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Many have expressed disappointment with the lack of free parking at REM stations, including accessible spaces for people with disabilities, and the challenges faced by pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users trying to reach the stations.

The REM reduced the promised number of parking spaces at several West Island stations, frustrating motorists. But parking is only part of the story. What has been done to help pedestrians, cyclists, bus users, and people with disabilities reach the stations? Some municipalities have relied on goodwill agreements with commercial property owners or restricted on-street parking. Spots at some stations remain empty because users find the daily parking rates of just over $10 and monthly fees of over $120 to be exorbitant, more than doubling the cost of their transit pass. And these are just the issues facing motorists.

Not a single municipality or borough has significantly improved pedestrian and cycling connections or meaningfully improved the safety of intersections around the stations. The burden of accessibility and mobility was left to municipalities after the REM was finished and the STM completed its network overhaul plans, plans developed without meaningful consultation with the affected cities.

Construction on the South Shore REM began in 2018, yet little preparation was made for the West Island extension. Transports Québec proposed no major upgrades to the des Sources or Saint-Jean overpasses, opting instead for maintenance work and modest improvements rather than a more comprehensive redesign.

The proposed $60-million north-south urban boulevard linking Antoine-Faucon in Pierrefonds-Roxboro to chemin Sainte-Marie in Kirkland has recently returned to the drawing board under a new Montreal administration. However, any future plans must still account for the limitations of the existing Sainte-Marie overpass. Meanwhile, plans for a footbridge over Highway 40 near the Kirkland station remain in flux, and there have been no funding commitments made for safe pedestrian or cyclist access over Highway 40 near the Pointe-Claire stations. These are regional projects that should involve all levels of government—including the Montreal agglomeration, yet transit users have been offered nothing.

Eight years after the first shovel hit the ground, the West Island REM is up and running, despite some growing pains. The Saint-Jean overpass still hasn't been fixed beyond emergency repairs, but the planned redesign still falls short of making safety a priority. How can a project of this magnitude have gotten away with so little cooperation between the major players involved? How were the realities of West Island mobility so easily ignored and dismissed by all parties?

While the West Island was designed and built as a car-oriented development, environmental concerns and population growth have shown the importance of redesigning our cities to be more sustainable. If we are to move towards a system of active mobility, be it walking, cycling, or public transit, then our governments need to be proactive in their planning and not reactive.

Infrastructure is expensive to both build and maintain, with costs growing higher with every passing year. Some costs are unavoidable and cannot be put off, while others fall into a category of “wait and see.” It is understandable to want to "measure twice and cut once," but failing to communicate with other municipalities when installing bike paths and sidewalks is wasteful, and waiting until a project like the REM is fully completed is negligent. Sidewalks disappear at city limits between Pointe-Claire and Dollard-des-Ormeaux and between Pointe-Claire and Kirkland, and bike paths seemingly start and stop out of nowhere. It's one thing to want to wait and observe new traffic patterns, it's another to ignore the realities of how people get around and their safety.

Dialogue costs nothing. Cooperation costs nothing. Presenting a united front when seeking funding costs nothing. If we plan together, everyone benefits.