Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Montreal Transits

Somehwere along the line (no pun intended) ,this story was deleted by it's original authour. However Montreal Transit I believe was & may still be the best transit system around. I recall that this original story showed stats that Montreal 'ridership' was the higehst per capita in North America. Perhaps these days one bus line alone in a place like Shanghai might concievably carry more riders just based on the shear number of people in the city.?? Anyone know what the stats are these days?                         Anyway Cheers ! LesF

7 comments:

happydi2 MSN said...

Montreal has the best public transit system. Here in Nova Scotia it is pretty bad, expensive and connections are even worse. The municipal government wants people to take the bus, car pool, and there was talk of using a hover craft in the Bedford Basin!!! They are dreaming in technicolour!!! How are the streets? Are the potholes as bad as ever? They are bad here too. Having a great evening, hope you are too....Dianne

alanarchie MSN said...

Hi HappyDi2,
 
I completely agree that Montreal has the best transportation systems. I
think politicians are genetically flawed and that transcends all borders! Here
in Boston, in an attempt to reduce drinking & driving, they have spent a ton
of money on advertising campaigns trying to get people to use the public
transportation systems instead of driving after a night of partying. It might
have worked, but unfortunately, the public transportation systems shutdown a
half hour before last call in the bars!
 
Alan

fresco MSN said...

Hi Alan,       I used to be sent to work a lot in Boston during the eighties. On my days off I loved to ride on Boston's streetcars. Especially that Riverside Line. It reminded me of a trip to Belmont Park on the Cartierville 17 streetcar. The only difference being that Boston's trolleycars were new like the Outremont 29 streetcars. I loved Fenway Franks at Fenway Park. How's the big dig going?

alanarchie MSN said...

Hi Fresco,
 
The street cars still run on some selected routes... mostly through the
college areas. Still some electric buses with the overhead wires too. I don't
get much of a chance to ride them as I drive on the weekends and use the train
weekdays. As for the "Big Dig", like many other major projects, it has its fair
share of controversy. Overcharges, delays and kickbacks generate a lot of finger
pointing. Most of the major arteries are now open and I think all of the
elevated highways have been removed. It really opens up the core area. Some of
the problems that have started to pop up are the leaks (gushers
actually!) in the tunnels. They say there are as many as 50 defective
panels. Another problem discovered this winter was the big chunks of ice falling
from the cables on the Zakim Bridge... through the windshields of cars. I am
sure it will all get resolved, but it just casts a shadow on a project like
this. It is nice to see city streets open and all the traffic underground! The
final phase is to construct bike paths and gardens in the space left open from
the old roadways. I'll try to "Dig" up some pics and send them your way.
 
Alan

fresco MSN said...

Hi Alan,        Thanks for the answers. My grandmother's maiden name was Isabel Archibald. She was from Truro, Nova Scotia. She passed away in Lachine in the summer of 1965. She had nine brothers and sisters. Funny if we're related.        Another Boston moment for me was WMEX 1510 am radio. In the fifties at 9pm and Leo LaChance's Show on CKVL was over you could not hear any good rock music on Montreal radio. CJAD only played rock on Club 800 with Mike Stephens from 4pm to 5pm. CFCF never played rock, CKGM didn't go on the air until 1959 and CJMS used to do live broadcasts from clubs at night and it was mostly talk. I would dial in the American stations. WKBW Buffalo, WPTR Albany & WMEX Boston. There was a really great guy called Arnie WOO WOO Ginsberg on WMEX Boston. Very funny. They had a lot of commercials for the Adventure Car Hop burger drive in joints (pre McDonald's era). Arnie owns a Boston radio station now, I'm not sure which one. Check with the old timers and I'm sure they will remember Arnie WOO WOO Ginsberg. If you went to Adventure Car Hop and said "WOO WOO sent me" you'd get a second Ginsberger free. One last question Alan. Do you have a Boston accent yet? Do you still say car or do you say caaaar?

Ian Howarth said...

CFCF never played rock music? What about Dave Boxer's show from '64-'68?

Les_F said...

Thanks for the comment Ian, but Fresco was referring to the earlier & late 50's when CFCF didn't play rock. but you are right Dave Boxer was certainly a show that played rock, His arch-rival Buddy-G & he always battled for top spot ,then CFOX with Dean Hagopian started to get into the rock scene too.