Investment grade ridership forecasts for the REM network

Reseau Express Metropolitain (REM) will provide an integrated, efficient and reliable transit service through a network of strategic importance for the Montreal and Québec metropolitan area. It will constitute Québec’s first “public-public” partnership project and encourage environmentally sustainable transportation.

How we helped

We developed preliminary demand and revenue forecasts for the A10/Champlain and West Island corridors. The corridors were merged into one project (REM) and we were appointed to develop investment grade ridership forecasts for the REM network. The work included stated preference surveys of existing transit passengers and airport passengers, Origin-Destination surveys and development of a detailed transit network model of Greater Montreal including all transit modes (buses, Metro and AMT rail services). The work involved working with MTQ, AMT and STM to understand data availability and future network assumptions and development of growth models.

Successes and outcomes

Construction of the project started in 2018 and is scheduled to open in 2021. The construction costs are estimated at $6.3 billion and passenger kilometre forecasting was an important component of the project’s financing. The forecasts were reviewed by the federal government as part of their funding contribution.

Image sourced from https://www.cdpqinfra.com/en/reseau_electrique_metropolitain.