Frequently asked questions
Territory and mobility profile
- To the west: the city of Dorval (Dorval Avenue), including the airport and VIA Rail intermodal station
- To the east: Saint-Laurent Boulevard
- To the north: the industrial areas of Dorval and Lachine, then Chemin Côte-Saint-Luc and its extension to Westmount
- To the south: the St. Lawrence River
- Total population of 434,277 (2021), just over 20% of the agglomeration of Montréal.
- Strong demographic growth, with the arrival of over 27,000 new residents in the last 5 years.
- Over the next 20 years, projections estimate that a total of 62,568 new people will settle in the Grand Sud-Ouest area, 20% of them downtown (12,482 people) and 80% in the rest of the territory.
- It is estimated that the areas around Newman Boulevard and Lachine-Est will benefit most from this population growth.
- Approximately 165,000 jobs, excluding downtown
- The main employment hubs are:
- Along the Lachine Canal (industrial innovation corridor)
- Montréal-Trudeau International Airport area
- LaSalle (Highway 20, Dollard and Airlie streets)
- Côte-de-Liesse business sector
- Dorval: Dorval Avenue
- Lachine : Lachine-Est
- LaSalle: Newman Boulevard and LaSalle-Ouest
- Sud-Ouest: Griffintown, Cabot and Bridge-Bonaventure
- NDG: Saint-Jacques Street
- The highway system (e.g., A20, Saint-Pierre and Turcot interchanges)
- Railway infrastructure (e.g., exo, CN and CPKR)
- Hydrographic network, e.g., aqueduct and Lachine canals
- Topographic height differences (e.g., Saint-Jacques escarpment)
- A large proportion of trip-generating hubs are located in Lachine, LaSalle and NDG, along certain routes such as Victoria, Sherbrooke, Newman and De La Vérendrye.
- A large proportion of trips are toward downtown (not the majority). This number decreases with distance from downtown.
- The number of internal trips is high between the Verdun–Le Sud-Ouest and Lachine–LaSalle areas.
- The farther away from downtown, the greater the number of trips made by car.
- The use of public transit is higher in the eastern part of the territory.
- There is potential for improving public transit services to make travel easier within the study area.
- Metro: the green and orange lines have theoretical residual capacity to accommodate more riders
- Train: low frequency and amplitude
- Buses: good coverage and service that can be affected by congestion and the physical constraints of the territory
- Highways: traffic issues and major works to come
- Arterial network: congestion during rush hour periods
What is the geographical area under study?
The study area covers a territory of 85 km2, located in Montréal’s Grand Sud-Ouest area. It comprises six (6) boroughs (Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Lachine, LaSalle, Le Sud-Ouest, Verdun and Ville-Marie) and three (3) linked towns (Dorval, Montréal West and Westmount).
For analysis purposes, the following limits have been identified:
Learn more about Montréal’s Grand Sud-Ouest area by watching the video on the territory and mobility.
What are the main findings of studies on the region?
Demographically speaking, the study area features:
In terms of employment, this is a fast-growing area, with a wide variety of uses:
The study area includes several sectors with development or redevelopment potential, such as:
There are several physical barriers to consider in Grand Sud-Ouest, including:
To learn more about Montréal’s Grand Sud-Ouest area, watch the video on the territory and mobility profile.
What are the main findings of studies on mobility?
Travel hubs:
Travel flows:
Modal shares of trips:
Transportation services:
To learn more about Montréal’s Grand Sud-Ouest area, watch the video on the territory and mobility profile.
Do your forecasts take into account the impact of the pandemic? Is the need still the same?
For planning purposes, the ARTM has a number of data sources at its disposal, including the Perspectives mobilité [mobility insights] surveys conducted in 2021 and 2022, which provide an overall understanding of the impact of the pandemic on public transit ridership in the Greater Montréal metropolitan area. As the project progresses and becomes more defined, ridership forecasts will also be more accurate.
Opportunity file
- Study the need
- Identify and evaluate possible options
- Select, justify and recommend the most appropriate long-term solution
- Analyze key economic and financial variables
- Estimate the cost and schedule for developing the business case
What is an opportunity file?
The opportunity file is used to assess the relevance of a project and recommend the most appropriate long-term solution to meet the identified need with the financial resources available. This preliminary scenario can then be refined in subsequent planning phases.
In accordance with the Directive sur la gestion des projets majeurs d’infrastructure publique [directive on the management of major public infrastructure projects], the opportunity file is produced during the initial phase of a project and aims to:
The initial phase concludes with the submission of the opportunity file to the Québec government for analysis and decision. If approved, the project will proceed to the next phase of the Directive’s process, i.e., planning (business case).
Consult the Directive sur la gestion des projets majeurs d’infrastructure publique: https://www.tresor.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/PDF/infrastructures_publiques/directive_gestion_projets_majeurs.pdf
What modes of transportation are studied?
During this initial phase, all structuring modes are considered. These include, but are not limited to, bus rapid transit (BRT) and tramway.
According to the minimum technical requirements for a structuring mode of transportation, it must offer departures in both directions, every 10 minutes or less, between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. In addition, the opportunity file will make it possible to quantify the demand and target performance for the structuring mode, which will be one of the criteria for recommending the choice of transportation mode.
Why redo analyses when numerous studies have already documented the sector’s major mobility needs and identified solutions to meet them (e.g., Lachine tramway, pink line)?
Mobility needs in Montréal’s Grand Sud-Ouest area are well documented and recognized. A number of mobility studies have been carried out over the years, for a variety of purposes. Studies are currently underway to identify the specific characteristics of the host environment and mobility needs and to determine the most appropriate long-term solution to meet them.
Next steps
- 2022–2023: Evaluation of the territory and mobility needs
- March 2023: Presentation and discussion meetings with civil society representatives on the evaluation of the territory and mobility
- March–October 2023: Evaluation of route and mode scenarios
- Winter 2024: Public consultations on route and mode scenarios
- 2024: Finalization of the opportunity file by the project office and submission of the first version of the opportunity file
What is the project schedule?
In June 2021, the MTMD, the Ville de Montréal and the ARTM announced the start of the studies required to complete the opportunity file for the Grand Sud-Ouest project.
For the next steps, the overall government approval process may vary depending on a number of factors.
What are the next steps once the opportunity file has been submitted? Who will ultimately decide whether the project goes ahead?
The opportunity file will be submitted to the Québec government in 2024. Based on the project office’s recommendations, the Québec government will decide if the project goes ahead. If necessary, the project will continue according to the process set out in the Directive: planning (business case), project implementation and closure.
When will we know the recommended option? Will we be informed?
Submission of the opportunity file to the Québec government is scheduled for 2024. The government will then determine the next steps.
What is the project budget? Who is funding the project?
Opportunity studies are financed under the Plan québécois des infrastructures (PQI).
As for the project itself, it is at the business case phase that the total recommended cost of the project can be estimated and a funding strategy established.
Route and mode scenarios
- Transportation and sustainable mobility
- Urban planning and design
- Technical issues
- Financing
- Social acceptability
- Environment
What criteria will be used to evaluate the route and mode scenarios?
The ARTM has identified various possible scenarios based on the needs and characteristics of the territory. These scenarios will be analyzed according to an analysis grid comprising criteria relating to the following areas:
How will the new service be linked to the rest of the network? Are you going to ensure that efficient links connect the service to the rest of the network?
Linking the new service to the existing network is part of the studies currently underway, and will be one of the criteria used to select the recommended option. The specific way in which this linkage is achieved will depend on the scenario chosen.
Which public transit provider will operate the new system when it is put into service?
The chosen process for constructing and operating a new service will be recommended to the government and based on the project parameters, in particular the mode of transportation.
Public consultation
What is the purpose of this public consultation? Does the public really have a say in the chosen scenario and mode?
The purpose of this public consultation is to present to the community the route and mode options under consideration and to receive the feedback needed to complete the opportunity file. Social acceptability, urban integration, mobility and the environment are some of the criteria that will guide the analysis.
Prior to this public consultation, a preliminary phase was carried out, during which the ARTM met with elected municipal officials and civil society representatives in the study area to present the analyses carried out on the territory and its mobility needs, and to exchange views with them.
The organizations were identified in tandem with the Ville de Montréal, in each of the study area sectors, according to a variety of fields of activity, including the community, business, health, environment and education sectors. Meetings were also held with transportation-related organizations and major travel generators.
This process helped validate the analyses that were then used as a basis for developing the various route and mode scenarios.
Why wasn’t the public consulted on the evaluation of the territory and mobility needs? After all, they are in the best position to validate the analyses and communicate their needs.
During this initial phase of the project’s development, the nature of the information emerging from the studies was technical and aimed at stakeholders with a mandate for sustainable mobility planning issues. That said, we paid particular attention to identifying stakeholders to ensure that they represented the diversity of interests found in the study area.
Will the project be subject to other public consultation activities, particularly on more detailed aspects of the project?
At this early stage in the planning process, the public consultation aims to present the route and mode scenarios under study, so as to obtain the feedback needed to inform the opportunity file. The options currently under consideration are preliminary and have not been optimized. Depending on the decision made on the recommended proposal, the scenario will be refined in subsequent planning stages and further public consultation activities may be carried out.