Comments on: On the 515

By: Fagstein » The 515 bus can be saved

Fagstein » The 515 bus can be saved — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:09:12 +0000

[...] failure” of the STM’s 515 bus to Old Montreal. It discusses many of the problems I first brought up in June when it first [...]

By: Beeg

Beeg — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:16:20 +0000

Kinks indeed. Had to get from Parc and St.-Viateur to Peel and Notre-Dame last night. Hopped on the 80, which I rode down to René-Lévesque and Jeanne-Mance, thinking I’d try out the 515 (other options included walking from R-L or trying to catch the 168 at Union street; ultimately I chose the 515 for novelty’s sake and because I was sure it came more often than the 168). After waiting about 15 minutes, the westbound bus came. I figured it would run along R-L, up Peel and then swing down Metcalfe, a little out of the way but close enough. As I boarded, an eastbound 515 crossed on the other side of R-L. I asked the driver if we were headed to Peel and N-D. He said no. I said, No? He said, Well, after we stop downtown. How long? Ten - fifteen minutes. Even though it would have been a longer route, I guess I should have taken the eastbound 515, which swings down Berri and heads west along de la Commune.

As long as the 515 is going to run in unclear directions, Karine’s advice is worth heeding. At least it ought to be - by adding a 15-minute delay at the “end” of the line, it actually makes more sense to take the long way in some cases.

I’m thrilled the STM is improving service in Old Montreal and Griffintown - the 107 is one of the city’s more unreliable buses. But a new bus line - like a new bus ticket - should be simple and intuitive. A circular route can work, but only if you know which way you’re headed.

Finally, though the PDF pamphlet I downloaded wasn’t totally teh awesome, it would’ve come in handy (especially if it indicated the terminus delays) once I was on the bus. Surprisingly, there were none to be found. Also, route maps and estimated times of arrival would be great on city buses, but that’s for another day.

By: James

James — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:16:59 +0000

Ooops. Forgive my patchy French, it has been a while. I didn’t foresee the possible confusion between “clockwise” and “schedule”. What is the word for “clockwise” in French?

By: Fagstein

Fagstein — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:23:07 +0000

I can see it now: “Anti-schedule? What the heck does that mean? Where does this bus go?”

Or: “Which way is clockwise again? Is that clockwise for us or clockwise for them?”

By: James

James — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:14:39 +0000

Errrrr…. why not just designate them “clockwise” / “sens horaire” and “anticlockwise” / “sens anti-horaire” ?

By: Fagstein

Fagstein — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:50:54 +0000

The 52 Liège, 199 Métrobus Lacordaire and 201 St-Charles/St-Jean are all circular routes and their signs aren’t yellow.

I think they just do it to draw attention to what they think is a “cool” new route.

By: Sebastien

Sebastien — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:25:54 +0000

The yellow is to indicate that a route is a circle unlike most routes. The temporary 555 bus helps get frequenters of the under-renovation Georges-Vanier stop to Lionel-Groulx Metro and back.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:46:28 +0000

Actually, I mixed it up, didn’t? It is not the “western” terminus, it’s THE terminus, isn’t it? Buses going in both directions stop there, and therein lies confusion.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:45:33 +0000

I took this bus yesterday and had a chat with the driver, who was an incredibly nice guy. It was his first day on the route and he was trying to figure it all out, too. I caught the bus at the westernmost terminus on Metcalfe, which is right next to the tourist office facing the north end of Dominion Square.

Sure enough, there were two signs for the 515 and two buses, each about to depart and go opposite ways along the circular route. Pretty bizarre. The driver confirmed that there is no way to know which bus to get on, without asking the driver.

He wasn’t sure about the success of this route and I’m not either.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:36:12 +0000

I would have loved this bus had service started a year and a half ago. I live in Griffintown where the only bus to the Metro is the 107 which only comes once every 30 minutes. My two biggest complaints with this neighbourhood was the shitty transit and not having a grocery store. Of course, just as I’m about to move to the other side of the city, they add this bus and a grocery store is opening next month!

By: JF Prieur

JF Prieur — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:13:53 +0000

They should just put via Berri and via Peel.

By: Karine

Karine — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:11:12 +0000

Humm, this reminds me of the Circle Line in London’s underground. You had an Eastern and Western bound train and yes it was confusing to figure where you needed to go but all you had to do was look at the map to see which direction had the shortest distance to the station you wanted. Maybe adding a letter identifier like say, 515 and 515A would make easier to sort them out.

By: Marc

Marc — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:12:20 +0000

Yellow used to be used for the metrobus routes back in the day. Not on the stop signs but on the bus route display.