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I live in Montreal with city run metro, train, and bus networks. It’s currently building out a light rail network that should start to be operational in 2022.

I live in Montreal with city run metro, train, and bus networks. It’s currently building out a light rail network that should start to be operational in 2022. The cost of living seems reasonable to me, especially compared to other North American cities. I pay ~$1000 for an 800 sq ft apartment that is 30 minutes by public transport from the downtown area. My monthly transport pass costs $80. All prices are CAD. Doesn’t seem so high to me. Our roads are a mess of construction, but that’s another story.

arcticbull 7y ago
Yeah, Montreal is super affordable by pretty much any metric.
- davidw 7y ago
  Montreal is mentioned here, as one style of adding "enough" supply: https://www.sightline.org/2017/09/21/yes-you-can-build-your-way-to-affordable-housing/ https://www.sightline.org/2017/09/21/yes-you-can-build-your-...
  - arcticbull 7y ago
    Indeed supply is the critical factor in housing affordability.
ant6n 7y ago
Unfortunately that new Light Rail Line, being a suburban mini-metro with virtually all new stations along highways, will not create more walkable, human-scale neighborhoods with great transit connections to downtown. That's because you won't have those neighborhoods where they'll build the stations. And that's often the problem with public transit that is built nowadays in North America (if any is built at all..) -- it's often built to outer low-density suburbs, along or on highways, with giant park'n'rides instead of neighborhoods at stations. And that's why walkable neighborhoods with good transit connections are so rare and thus so expensive.
- mc32 7y ago
  Subways are expensive and displacing buildings to build grade level rail is a problem for many people. Sharing right of way with freeways makes some sense.
  - hermitdev 7y ago
    Some of the L lines in Chicago are above ground, when they are, they generally use the median area of a major highway (south 90/94 and 290 to the west). There is some at grade stretches on the north side of the city/near suburbs. I think all of the suburban commuter (Metra, which is an entirely different system & agency) use freight lines, with stations typically near the town/village/city center. Problem with the shared lines is that freight (because they own the line) generally has priority. Freight train breaks down? Youre stuck for hours. 1.5 mile coal train coming through at the switch? You're stuck until it passes. Granted, when I had to commute into the Loop in Chicago, the hour total of using Metra was far more convenient, less frustrating and cheaper than driving. It was a hour door to door for me, 15 mins to get to the station, 5 minutes of waiting, 25 mins on the train and about a 15 min walk to the office. Now I both live and work in the West suburbs. Usually a 15 minute drive into work, about 25 home.
    - PunksATawnyFill 7y ago
      Where does Metra share track with freight trains? I took the Northwestern, as my dad did, and there are NO freight trains on it. Also, MOST of the L is above ground. The Loop, the Howard, and Ravenswood lines being prime examples.
  - ant6n 7y ago
    There are other other options besides tunnels and elevated along highways - for example using rail ROWs. Also, if you build Urban metros instead of suburban ones, the tunnel costs are often worthwhile.
peanutgal2600 7y ago
Hey, off-topic question. My father built the fare collection system for the Montreal metro in the early '80s. Do you still have the awful system they built that gave you two paper tickets (one for proof, one for transfer)?
- charrondev 7y ago
  The fair collection has been revamped. It could be better, but I've also seen worse. Single Ticket Fares Single tickets are printed on a piece of thick cardstock. They are both used for a proof and transfer. Validation is electronic by inserting it into a machine on a bus or at a terminal of up to 2 hours. The machine prints the times it was used on the ticket. Multiday tickets are printed on some thin plastic-like paper with an NFC chip inside. They are tapped on terminals and in busses and get no physical markings of when they were used, but are validated 100% digitally with some central system. They are also good for the same type of transfer. Monthly/Yearly passes are a thick plastic credit-card-like card. They have an NFC chip and work similarly to the multiday tickets.

arcticbull 7y ago

Yeah, Montreal is super affordable by pretty much any metric.

davidw 7y ago
Montreal is mentioned here, as one style of adding "enough" supply: https://www.sightline.org/2017/09/21/yes-you-can-build-your-way-to-affordable-housing/ https://www.sightline.org/2017/09/21/yes-you-can-build-your-...
- arcticbull 7y ago
  Indeed supply is the critical factor in housing affordability.

ant6n 7y ago

Unfortunately that new Light Rail Line, being a suburban mini-metro with virtually all new stations along highways, will not create more walkable, human-scale neighborhoods with great transit connections to downtown. That's because you won't have those neighborhoods where they'll build the stations. And that's often the problem with public transit that is built nowadays in North America (if any is built at all..) -- it's often built to outer low-density suburbs, along or on highways, with giant park'n'rides instead of neighborhoods at stations. And that's why walkable neighborhoods with good transit connections are so rare and thus so expensive.

mc32 7y ago
Subways are expensive and displacing buildings to build grade level rail is a problem for many people. Sharing right of way with freeways makes some sense.
- hermitdev 7y ago
  Some of the L lines in Chicago are above ground, when they are, they generally use the median area of a major highway (south 90/94 and 290 to the west). There is some at grade stretches on the north side of the city/near suburbs. I think all of the suburban commuter (Metra, which is an entirely different system & agency) use freight lines, with stations typically near the town/village/city center. Problem with the shared lines is that freight (because they own the line) generally has priority. Freight train breaks down? Youre stuck for hours. 1.5 mile coal train coming through at the switch? You're stuck until it passes. Granted, when I had to commute into the Loop in Chicago, the hour total of using Metra was far more convenient, less frustrating and cheaper than driving. It was a hour door to door for me, 15 mins to get to the station, 5 minutes of waiting, 25 mins on the train and about a 15 min walk to the office. Now I both live and work in the West suburbs. Usually a 15 minute drive into work, about 25 home.
  - PunksATawnyFill 7y ago
    Where does Metra share track with freight trains? I took the Northwestern, as my dad did, and there are NO freight trains on it. Also, MOST of the L is above ground. The Loop, the Howard, and Ravenswood lines being prime examples.
- ant6n 7y ago
  There are other other options besides tunnels and elevated along highways - for example using rail ROWs. Also, if you build Urban metros instead of suburban ones, the tunnel costs are often worthwhile.

peanutgal2600 7y ago

Hey, off-topic question. My father built the fare collection system for the Montreal metro in the early '80s. Do you still have the awful system they built that gave you two paper tickets (one for proof, one for transfer)?

charrondev 7y ago
The fair collection has been revamped. It could be better, but I've also seen worse. Single Ticket Fares Single tickets are printed on a piece of thick cardstock. They are both used for a proof and transfer. Validation is electronic by inserting it into a machine on a bus or at a terminal of up to 2 hours. The machine prints the times it was used on the ticket. Multiday tickets are printed on some thin plastic-like paper with an NFC chip inside. They are tapped on terminals and in busses and get no physical markings of when they were used, but are validated 100% digitally with some central system. They are also good for the same type of transfer. Monthly/Yearly passes are a thick plastic credit-card-like card. They have an NFC chip and work similarly to the multiday tickets.