Impacts of sustainable transport interventions: changes in perception over time and spatially towards a new bus rapid transit (BRT) infrastructure in Montréal, Canada

Figures & data

Figure 1. Status of construction of the Pie-IX BRT stations and their connection to Montréal’s metro lines.

Figure 2. Distribution of home locations of those aware of the Pie-IX BRT project.

Table 1. Socio-demographic split over time and by proximity to the Pie-IX BRT line.

Descriptive variable	In the 1-km buffer				Outside the 1-km buffer
	2021	2022	Diff. (%)	Census (2021)	2021	2022	Diff. (%)	Census (2021)
Quantitative data
Aware of the project	232	233	1	–	2100	2631	531	–
Men	63%	51%	−12%	49%	69%	59%	−10%	49%
Women	33%	47%	14%	51%	29%	39%	10%	51%
Non-binary	4%	2%	−2%	–	2%	2%	0%	–
Household income
<60k	27%	44%	18%	50%	32%	31%	−2%	38%
60–120k	36%	38%	2%	36%	29%	39%	10%	37%
120k or more	37%	18%	−20%	14%	39%	30%	−8%	25%
Qualitative data
Sample size	37	60	23	–	163	191	28	–
Men	65%	37%	−28%	49%	73%	72%	−1%	49%
Women	35%	63%	28%	51%	27%	28%	1%	51%
Non-binary	0%	0%	0%	–	0%	0%	0%	–
Household income
<60k	24%	37%	12%	50%	32%	23%	−9%	38%
60–120k	41%	37%	−4%	36%	38%	39%	2%	37%
120k or more	35%	26%	−8%	14%	30%	38%	7%	25%
Avg. comment word length	38 (38)	38 (38)	–	–	27 (25)	27 (25)	–	–

Table 2. Distribution of agreement to statements regarding the Pie-IX BRT over time and by proximity to the Pie-IX BRT line.

Survey question	In the 1-km buffer				Outside the 1-km buffer
	2021	2022	Diff. (%)	ꭕ² (p-value)	2021	2022	Diff. (%)	ꭕ² (p-value)
The Pie-IX BRT is a good thing for the greater Montréal area
Agree	79%	78%	−1%	1.78 (0.41)	76%	76%	0%	0.87 (0.64)
Neutral	14%	17%	3%		18%	19%	1%
Disagree	7%	5%	−2%		6%	5%	−1%
The Pie-IX BRT is a good thing for my neighborhood
Agree	78%	41%	−37%	67.91 (<0.01)	25%	29%	4%	13.13 (<0.01)
Neutral	12%	43%	31%		55%	52%	−3%
Disagree	10%	16%	6%		20%	19%	−1%
I am concerned about whether I will be able to remain in my neighborhood due to rising housing costs due to the Pie-IX BRT
Agree	20%	11%	−9%	11.49 (<0.01)	7%	7%	0%	0.32 (0.85)
Neutral	30%	42%	12%		43%	43%	0%
Disagree	50%	47%	−3%		50%	50%	0%
The Pie-IX BRT is good for the environment
Agree	67%	66%	−1%	8.34 (0.01)	67%	67%	0%	0.02 (0.99)
Neutral	21%	28%	7%		26%	26%	0%
Disagree	12%	6%	−6%		7%	7%	0%

Inside the buffer [2021 (N = 232); 2022 (N = 233)]; Outside the buffer [2021 (N = 2100); 2022 (N = 2631)].

Table 3. Summary of themes regarding the Pie-IX BRT over time and by proximity to the Pie-IX BRT line.

Topic/theme	In the 1-km buffer			Outside the 1-km buffer
	2021	2022	Diff. (%)	2021	2022	Diff. (%)
Perception of the project
Project is outdated/inefficient/inadequate (−)	40.5%	33.3%	−7.2%	42.3%	40.8%	−1.5%
Project is good/efficient/necessary (+)	5.4%	6.7%	1.3%	20.9%	12.0%	−8.8%
Too soon to evaluate/unsure of the results (+)	10.8%	1.7%	−9.1%	1.2%	3.1%	1.9%
Regional impacts
Inadequate choice of technology/mode (−)	24.3%	6.7%	−17.7%	21.5%	20.9%	−0.5%
Similar project existed before and failed (−)	18.9%	5.0%	−13.9%	6.7%	5.2%	−1.5%
Integration with other lines in the network (−)	8.1%	6.7%	−1.4%	3.1%	2.6%	−0.4%
Those in charge were inefficient (−)	8.1%	1.7%	−6.4%	3.1%	2.6%	−0.4%
Construction/planning timeline (−)	8.1%	11.7%	3.6%	15.3%	20.4%	5.1%
Ineffective allocation of funds (−)	2.7%	8.3%	5.6%	4.3%	19.9%	15.6%
Local impacts
Nuisance of construction (−)	24.3%	15.0%	−9.3%	4.9%	3.1%	−1.8%
BRT should reach other neighborhoods in the region (−)	10.8%	5.0%	−5.8%	1.8%	2.6%	0.8%
Road safety concerns (−)	2.7%	8.3%	5.6%	8.0%	3.1%	−4.8%
Worse conditions for car users (i.e. travel time, infrastructure, safety) (−)	0.0%	8.3%	8.3%	1.2%	2.1%	0.9%
Satisfaction with BRT operations
Dissatisfaction with service attributes/operations (−)	0.0%	16.7%	14.0%	0.0%	5.2%	2.2%
Competition with existing PT/end-of-service impacts (−)	0.0%	15.0%	15.0%	0.0%	1.0%	−1.4%
Satisfaction with service attributes/operations (+)	0.0%	5.0%	5.0%	0.0%	3.7%	3.7%
Impacts to the environment
Not favourable to the environment (−)	5.4%	1.7%	−3.7%	4.3%	4.7%	0.4%

Inside the buffer [2021 (N = 37); 2022 (N = 60)]; Outside the buffer [2021 (N = 163); 2022 (N = 191)].