Minister, Montreal mayor defend REM's eastern leg after report recommends scrapping it

Quebec and Montreal authorities are defending the REM line's future eastern leg, the REM de l'est after a new report called the entire plan into question.

The price tag for the project is $10 billion, and the group behind the report says it won't be worth it, based on the ridership in the east end.

The group is the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), which handles transit planning for the region.

Its study found that 64 per cent of potential riders in the east end already use other modes of publc transport during rush hour, such as the metro, and that the REM would only gain a limited number of new public transit clients.

It also says that the project only partially answers the needs of Montreal's eastern and northern sectors, estimating only 12 per cent of trips from these areas of the island are headed towards downtown -- the rest are going in other directions.

The city also has a say in whether or not the project happens, and today the premier said the ball is really now in the mayor's court.

Mayor Valerie Plante stood behind the project, writing on Twitter that the REM is the most important mobility project in the city in the last decade, and that the city will contiune to work with their partners to find solutions and will analyze the report before drawing more conclusions.

Quebec's s minister of transport, Chantal Rouleau, also defended the project. She said it's about much more than just public transit.

A transit group called Trajectoire Quebec also agreed it's better to go back to the drawing board rather than abandon it, saying the island's eastern and northeastern ends are so underserved right now that it's better to simply improve solutions than start from scratch.

Watch the video above to see the full arguments from both sides.