Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire
I guess it boils down to where your final destination is. For business travellers doing a downtown to downtown thing, not having a car is no big deal.
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Exactly. In my case, it often involves picking up my friend and business partner who lives car-free in the Mile End, and then going places together (for business) in my car. In other cases, it involves visiting suppliers or clients on the South Shore or in Laval.
In every single case, being on foot in downtown Montreal would be problematic. I guess that if I could teleport instantly to Montreal for free, then yeah, maybe then it would make sense to use transit there, or then rent a car for a few hours...
... but even then, I can drive from my doorstep in Sherbrooke, listen to the radio (the whole trip on Freeway 10 is within range of NPR, which is a treat to listen to - high-quality news and programs compared to CBC) and be in Montreal 1.5 hour later. Also while bringing tons of stuff with me (which is sometimes needed). Boxes of paperwork, tools, etc.
I don't see the train ever coming close to beating this, unless gas is $3 a liter, there's lots of tolls on the 10, speed limit on it gets lowered to 50, and Montreal gets even more gridlocked than it is. Then yeah, okay, I'll take the train then.