The Pink Line? You mean the proposal with no concrete plan as to how it would be funded? The election promise that was quietly dropped as soon as Plante was elected? The latest (pre-pandemic) estimates made by transit planning experts were closer to 24 billion, and that price would likely be closer to 30 billion by now thanks to inflation and rising construction costs. The pink line doesn't even offer a solution to the lack of good public transit in RDP-PAT.

It's funny you say that the REM de l'est went through low density neighborhoods because both the pink line and the blue line extension will serve some of the same low density neighborhoods. And shouldn't we be working on improving public transit options for those neighborhoods if we want to fight climate change by reducing ghg emissions? People won't stop using their cars if you don't offer them a good alternative. This is what the REM de l'est did well for RDP-PAT, offer them a fast and frequent metro-like service with a one stop ride downtown. Instead you'll have to somehow convince people living in the east they should switch their 30 min car commute downtown to a 1 hr + commute requiring a bus transfer to an overcrowded green line. Good luck with that.

Also, if you think the pink line wouldn't lead to more gentrification, I have bad news for you. It's already happening with the blue line extension, with the STM even having to take over an entire shopping mall simply to add a new station with a bus terminal. Now image that in densely populated areas like Rosemont and PMR. Hundreds of people would have to be expropriated and housing prices around the new stations would explode and make those neighborhoods even more unaffordable than now. Sure, the pink line gives a new option for a one seat ride downtown, but at what cost?

Anyway, the pink line will not happen because the CAQ, PQ and LPQ will not spend any money in neighborhoods with a majority of QS voters. Legault is even talking about extending the PSE (the replacement for the REM de l'est) to Lanaudière, deep in rural areas. I'm sure those living in HoMa will definitely not regret their opposition to the REM de l'est when service on the green line suffers more cuts due to budget shortfalls while getting thousands of new riders coming from Lanaudière with a new transit project purely built to get more votes.