One Blunder After Another 

posted by Odin on Apr 30, 2009

'bixi' by ApollineR, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License

Just when I thought the city of Montreal couldn't make any more mistakes, I am proven wrong!  Just when our public transit options couldn't get any worse, they actually do!

The Bixi public bicycle rental system is due for launch next month.  The idea is simple; you pay an annual fee in order to access a network of public bicycles, parked at given stations.  Various European cities, such as Paris, Munich and Barcelona, have had similar systems for a few years now.

The concept is great.  Lord knows that during the year I've spent in Paris, I have used the Vélib system quite often and am now a devoted fan.  What's not to like?  Lots of bikes, lots of stations, incredible city coverage, cheap membership (30€ for the year)…

The Montreal system, on the other hand, seems riddled with problems from the onset.  To start off, the annual membership fee goes for $78.  This is no astronomical amount, but to keep things in perspective, you can buy a used bike for around $100.  Also, how can the system cost way less in Paris, a much more expensive city?

Second, the distribution of the Bixi stations leaves much to be desired.  A quick look at the map on the official website shows a massive network of stations scattered around downtown and the Plateau area.  This raises two issues.  First, do you really need THIS many stations next to each other?  Seriously, some stations are actually only one block apart!  Second, what about the rest of the city?  I would have decreased the density a bit to provide some stations in surrounding areas such as Westmount, CDN, NDG, which seem to have been completely neglected.

Finally, we live in a cold city, where you can really only bike for a few months a year.  I'm just not too sure it's wise to invest time, effort and money for an activity that will only benefit certain people during a short time window.  There are supposedly 300 Bixi stations to start off.  What exactly did we lose to provide for all of this space?  Is it parking spaces?  I sure hope not!

I am not a fan of cars, and would love to see fewer cars on our island.  But, unfortunately, cars are everywhere and are here to stay for now.  With all of the parking lots transformed into condo projects and the hike in parking meter rates, it has become very hard to find parking anywhere in our busy districts.  Does it really make sense to take up even more spaces for Bixi stations?  It just seems like we're benefiting the minority bikers at the expense of the majority car drivers, which by the way, need those parking spots ALL year long!

Once again, it seems our officials want to do well and head in the right direction.  It just seems they fall short on almost every occasion.

Airport Rail Shuttle? Really? 

posted by Odin on Apr 24, 2009

'VIA Train 60 entraining' by Bobolink, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

So I read an article a few weeks ago by Andy Riga from the Gazette about the proposed train shuttle between Trudeau airport and downtown, and I thought to myself "what a waste!"

I have always thought that Montreal lacked a lot when it came to public transportation, whether it was to the airport or elsewhere in general.  And it definitely sounds like a good idea to add a fast way go get to the airport from downtown (something that most large cities of importance, especially in Europe, have always had).

BUT, at what cost?  And to serve whose interests?  Expected to cost $800 million, one wonders whether it's worth spending that much of our money on something that's only meant to serve commercial interests rather than your average Montrealer.

For let us not kid ourselves; the winners here are not the citizens of Montreal, who will undoubtedly pay this costly bill, but rather the conglomeration of corporations, hotels and businesses scattered around our commercial hub located around Central Station.

Businessmen and some tourists may find the shuttle a cheaper and faster alternative to getting to their office or hotel downtown.  However, as a Montrealer, this new shuttle doesn't really help me out that much, unless I lived close to downtown or a metro station that is within reach from Central Station.

The question is; how am I supposed to take advantage of this new line when the rest of the island has such little metro/train coverage?  Suppose I just got back from a trip, and I took the new line downtown; am I supposed to take an interminable metro/bus connection with my luggage to get home?

If you really think about it, it is only a small area lying in the middle of the island that can really benefit from this shuttle.  Everybody else will still have to take a taxi or have someone drive them, since from Central Station you can only go so far by metro.

In Paris, for example, I can understand the need and benefit from a direct train ride from the airport to the middle of the city (which exists, by the way).  From Châtelet-Les Halles, where the shuttle drops you, you can pretty much get anywhere by metro and/or RER (a crossover train-metro system that covers both the city and its suburbs).

We live in a relatively small city of only 2 million people.  We really do not need to go all out and spend like crazy just to join the ranks of cities with 10+ million citizens.  I say, increase our on-island coverage first and fix most of its current problems, then maybe we'll talk about this project.

To summarize, I am not against such a shuttle service; I'm just not sure if taxpayers should pay for it, since it will be mostly serve corporate and commercial interests.  Why don’t THEY get slammed with the bill?

The End of an Era 

posted by Odin on Apr 19, 2009

'bens' by viewfromthemoon, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License

By now every real Montrealer knows that the Bens deli has been closed for a while.  This restaurant, established in 1908, has been a true landmark for Montreal for nearly a century.  After a long standing employee strike, the owners sadly decided to close the institution for good.

The Ville-Marie borough recently issued a construction permit to a developer to demolish the building and erect a sixteen-storey hotel in its place.  This took place despite calls from heritage groups to preserve the structure.

Personally, I have only been to Bens once, around fifteen years ago.  I am not a big fan of its type of food and/or ambience, but, in my opinion, its 1940s art-deco style is a relic of a lost era.  Asides from Beautys in the Plateau, I cannot think of any other remaining diner that captures this period and keeps it alive in our collective minds.

Bens has been frequented by celebrities from all over North-America.  Their autographed pictures used to adorn its walls in an attestation for its fame and once-found glory.  It is sad to think that the hotel that will replace it will not bear a single resemblance to its predecessor (maybe it could have carried its name?  Or it could have been built in a neo-art-deco style?).

For those interested, the McCord museum will be exhibiting the photos of celebrities along with other collected memorabilia.

What Montreal has truly lost is not just a restaurant, but a representative and reminder of a bygone era.

Traveling from Montreal … what a Pity! 

posted by Odin on Apr 15, 2009

'Air Canada Airbus A330-343' by abdallahh, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

Recently, I read somewhere that Porter airlines is doubling their flights between Trudeau airport and Toronto City Centre.  Big deal!  I'd be more interested if they halved their prices maybe, not doubled their flights.

You know, it's hard enough living in Montreal with the kind of winters we get, what's worse is that you can’t get anywhere decent without spending an arm and a leg.

So I went on Porter's website, to check out what a weekend in Toronto would cost me, and found out that the cheapest return-ticket I could get went for $296.  I picked a ticket two months down the line, leaving Friday evening and returning Sunday evening.

Now that's just nuts if you ask me!  300 bucks to go to a next-door boring city like Toronto (no offense).  I go to New York once or twice a year, and I always pay around $400.  A couple of months ago, I bought a return ticket from Montreal to Nashville, Tennessee for $750, and I booked way ahead of time.

These prices really don't make any sense.  How is it that in Europe, you can find amazing deals to go to amazing cities, while we can't even go to Toronto for less than $300?  Of course, you can go by train for around $155 (for the same weekend in June), but do I really want to spend five hours (times two) in a train just to spend a weekend in Toronto?

Since I've been living in Paris, I've traveled around a few times for great prices.  Lately, I took the train to Amsterdam for 50€ (about $75).  $75 won't take you anywhere from Montreal!  To make things better (or worse for Montreal), the train system is so much faster here in France.  Paris-Amsterdam takes just over three hours for a 500km trip, as opposed to five hours for Montreal-Toronto (also a 500km trip, 540km to be exact).  Today I can buy a Paris-London return ticket for 77€ (about $115) for that same weekend in June.

And trust me; these prices do not even begin to scratch the surface of the kinds of deals you can find in Europe.  I haven't even addressed the budget airlines, since it seems that's a concept that doesn't exist for us Montrealers, so there isn't even a basis for comparison.  EasyJet and Ryanair, the two biggest European low-cost airlines, offer ridiculous flight deals every now and then.  Also, Expedia.fr and other similar vacation brokers offer flight/train-hotel combos that make Expedia.ca look like a rip-off.

Typically from Montreal, we head off to Mexico or the Caribbean to help with our winter blues.  Generally speaking, you won't find any packages under $1000 for a week in a four-star hotel or better.  From Paris, on the other hand, not only do you have great choice for a sun-filled destination (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, ...), but you can find all-inclusive deals starting at 500€ ($750) or lower for four-star hotels.

My point is not to say that Europe is better than Canada.  Even the States have more reasonable and affordable travel options than we do.  I just want to know why there isn't more competition and choice for us.  Is it that there isn't a big enough market in Canada?  Maybe the demand is too small to take advantage of serious economies of scale?  Do the big corporations have some sort of monopoly on prices?

I don't know, but right now I'm feeling very jealous of Europeans, and I'm definitely going to miss traveling around when I return to Montreal.

Our Pathetic Traffic Laws 

posted by Odin on Apr 08, 2009

'Maximum 40' by Brad-514, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License

A few weeks ago, I read about the approval of an Island-wide slowdown law.  Apparently, the Quebec government has given its blessing to lower the speed limit to 40 km/h across the island, including the demerged suburbs.

Is it just me or do laws like this make you feel like your government takes you for an imbecile?  Or for an irresponsible baby that needs diapering and pampering way into its adult years!

So first, we’re not allowed to turn right on red lights.  Next, we’re not allowed to use our cell phones while driving (mixed feelings about this one).  Now, we have to drive at an impossibly slow speed of 40 km/h.  What’s next?  Maybe we shouldn’t be allowed to turn our head to talk to our side passenger!  Or, how about banning scratching oneself while driving?  Better yet, they should just forbid us altogether from removing either hand from the steering wheel, even if for one second!

The one that really kills me is the prohibition from turning left from a two-way street into another two-way street.  What in the world is this?  For an immigrant that has driven elsewhere, this comes off as completely insane and pointless!  The worst is when you’re going south on Peel, and want to turn left on Sherbrooke.  Nope, no can do!  Instead, I have to go down all the way to traffic-ridden Sainte-Catherine, turn left there, and go back up Mansfield, thus wasting six blocks!

I’m all for safety for everyone, but how come we as Montrealers need stricter rules than everyone else?  Are we dumber than Europeans, where speed limits are higher, red light turns are allowed and accidents are less frequent?

I mean, seriously, I don’t think I can possibly drive at 40 km/h on a two-lane street if traffic is light.  I actually need to think about it and exert some effort to keep my foot off the pedal.  In fact, I might become more dangerous and accident-prone driving at 40 km/h, because of how focused on my speed I would have to be.  Wouldn’t the frequent glances at my dashboard distract me from the cars and traffic around me?

Good thing I sold my car.  I’m sticking to biking and public transport.  Not only is it greener, but it’s better for my sanity.  I might just lose it next time they come up with one of these gems.  Not to mention how hard and expensive it is to park downtown nowadays.