Have you taken the metro recently? Did you notice the newly designed and “improved” metro wagons? Well, they’re about to change from 2012, since Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) has ordered 338 wagon from Bombardier with a value of 1.2 billion dollars. A year ago, they have already replaced many wagons in the metro system in order to improve its efficiency.
Recently I took the metro on my way to one of my final exams and as I was sitting down on the new metro wagons I read in the 24 Heures journal about this exciting news! Wow!!! We’re going to have new wagons, with blue seats and white stripes, with fewer seats in the wagons, with three doors per wagon instead of four, and with more space for the wheelchairs. One may ask, how come there’s fewer seats? And why do they have only three doors? Well, according to STM, more people can fit in the wagons and people in wheelchairs can move better inside. Ok! If you say so, I believe you! Besides, STM tries to improve the well-being of the Montreal citizens, by offering us their best services, while remaining "courteous and respectful"!
Now, one of the questions that are on my mind is: why STM needs to replace the wagons, when they just changed them a year ago? I mean, when they designed the wagons, didn’t they think about the wheelchairs and the amount of people that are going inside? I do not believe that it is necessary to change them again. I think that they should wait a longer period of time before they undergo more changes, because the money necessary for these changes are coming from the population. It’s me and everybody else that take the public transportation, who has to endure the increase in the monthly pass. I live in the North Shore and I have to pay 105$ per month in order to go to school. By the time they do all the improvements I’ll probably have to pay 150$! How this change is going to maximize my happiness? With that money, I rather buy a car and drive it to Downtown. But, if I do that, I’m not “sustainable”! I’m polluting the atmosphere! According to the Centre for Sustainable Transportation from the Natural Resources Canada website, a sustainable transportation system is one that:
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Allows the basic access needs of individuals to be met safely and in a manner consistent with human and ecosystem health, and with equity within and between generations.
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Is affordable, operates efficiently, offers choice of transport mode, and supports a vibrant economy.
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Limits emissions and waste within the planet's ability to absorb them, minimizes consumption of non-renewable resources, limits consumption of renewable resources to the sustainable yield level, reuses and recycles its components, and minimizes the use of land and the production of noise."
So, if STM keeps increasing their fees because those 1.2 Billion dollars has be paid one way or the other, it will not be affordable for me anymore. Therefore, in my opinion, STM is not sustainable.
This change may have an effect also on the social behavior aspect of the passengers. Since the introduction of the new wagons, I have noticed that it is harder for me to get out of the wagon because people are eager to come in and run for an available seat. Therefore, I need to literally shove my way through them to get out! The respect for the fellow citizen has decreased with the decrease in metro seats! I think that in this case the correlation means that there’s causation. So, I ask you now, do you think that the futuristic wagon will improve the behavior towards the other person? Or, people just don’t care about others? Hopefully, STM reviews his strategy to improve the metro and bus system, in order to please the passengers. It should be a pleasure for me to take the metro, and not a burden!
Until the next time, I’ll let you enjoy the... amazing OPUS card invention, while watching the... new Plasma TV’s, which are a necessity in the metro! Isn't it?
P.S. - I suggest STM should also hire “pushers”, just like they have in Japan, to push more passengers in the wagons.
btoropu@gmail.com
Photo: Journal 24 Heures
