charlotte Foucault & Vishakaa Satheeshkumar
Residents of Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles want a collaborative public transit development plan that incorporates the Rivière-des-Prairies (RDP) area. Following an online petition, the residents expressed their need for close collaboration between STM, the City of Montréal, and the borough to implement an analysis of the transportation needs. A feasibility study for the extension of the metro to RDP would aim to reduce travel times (Parisis, 2019). This agglomeration of Montréal does not have a metro or a direct line, but the bus routes that connect to the metro are time-consuming. Although future plans address the area's lack of transit access, 20.7% of the residents commute to the Ville-Marie borough for work-related activities (Statistics Canada, 2016). With GHG emissions from the transportation sector in Montréal representing 40% of emissions (Pembina, 2021), Team 1-F plans to tackle the ongoing problem of the increase in GHG emissions, while addressing the socioeconomic differences in this area.
Four solutions were explored and one of them stood out. The solution proposed by the 1-F team is to offer low-income families a public transit pass at a lower price. This solution meets the needs of these citizens, as 38% of RDP households have an income of $50,000 or less (Centris, 2016). Currently, the STM offers a lower-cost pass to seniors and students, along with free fares for children (STM, 2022). However, at present in Montreal and mainly in RDP, there is no low-cost option in place for disadvantaged families.
When designing this solution, it was important to consider the sensitivities involved in dealing with the general public. To summarize, we assumed that all stakeholders had the desire to work with one another, as well as assumed that our devised solution would cause more people to take public transit because people have a desire to do so. It is recommended to conduct a user survey approximately 1 year after this program is implemented in order to see if the assumptions made were correct.
Residents of east of Montréal, in the area of Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles want a change. A petition has been put online so that there will be, in this sector, a better public transportation service (Parisis, 2019). There are three main systems that interact together. First, there is the environmental system. This sphere includes all aspects of sustainable transportation, such as public transit, pedestrians, and bike. Second, there is the social sphere, which includes the residents of Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointes-aux-Trembles, the STM, the mayor of Montréal and the mayor of the agglomeration of Rivière-des-Prairies. Finally, the economic sphere includes everything related to infrastructure costs, as well as the annual budget set by the city and the provision of buses. The current status and future extension of the transit and metro lines are displayed in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Current lines and future extensions (Google Maps, 2022).
From Figure 1, it is evident that there is no line or proposed extension that intersects at the middle of RDP. However, there is a critical relationship between population density and the proposal of a new line or extension. For instance, taking Toronto as a model, since it is a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) similar to Montréal, a case study indicated that one of the challenges of operating metro lines in a low-populated area is the increased tension between the city and developers (Donnelly, 2017). Hence, land use must be efficiently utilized to ensure the optimal outcome for the transit ridership.
Solution A: Optimizing Frequency of Bus Services in RDP
RDP should review its transportation logistics network in collaboration with the STM. This includes the analysis of population density and availability of public transportation services. By creating a transportation system that creates a more consistent link between buses based on the existing physical infrastructure, STM can promote increased access to the residents inside and outside of RDP to meet their personal commute needs.
For example, the residents of this agglomeration benefit from a train line which is the Exo 5-Mascouche line. This train line runs east-west from the city of Mascouche to its western terminus which is the Central Station of Montreal. The Exo 5-Mascouche runs only on weekdays and the first departure is at 7:35 a.m. and the next departure is at 12:50 PM (Exo, 2021). The figure in Appendix B represents a typical schedule for Monday, March 27, 2023. The solution to train optimization is to increase the frequency of trains in the morning. Indeed, by offering additional services in the morning, it allows workers who wish to go downtown to use public transit. Additionally, this promotes job prosperity through increased access to the inner parts of the borough and the physical infrastructure is already present.