JOSHUA ALLAN
The 1019 Report
With the new REM commuter train line linking the West Island to downtown Montreal scheduled to be pushed into service later this year, the city of Vaudreuil-Dorion is looking at how it will affect commuters from this region – and raising a few concerns about parking and bus service from the Vaudreuil train station.
In a resolution passed earlier this month, Vaudreuil-Dorion council is calling on the regional transit authority, the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), to develop new parking lots in the municipality that will serve as pickup points for a shuttle service bringing commuters directly to the Anse-à-l’Orme REM station in Ste. Anne de Bellevue.
“The parking lot at Vaudreuil (train) station is currently being used to capacity, sometimes forcing public transit users to use their cars for lack of space,” the resolution reads.
“There are large spaces along Highway 20, along Highway 40 where the (ARTM) could set up public parking and have shuttle buses go directly to the REM from there and kind of avoid having everyone coming into Vaudreuil-Dorion to catch the shuttle,” said District 3 Councillor Jasmine Sharma.
Sharma explained that the streets in Vaudreuil-Dorion were not designed to manage the large influx of commuters from across Vaudreuil-Soulanges that are currently converging at the Vaudreuil train station looking to use the 40 express bus line, which departs from the train station area, and heads to the Côte Vertu métro station in St. Laurent.
The city is also calling on the transit authority to keep the 40 express bus route in place when the REM station opens – providing a direct link from Vaudreuil to the Côte Vertu station – instead of transforming it into an express shuttle to the REM station in Ste. Anne. Such an abrupt change could have consequences for commuters, Sharma said.
Sharma, who tabled the resolution, pointed to service hiccups that occurred when the Brossard line of the REM went into use earlier this year that left many commuters on their own to get to their destinations.
The resolution approved by Vaudreuil-Dorion council calls on the ARTM to maintain the bus link to the Côte Vertu metro station for a one-year-minimum.
“We know that in the first six months to a year there are going to be technical issues with the operation of the REM,” Sharma told The 1019 Report. “And so we’d like that express service to be maintained so that our users off-island have different options to basically get to their final point of destination.”
A copy of the resolution has been issued to neighbouring municipalities in Vaudreuil-Soulanges. Sharma says that the city is asking that these municipalities adopt resolutions as well in order to bolster their message.
“I’m hoping that just by taking more of a public stance through a resolution and having other municipalities join that it’ll now be on the radar,” said Sharma.
Construction on the Anse-à-l’Orme REM station was originally expected to be completed in 2024. However, recent reports indicate that a delay will push the completion date into next year. Sharma said that the municipalities must take advantage of the extra time they’re given.
“The time is now to try to find some creative solutions,” she said.