et si l’on remplaçait ce Dairy Queen par des condos et un Starbucks . . . ?
au coin du Parc et Bérubé au Mile-End
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Permalink for Photo du jour : Quel patrimoine ?
Posted by Émile Thomas
Categories Development / Développement, Headlines / À la une, Mile End, Photo du jour, Plateau Mont-Royal
« Tout le monde peut innover, si sa vie en dépend. »
- Akio Morita
Récemment, le journal gratuit Métro Montréal 24 Heures a demandé aux citoyens si un train à grande vitesse Montréal-New York serait rentable.
Cher 24 Heures, vous leur avez posé une drôle de question. Vous devez leur demander :
Pourquoi faut-il parler de la rentabilité d’un projet de mobilité ?
La mobilité n’a aucun prix.
Demandons-nous que nos rues soient rentables ?
Demandons-nous que nos hôpitaux soient rentables ?
Demandons-nous que nos écoles soient rentables ?
Nos égouts ? Nos parcs ? Nos trottoirs ?
Cela dépend de notre définition de l’adjectif « rentable ». Parlons-nous de tous les résultats avantageux pour l’économie, l’environnement, et la société ? Ou bien parlons-nous strictement des résultats financiers ?
Peut-être n’avons-nous pas soulevé une question précise. Cher 24 Heures, peut-être devriez-vous demander :
Les transports durables et efficaces ne représentent-ils pas un investissement à notre futur ?
Il va sans dire que nous saisissons l’importance d’une telle infrastructure. Allez voir le paquet d’études effectuées par le gouvernement – au moins 16 depuis 1973. Le site High Speed Rail Canada vous encourage à feuilleter celles de 1991, 1993, 1995, 2002, et 2008. D’ailleurs, Jean Charest a annoncé naguère qu’il veut encore étudier le dossier. Quel escroc ! Il dit assidûment la même chose depuis les années 1990 ! (Que Dieu vous bénisse, Google !)
Alors, 24 Heures, il fallait que vous nous posiez la question suivante :
Pouvez-vous imaginer l’effet qu’un TGV aurait sur la ville de Montréal ?
Imaginons : de la Métropole québécoise à la métropole étatsunienne. Les retombées économiques s’avéreraient énormes. Les entreprises profiteraient de l’emplacement de notre ville, à un carrefour des marchés québécois, canadien, et américain. Un TGV transformerait Montréal à l’instar du fleuve Saint-Laurent et des chemins de fer.
Imaginons : qui connait quelqu’un qui a dû quitter Montréal parce que les meilleurs postes d’emploi se trouvent ailleurs (notamment à Toronto et New York) ? Un TGV mettrait fin à ces histoires. Citons pour exemple la ville de Lille en France qui ne se trouve pas plus que 90 minutes des capitales française (Paris), britannique (Londres), et européenne (Bruxelles).
Imaginons : notre pays pourrait enfin accueillir le 20e siècle. Il est hallucinant que le Japon ait un shinkansen depuis 1964 (un pays qui avait été réduit en cendres par les Américains 20 ans auparavant), la France depuis 1981 (un pays qui est paralysé par des grèves tous les 4 mois). Même l’Espagne et la Turquie ont réalisé les premières phases de construction de leurs réseaux de trains à grande vitesse. N’oublions pas que l’Espagne était une dictature jusqu’à 1975, et que la Turquie connaissait un coup d’état militaire presque tous les dix ans !
Hélas ! Osons-nous nous poser la question-clef de l’affaire TGV ?
Qu’est-il advenu de notre pays ?
Que ce soit à l’échelle locale, régional, nationale, et internationale, notre mobilité n’a aucun prix.
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Permalink for Le dossier de TGV : la mobilité n’a aucun prix
Posted by Émile Thomas
Categories Headlines / À la une, Public Transit / Transport en commun
« ZELC ne peut exiger que la STM redéfinisse ses besoins et ceux de ses utilisateurs, change le produit qu’elle exploite avec succès depuis 40 ans (…) et qu’elle modifie radicalement ses spécifications techniques. »
- Guy Du Pont (from Rue Frontenac’s Michel Van de Walle)
In the gospel according to Émile, there is a parable about a man from Galilee – or maybe it was Verdun.
Anyway, he goes to a store and asks for a bicycle.
The saleswoman says, “I have no bicycles but I could sell you a car.”
He says, “I don’t want a car, I want a bicycle.”
She says, “Bicycles are outdated, not as efficient, and not as durable in all weather conditions.”
He says, “True, but I still want a bicycle.”
She says, “Cars are not as bad as they used to be. All you need to do is make small alterations to your house in order to build a garage for your new car.”
He says, “If you can’t offer me a bicycle, then I will have to take my business elsewhere.”
And she takes him to court.
—
For those of you who don’t know, there is an engineering and transit ideological war, involving billions of YOUR dollars, brewing in Montréal. Let me break it down for you:
Back in 2006, the STM and the government of Québec got together with Bombardier to replace our well-aged fleet of metro cars.
Then Alstom SA, a French company, got mad and cried foul. They said the government should be soliciting competing bids.
The government, in true fashion, said, “Whatever.”
So Alstom SA said, “I’ll show you ‘whatever’”, and took the government to court.
(p.s. Alstom SA won.)
But instead of continuing to fight, Alstom SA and Bombardier hooked up and have decided to work together.
This led to an even juicier bid. Like super-ripe summer peach juicy.
The city’s original tender for 340 subway cars, worth an estimated $1.2-billion, became 765 cars, with an option to purchase another 288 cars, valued at more than $3-billion.
And that, my friends, is a lot of cash.
But at $3-billion, we’re talking a whole different ballgame. So the government but the offer back out : any company that believes it can fill the order for rubber-tyred vehicles only, and with a commitment to do all the final manufacturing in Canada, now has 30 days to signal its interest.
This seemed to be a bit of a formality – only Bombardier and Alstom SA are known to be able to fill such an order with the requirements stipulated by the government.
And, ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d’enfants.
Not so fast.
Enter China’s Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive. They say the bidding process is unfair because, while in theory it is open to everyone, in practice it is only open to companies that can produce rubber-tyred cars.
They say no one really uses rubber tires anymore for modern metro systems.
They say rubber wheels are less efficient and durable than steel.
They say conversion to steel wheels could be done without service interruption and would end up in significant savings on operating costs.
Maybe steel wheels have come a long way. Maybe my judgement has been clouded by youth spent riding the Toronto subway (minute 3:55 is pretty exemplary). Or maybe the earthquake simulator that is the NYC subway riding under my ex-girlfriend’s apartment has coloured my reasoning.
For this, I apologise.
But here in Montreal, we have stuck to the rubber-tyred method. And for that, I am grateful.
So unless Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive is willing to fund the conversion of our system to steel tires and guarantee that it could be done without service interruption, then I think we have heard enough from them. Passons à l’action! Our metro cars aren’t getting any younger.
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Permalink for Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive c. Québec, la STM, et les pneumatiques
Posted by Émile Thomas
Categories Headlines / À la une, Public Transit / Transport en commun
The newly elected Projet-Montréal borough council in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal have indicated that they plan to phase out free parking spaces in favour of charging non-resident drivers for the privilege. Facing a 4 million dollar deficit with few options to increase revenue, the borough council has been experimenting with new approaches to increase revenue to make up for the budgetary shortfall caused mostly by the current economic slowdown and the near-record snowfalls of last winter. Public consultations will be held before any decisions are made.
It is expected that 3 million dollars will be raised in new revenue annually. This, along with the decision not to truck away snow on weekends which will save the borough around 1.5 million dollars this winter, should make up for the red ink, and then some.
The borough currently has 10 000 to 11 000 free parking spots, mostly on-street spaces in residential areas. Alex Norris, a borough councilor, told the CBC that many of these spaces are used by “freeloaders who park for free on our residential streets, and don’t pay a penny for it”.
The plan has potential to bring a number of benefits to the borough beyond balancing the budget. Public transit use will likely increase as more people leave their cars at home to avoid new parking fees; traffic, especially due to drivers roaming the streets in search of free parking, will diminish; and residents will find it easier to park their vehicles with the increase in zoned parking and less outsiders using the formally free spaces. Of course, some are unhappy with the plan. Chris Karidogiannis, a shop owner in Mile End who was involved in the fight against the ave du Parc name change is one such person. Never missing a chance to complain against any measures limiting vehicle use in the city, he called the plan a “new, left-wing, hippie, commie policy of getting rid of cars on the Plateau” and claims that “Hook or crook, we are an economy based on transportation by vehicle”. Apparently, he missed the point that such policies are part of a larger strategy being implemented in many cities around the world meant to transform such vehicle-based economies. Unfortunately for Karidogiannis, the hippie commies are gaining traction.
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Permalink for Free parking for non-residents to end in Plateau
Posted by Chris Erb
Categories Headlines / À la une, Parking / Stationnement, Plateau Mont-Royal, Politics / La politique, Traffic / Circulation
The funeral service for Nick Rizzuto Jr., son of mob boss Vito Rizzuto, at Madonna Della Difesa Church in Montreal’s Little Italy this afternoon. The 42-year-old Rizzuto was shot and killed last Monday in NDG.
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Permalink for Rizzuto funeral
Posted by Adam Bemma
Categories Headlines / À la une, Historical / Historique, Little Italy / Petite Italie, Spacing Montréal
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