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

Québec Solidaire has 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 South Shores, and adding dedicated express bus lanes.

Co-spokesperson Manon Massé said 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, Québec Solidaire pledged to ban the sale of vehicles that run on fossil fuels provincewide by the same year.

All that would in come addition to the Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) light-rail project currently being built by Quebec's pension fund manager, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

"People living in the greater Montreal region will finally be able to leave their car behind — wherever they live, wherever they go," Massé said 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 Valérie 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 extending north past Côte-Vertu on the Orange line, linking up to the eventual Bois Franc REM station.
• Extension of the Yellow line two stations west into downtown Montreal, and also two new stations east into Longueuil.
• One new station on the western end of the Green line extending to CEGEP André-Laurendeau.

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

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

Finally, Québec Solidaire 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 Québec Solidaire, 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 all these projects by 2030 as Québec Solidaire 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?

Québec 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 the West Island.

Candidate Ruba Ghazal said 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."