(Paris) It is very rare that a large museum dedicates an exhibition to public transport. But that’s exactly what the city of architecture and cultural heritage has been doing since Sunday at the Trocadéro in Paris. And given the new mandate they have been given in Quebec, the leaders of the Caisse de dépôt etplacement would do well to pay a little visit.
Published at 1:00 am. Updated at 7:00 a.m.
It must be said right from the start that the Grand Paris Express project and the combination of tram and third connection do not have much in common. Neither for the target group nor for the scope of the project.
Greater Paris is intended to allow people from more distant suburbs to travel between them without using the city center. The project covers 200 kilometers, 72 stations – including 68 new ones – 80% of which are connected to existing networks, and we expect 3 million journeys per day1. The Quebec project is obviously much more modest.
But during the visit we can identify some principles and practices that should inspire us.
Firstly, transparency. If we have to disrupt traffic and the peace of residents, we must clearly explain what we are doing, why and how. That is actually one of the goals of this exhibition. We do not skimp on the cards, the numbers (especially the costs) and the inconveniences that the construction will entail.
PICTURE KENGO KUMA & ASSOCIATES AGENCY, FROM THE EXHIBITION
The future Saint-Denis Pleyel station in a suburb of the French capital will be served by lines 14, 15, 16 and 17 of the Grand Paris Express.
This avoids arriving along the way with misleading explanations such as “If we don’t do this, the buildings downtown could collapse,” which is what we unfortunately heard in the REM Project of the East.
Added to this is the attractiveness of the project. Instead of having stations that are just an entrance on a tunnel. A station can be something completely different. We therefore invited the best architects to design completely different stations – different from the uniformity of the Paris Metro – with works of art, shops, entertainment spaces, meeting points, etc. They are integrated into their surroundings, with direct access to hospitals, educational institutions or – due to the housing shortage – new real estate projects.
All models of these new stations are on display in the museum and some of them are spectacular. However, all this is incompatible with a mandate that states that the project is too expensive and that the lowest bidder principle must be strictly adhered to.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Construction site on Rue des Embarcations in Quebec for the tram project that the Quebec government has just put on hold.
The project also places great emphasis on interconnectivity. The new project must not compete with existing systems, as was the case with the REM de l’Est project, whose viability required the cannibalization of the green metro line.
Ultimately, we must never lose sight of the main goal of the project, namely relieving the city’s burden. That the benefits of the project are less of a financial nature and more of an ecological nature and, in particular, serve the quality of life.
A public transport system should not be a way to generate financial returns. All the better if we can, but that cannot be the ultimate goal of the project.
However, the model that the Caisse de dépôt etplacement wanted to establish for the REM was based precisely on profit. This was also the justification for the technology chosen: driverless trains and elevated railway tracks, which were inevitably owned by the Caisse. It is certainly to be feared that this model will also be retained for the Quebec project.
This is all the more worrying since the government – through the Minister of Transport Geneviève Guilbault – claims to have no jurisdiction over the MTQ for public transport projects and therefore puts its fate entirely in the hands of the box. Even if the Eastern REM was taken away from him due to a lack of social acceptance.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
The REM in Montreal, a profit-based model
In Quebec’s recent history, we have seen that political orders have always weighed, be it for the REM de l’Ouest, the Eastern commuter train route or the subway in Laval (via the already busiest subway station. ..). stronger than the opinions of public transport specialists.
Despite the formal independence of the Caisse de dépôt, it is to be feared that reactions to the mandate given to it by the government will be heavily influenced by it.
As in the case of his mandate for smooth traffic between Quebec and Lévis. We need to study the third connection, without, however, having studied, much less implemented, much simpler solutions such as reserved lanes, two-way traffic lanes during rush hours and the reconfiguration of bridgeheads.
However, one thing is certain: it will not be tomorrow that a museum in Quebec will want to organize a major exhibition on the tram project and the third link. There have been and will continue to be too many setbacks for us to hold an exhibition that celebrates the project.