Impacts of the new Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) on mobility, health and equity: A pre-post intervention study

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In 2016, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) announced plans to build theRéseau express métropolitain (REM), a state-of-the-art, $6.3 billion public transport projectthat will link numerous suburbsand the airportto downtown Montreal with frequent railservice. The undertaking is expected to impact all residents of the Montreal metropolitanregion at various scales and in various ways. This research project will concentrate onmeasuring the impacts of such major infrastructure project on the health, social,environmental, economic, physical, and psychological wellbeing of all Montreal residents,before, during and after the construction. This is an unprecedented opportunity to study amajor public transport project of this scale in the Canadian context. The last time a majorpublic transport project of this size was built in the 1970s. The lessons it will teach areparticularly timely. Even before the REM's completion, regional and provincial officials arealready discussing expansions. At the same time, the federal government is pledging tosupport similar projects across Canada as part of its efforts to improve equity and combat theclimate crisis. To our knowledge, no comprehensive study has been planned to fully assessthe REM's possibly profound impacts on travel behaviour and public health. Several sectionsof the REM are already under construction and slated to open in 2021. Construction on othershas yet to begin, giving us a brief window to conduct research to measure how the REM'simpact is felt at various stages of development and operation. In the end, the research willhelp policymakers and planners make better-informed decisions about major publicinvestments to improve Canadians health and welfare.