Marcus P.
@reluctantaxe.bsky.social
Tabletop gaming enthusiast, urban planning & transit advocate, and Kamcon gaming convention organiser.
Reposted by Marcus P.
Montrealers: give us your ridership stories of the new REM extension. Are you using it regularly? What's it like?
I took the 121 ouest around noon-ish, a few people got off with me to get the REM at Montpellier. And the train going towards Brossard was absolutely slammed, barely anywhere to stand, let alone sit.
Hopefully they do something about these 10 minute headways!
Hopefully they do something about these 10 minute headways!
December 1, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Montrealers: give us your ridership stories of the new REM extension. Are you using it regularly? What's it like?
Reposted by Marcus P.
People need to stop using the tunnel and bridge as a way to ignore the REMs affordability. Only counting the new 30km of rail the $/km is still lower than contemporary grade separated projects. Nevermind the REMs lesson on cost is to use existing underutilised infrastructure to maximise RoI
Ugh, we've finally gotten the FRA to back off on tank-like rolling stock, we've proven higher frequency commuter works with Caltrain electrification, and now we're going to chase the illusory savings of REM's extant ROW and destroy commuter rail infrastructure like it's the 60s again?
December 1, 2025 at 9:45 AM
People need to stop using the tunnel and bridge as a way to ignore the REMs affordability. Only counting the new 30km of rail the $/km is still lower than contemporary grade separated projects. Nevermind the REMs lesson on cost is to use existing underutilised infrastructure to maximise RoI
People need to stop using the tunnel and bridge as a way to ignore the REMs affordability. Only counting the new 30km of rail the $/km is still lower than contemporary grade separated projects. Nevermind the REMs lesson on cost is to use existing underutilised infrastructure to maximise RoI
Ugh, we've finally gotten the FRA to back off on tank-like rolling stock, we've proven higher frequency commuter works with Caltrain electrification, and now we're going to chase the illusory savings of REM's extant ROW and destroy commuter rail infrastructure like it's the 60s again?
December 1, 2025 at 9:45 AM
People need to stop using the tunnel and bridge as a way to ignore the REMs affordability. Only counting the new 30km of rail the $/km is still lower than contemporary grade separated projects. Nevermind the REMs lesson on cost is to use existing underutilised infrastructure to maximise RoI
Reposted by Marcus P.
536 Finch West Streetcar 🥰
November 29, 2025 at 5:49 PM
536 Finch West Streetcar 🥰
Reposted by Marcus P.
Beyond this continent’s disastrous project delivery practices…
how do we ever expect the public to continue spending BILLIONS supporting rapid transit expansion when projects we deliver don’t MATERIALLY improve their lives?
Simply putting the bus on rails won’t lift Jane & Finch out of poverty!
how do we ever expect the public to continue spending BILLIONS supporting rapid transit expansion when projects we deliver don’t MATERIALLY improve their lives?
Simply putting the bus on rails won’t lift Jane & Finch out of poverty!
November 29, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Beyond this continent’s disastrous project delivery practices…
how do we ever expect the public to continue spending BILLIONS supporting rapid transit expansion when projects we deliver don’t MATERIALLY improve their lives?
Simply putting the bus on rails won’t lift Jane & Finch out of poverty!
how do we ever expect the public to continue spending BILLIONS supporting rapid transit expansion when projects we deliver don’t MATERIALLY improve their lives?
Simply putting the bus on rails won’t lift Jane & Finch out of poverty!
The R6 rapidbus in metro Vancouver travels down a similarly congested sururban arterial street slowest with modest transit priority measures is at worst scheduled around 20km/h average. How is 13.5km/h even possible.
Food for thought: the 13.5 km/h average trip speed for Line 6 Finch West is slower than the PM peak average trip speed of 13.9 km/h for the 507 Long Branch streetcar, which has no private right of way for most of the route.
In comparison, Lines 1 and 2 average 30 km/h and Line 4 averages 37 km/h.
In comparison, Lines 1 and 2 average 30 km/h and Line 4 averages 37 km/h.
The TTC has published the schedule for 6 Finch West, and the travel times/speeds are not impressive compared to the existing bus service. stevemunro.ca/2025/11/28/6...
November 29, 2025 at 2:31 PM
The R6 rapidbus in metro Vancouver travels down a similarly congested sururban arterial street slowest with modest transit priority measures is at worst scheduled around 20km/h average. How is 13.5km/h even possible.
Reposted by Marcus P.
I really wish lay people understood that there is nothing intrinsically faster in at-grade, on-street rail compared to buses. If anything, it has a number of constraints that can make it potentially slower. It's the quality of priority that determines its performance, not the rail.
November 29, 2025 at 3:16 AM
I really wish lay people understood that there is nothing intrinsically faster in at-grade, on-street rail compared to buses. If anything, it has a number of constraints that can make it potentially slower. It's the quality of priority that determines its performance, not the rail.
Reposted by Marcus P.
me: towers are good
them: no, we need nice 4-6 storey, human scale buildings
me: we do! let’s rezone the city so we can get 4-6 storeys everywhere
them: oh no, not like that
them: no, we need nice 4-6 storey, human scale buildings
me: we do! let’s rezone the city so we can get 4-6 storeys everywhere
them: oh no, not like that
November 27, 2025 at 3:56 AM
me: towers are good
them: no, we need nice 4-6 storey, human scale buildings
me: we do! let’s rezone the city so we can get 4-6 storeys everywhere
them: oh no, not like that
them: no, we need nice 4-6 storey, human scale buildings
me: we do! let’s rezone the city so we can get 4-6 storeys everywhere
them: oh no, not like that
Just to put into perspective the slowness of this line you can do a round trip from Bois-Franc to Gare Centrale on the REM, the same distance as the Finch LRT, before the LRT would finish a one way trip
Did I hear correctly that it will be slower and less frequent than the Finch buses?
November 24, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Just to put into perspective the slowness of this line you can do a round trip from Bois-Franc to Gare Centrale on the REM, the same distance as the Finch LRT, before the LRT would finish a one way trip
Reposted by Marcus P.
Vancouver needs real bus lanes! I'm convinced that they would give temendous bang for buck for improving quality of life and getting people out of traffic.
We could learn a lot from Taipei's central bus lanes. Check them out!
youtu.be/C6NXrJxx1kg?...
We could learn a lot from Taipei's central bus lanes. Check them out!
youtu.be/C6NXrJxx1kg?...
Check out Taipei's center bus lanes--Vancouver could learn a lot from them!
YouTube video by Peter Waldkirch
youtu.be
November 23, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Vancouver needs real bus lanes! I'm convinced that they would give temendous bang for buck for improving quality of life and getting people out of traffic.
We could learn a lot from Taipei's central bus lanes. Check them out!
youtu.be/C6NXrJxx1kg?...
We could learn a lot from Taipei's central bus lanes. Check them out!
youtu.be/C6NXrJxx1kg?...
It looks like Montreal is spending money on a train for the sake of having a train. At this point they should just invest the billions into bonds and use the interest to run more and better bus service and end up with a better outcome.
youtu.be/EsreQJoF3Ow?...
youtu.be/EsreQJoF3Ow?...
Montréal's $18 Billion Tram Project Is Not Good
YouTube video by CityTalk
youtu.be
November 23, 2025 at 2:07 AM
It looks like Montreal is spending money on a train for the sake of having a train. At this point they should just invest the billions into bonds and use the interest to run more and better bus service and end up with a better outcome.
youtu.be/EsreQJoF3Ow?...
youtu.be/EsreQJoF3Ow?...
Reposted by Marcus P.
since REM opened this weekend, this is all i can think about.
toronto has been building a smaller, 'lower-order' transit project that costs significantly more and is taking twice as long to complete 🫠
toronto has been building a smaller, 'lower-order' transit project that costs significantly more and is taking twice as long to complete 🫠
November 17, 2025 at 1:10 AM
since REM opened this weekend, this is all i can think about.
toronto has been building a smaller, 'lower-order' transit project that costs significantly more and is taking twice as long to complete 🫠
toronto has been building a smaller, 'lower-order' transit project that costs significantly more and is taking twice as long to complete 🫠
Reposted by Marcus P.
Montreal’s Biggest REM Expansion Yet! (with Reece Martin)
Montreal’s Biggest REM Expansion Yet! (with Reece Martin)
YouTube video by Oh The Urbanity!
youtu.be
November 16, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Montreal’s Biggest REM Expansion Yet! (with Reece Martin)
Reposted by Marcus P.
the biggest section of the REM (and imo the most important phase) opened today, basically extending a highway-median suburban branch into a full-fledged 50 km north-south metro across the montreal region
montreal now has a 119-kilometre metro system with 87 stations, by far the largest in canada!
montreal now has a 119-kilometre metro system with 87 stations, by far the largest in canada!
November 15, 2025 at 8:17 PM
the biggest section of the REM (and imo the most important phase) opened today, basically extending a highway-median suburban branch into a full-fledged 50 km north-south metro across the montreal region
montreal now has a 119-kilometre metro system with 87 stations, by far the largest in canada!
montreal now has a 119-kilometre metro system with 87 stations, by far the largest in canada!
Reposted by Marcus P.
Azalea officially turns two today, but I'm pretty sure she entered her "terrible twos" early. I've heard a lot about the "terrible twos" and what to expect from her, but I gotta say that attempting to cross the floor — twice — was not on my bingo card. 😅
November 15, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Azalea officially turns two today, but I'm pretty sure she entered her "terrible twos" early. I've heard a lot about the "terrible twos" and what to expect from her, but I gotta say that attempting to cross the floor — twice — was not on my bingo card. 😅
The only people that should be allowed to make the ostensibly binary technicall approval of permit and zoning compliance are municipal staff, not independent certified professionals. To do so would destroy local planning, at least according to the UMBC and the local land lift goblin
November 11, 2025 at 7:07 AM
The only people that should be allowed to make the ostensibly binary technicall approval of permit and zoning compliance are municipal staff, not independent certified professionals. To do so would destroy local planning, at least according to the UMBC and the local land lift goblin
Reposted by Marcus P.
The US political system is just baffling viewed from abroad. Utterly baffling.
November 10, 2025 at 12:03 AM
The US political system is just baffling viewed from abroad. Utterly baffling.
Reposted by Marcus P.
Reposted by Marcus P.
New post on inclusionary zoning, for my housing literature review.
IZ requires developers to provide subsidized homes in their new apartment buildings. Without providing compensation to developers, this unfunded IZ is just a tax on new housing.
1/
IZ requires developers to provide subsidized homes in their new apartment buildings. Without providing compensation to developers, this unfunded IZ is just a tax on new housing.
1/
November 3, 2025 at 8:03 PM
New post on inclusionary zoning, for my housing literature review.
IZ requires developers to provide subsidized homes in their new apartment buildings. Without providing compensation to developers, this unfunded IZ is just a tax on new housing.
1/
IZ requires developers to provide subsidized homes in their new apartment buildings. Without providing compensation to developers, this unfunded IZ is just a tax on new housing.
1/
The fact that this isn't considered a huge problem by the TTC and Toronto city council is pathetic.
The difference in the time it takes a streetcar in Amsterdam vs. Toronto to clear an intersection after servicing a nearside stop.
November 2, 2025 at 1:25 AM
The fact that this isn't considered a huge problem by the TTC and Toronto city council is pathetic.
Reposted by Marcus P.
The difference in the time it takes a streetcar in Amsterdam vs. Toronto to clear an intersection after servicing a nearside stop.
October 31, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Reposted by Marcus P.
Disappointing that this isn’t coming with bus stop consolidation. Every stop should have a shelter, but we should not have so many stops. Now we’re investing in some stops that shouldn’t exist, which will make it more difficult to remove them.
November 1, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Disappointing that this isn’t coming with bus stop consolidation. Every stop should have a shelter, but we should not have so many stops. Now we’re investing in some stops that shouldn’t exist, which will make it more difficult to remove them.
The purpose of transit is to actually move people around efficiently, and speed is part of that. Spending billions of dollars for a capacity increase and a bit more reliability should be a huge scandal. I'm so glad that Surrey ended up with the SkyTrain instead of LRT.
Went up to Finch Avenue, a long fear I have had is that the new light rail would be slower than the buses it replaced, and it seems like that may well be the case.
So many decision makers in Toronto are drivers that they don’t realize that people might take public transit because it’s fast
So many decision makers in Toronto are drivers that they don’t realize that people might take public transit because it’s fast
October 30, 2025 at 7:53 PM
The purpose of transit is to actually move people around efficiently, and speed is part of that. Spending billions of dollars for a capacity increase and a bit more reliability should be a huge scandal. I'm so glad that Surrey ended up with the SkyTrain instead of LRT.
Reposted by Marcus P.
Went up to Finch Avenue, a long fear I have had is that the new light rail would be slower than the buses it replaced, and it seems like that may well be the case.
So many decision makers in Toronto are drivers that they don’t realize that people might take public transit because it’s fast
So many decision makers in Toronto are drivers that they don’t realize that people might take public transit because it’s fast
October 30, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Went up to Finch Avenue, a long fear I have had is that the new light rail would be slower than the buses it replaced, and it seems like that may well be the case.
So many decision makers in Toronto are drivers that they don’t realize that people might take public transit because it’s fast
So many decision makers in Toronto are drivers that they don’t realize that people might take public transit because it’s fast
Reposted by Marcus P.
7pm on a sunday in vancouver.
just missed a train while going up the escalator. the next train is now, 2 min, and 5 min. i love being in this city 💜
just missed a train while going up the escalator. the next train is now, 2 min, and 5 min. i love being in this city 💜
October 13, 2025 at 2:02 AM
7pm on a sunday in vancouver.
just missed a train while going up the escalator. the next train is now, 2 min, and 5 min. i love being in this city 💜
just missed a train while going up the escalator. the next train is now, 2 min, and 5 min. i love being in this city 💜