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Mark Moutter

@tovarischmark.bsky.social
29 followers 29 following 88 posts

Longest Ballot Enjoyer, Bridge building connoisseur. Civil Engineering @ McGill

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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
We don't vote for parties in Canada, we vote for MPs
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
With all due respect, I vote for an individual, not a party. I want my MP to vote however they think is correct and not however some unelected party whip decided
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
so MPs should be penalized for voting with the interests of their constituents but against some unknown party whip?
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
We should get rid of party discipline and the corrupt principles of large political parties. Our political system is designed for independent MPs that vote only in the interests of their local riding and not some party leader.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
You should check out the Terrebonne train station, which opened in 2014. I think you're in for an aneurysm.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
You might be a little late - but email longestballot@gmail.com to see if we can still get you on there
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Oh! And Verdun (when it was still a city) had the cleanest traffic lights ever
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Fun fact: LaSalle in Montreal still has grandfathered near-side only traffic lights at some intersections, unchanged since the late 70s. Modern guidance even from the MTQ requires far-side lights unfortunately.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Isn't CATSA responsible for Airport Security in Canada? That's a crown corporation directly related to the Minister of Transport.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
@longestballot.bsky.social
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Just found this journalmetro.com/actualites/m...
journalmetro.com
Côte-des-Neiges: les commerçants en colère contre un projet de voie réservée
Des commerçants du chemin Queen-Mary sont en colère contre un projet de voie réservée pour bus de la STM qui verra le jour cet automne.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Utter insanity.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Or this path to the bus stops at PAT?
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
And that's without mentioning their claimed ridership stats. Who are the 5 people taking the Mascouche line from the Mascouche parking lot to the Terrebonne parking lot at 7AM?
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Not to mention that every bit of pedestrian infrastructure around the stations got cancelled last minute
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
I swear, the more I read documents about the planning of this line, the more I want to scream at the government of Quebec. It's everything that's wrong with our planning process and transit policies. Electrification? Nah, not with CN/winter Building 3 stations for 100M$? yuh! Chicago is to follow!
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
@chittimarco.bsky.social Do you think this can be fixed in our lifetimes? We spent 700M$ on this already, and it's 12 minutes slower than a bus
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
I was not aware of that - absolutely fair.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Moderately sure the ARTM and STM care, you can read their memoir to the Government of Quebec about why they want more funding, there's even photos of crumbling metro tunnels in there cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/... cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/...
cdn-contenu.quebec.ca
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
The sticker is from before the implementation of those validators, there's new info on their website about their policy www.stm.info/fr/a-propos/...
stm.info
Nouveaux valideurs dans les bus
Tous les bus ont des valideurs en fonction À l'avant et à l'arrière (bus articulés seulement), merci de valider sur le nouvel équipement. Les paiements en argent comptant et par carte magnétique se font comme d'habitude, sur la boîte de perception à l'avant. Vers une validation plus rapide à l'embarquement Le nouvel équipement doit être utilisé pour la validation des cartes OPUS et L’occasionnelle, tandis que le traitement des cartes magnétiques et le paiement comptant se font comme d’habitude sur la boîte de perception à l'avant.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
It's no longer limited to 5-7pm and only monthly pass holders - this is a sticker from before the installation of fare validators in the back of articulated buses in 2019.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
They seem to be standardizing them slowly, by removing the blinking green, removing confusing phases. The problem is that the borough of Rosemont is responsible for all traffic light programming across the whole city so they're spread pretty thin... Every borough has their expertise from pre-merger
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
This seems to be out of line with modern traffic phasing standards. Wherever I see them perform major works, they now avoid the green-red-advance green transition
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
And yet the borough refuses to enforce the bus lanes even during rush hour, there's zero towing. It's horrible, those lanes should be 24/7 bus lanes, together with Sherbrooke and Cote-Vertu
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
I think half of all exo regional bus stops have got to be named after a strip mall business
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
I actually recently started working with someone who wrote their PhD thesis on the ARTM fare reform - and while I thought that including trains would lower revenues, turns out that the biggest impact of lowering revenues is the inclusion of out of territory ex-CIT buses now... the metro compensates
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
I do NOT miss paying 6$ fares JUST for the train (within the Island), and then having to pay 3.25$ for the metro on top to transfer...
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
It's on the ground?
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Apparently both gantries were installed already, and both will be taken down to run analyses and decide whether they'll be reinstalled
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Bon point, malhereusement le gouvernement va jamais accepter des termes comme ça.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Le prix que l'ARTM paie pour le REM (83c/passager km) est inférieur au prix par passager km des bus/train de banlieue, et inclut en même temps les investissements capitaux, qui ne sont pas inclus dans les coûts de l'ARTM
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Yes. It increases every year according to a set inflation calculation. It started at 72c back in 2023 and is now higher
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Absolutely. Whenever people claim that "The REM is bankrupting the ARTM!", they completely ignore the fact that comparing actual capital costs + operating costs places the REM at very slightly above costs associated with public networks
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
It's been indexed to 0.83c/prs-km last month
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Les devis de la Caisse sont toujours très limités dans la divulgation d'information
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
The biggest difference is the way freight companies treat MTL compared to Toronto. MTL is an Island, making freight lines much higher value, allowing companies to demand exorbitant prices for corridors, which Exo can't afford, compared to GO, which deals with bypasses and overall easier lines.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Okay I just asked their VP of civil engineering during public consultations and he said they're only looking for Alto right now, and are almost entirely excluding corridor sharing unless local authorities offer to pay/participate to triple/quad track
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Exactly. The Mascouche line was PLANNED to only ever have 8 departures per direction per day. PLANNED. When asked about transportation within the city (as a replacement to slow STM buses), the AMT would say "we're a regional authority designed to move suburbanites downtown, not Montrealers within"
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Any hopes for it happening within 3 ish months? I know Quebec technically has a law for elections every 4 years and politicians avoiding early elections, but I truly wonder.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Pffft, that requires collaboration between the provincial and federal government. I doubt it.
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Can't a PM still request the Lieutenant Governor to hold early elections?
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Ah, I understand!
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
I'm pretty sure it's an RBQ pilot project. They're likely planning on adding it to the Quebec code for other areas. rem.info/en/news/work...
rem.info
Work begins to upgrade elevators for use in the event of an evacuation | REM
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Funding is still at 27.1% iirc in 2025. The problem is that it's stagnant and with the fare reform, increased the needed provincial subsidy (the QLP expected to increase ARTM funding coming from the province from 32% to 38% as a result of shifting the fare deficit of trains to the rapid network)
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Fantastic year!
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
The REM actually isn't denoted as equal on the Map, the STM has a vendetta against other transit operators since the ARTM came in
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
At least I got this awesome shot of how CBTC works on the REM. it feels scary getting this close to a train
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Frankly no idea, obviously he didn't say anything of value, but his presence + Boyer being there automatically tells me that they're targeting the southwest Montreal area. Potentially using studies conducted for the PSGSO by the ARTM via Dorval or other routings (those have been studied already)
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
I think a north -> southwest alignment seems possible. One of the MPs present at the announcement was Claude Guay, my MP from LaSalle-Emard-Verdun. I actually wrote to him 6 months ago concerning this project and he told me that there'll be "good news for our electoral district" soon... I'm hopeful!
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Mark Moutter @tovarischmark.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
100% with you in that regard
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