More public than transport

Another one of my letters got published in Montreal Gazette today! Here's what the Gazette published:

The problem with public transport in Montreal is that there is more public than transport.

Last Wednesday I waited 45 minutes in the cold and blowing snow for the 168 bus that is supposed to run every 30 minutes (I should have waited 10 minutes). This morning, after a 20-minute wait during rush hour a bus drove by too full to stop. Ten minutes later another overloaded bus drove by. And finally, after I had waited for 35 minutes during the morning rush hour, a bus stopped that was able to accommodate some, but not all, of the passengers waiting.

Until availability and reliability are significantly increased we will always prefer to take our cars. I know I'll be back in mine as soon as possible.

Here's what I originally sent in:

The problem with public transport in Montreal is that there is more public than transport!

Yesterday I waited 45 minutes in the cold and blowing snow for a bus (the 168) that is supposed to run every 30 minutes (I should have waited 10 minutes). This morning, after a 20-minute wait during rush hour a bus drove by too full with passengers to stop. Ten minutes later another overloaded bus drove by. And finally, after waiting 35 minutes during the morning rush hour, a bus stopped that was able to accommodate some, but not all, of the passengers waiting.

Mayor Tremblay wants us to use public transit to ease the snow clearing operation, and I think that would be great a idea - if it were an option in Montreal! With the current state of public transport in Montreal it is the last resort, not the first choice.

Unless the availability and reliability are significantly increased we will always prefer to take our cars - I know I'll be back in my car as soon as possible.

So they took out my shot at mayor Tremblay, but I'm happy they published my rant more-or-less as I wrote it.