Mostly cribbed from last year's guide.
Here's what to expect from the Montreal-area transit authorities for service this holiday season, including special holiday service schedules and free service days.
Once again, I ask that you have some sympathy for the bus or metro driver who has to work during the holidays getting whiny vomiting drunk people from A to B in thick snow.
The Réseau de transport de Longueuil became the last major transit agency in the area to announce its fare schedule for 2010 on Friday, based on a decision supposedly taken at a board meeting on Dec. 3 (which took 15 days to publicize?)
Here's how it breaks down:
| 2009 | 2010 | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash fare | $3 | $3 | No change |
| 6 tickets (regular) | $16.10 (6x$2.68) | $16.50 (6x$2.75) | +2.5% |
| 6 tickets (reduced) | $9.60 (6x$1.60) | $9.60 (6x$1.67) | +4.2% |
| Monthly pass (regular) | $79 | $81 | +2.5% |
| Monthly pass (reduced) | $47 | $48.50 | +3.2% |
The policy of having cash fares that don't allow transfers is being maintained, much to the dismay of groups that demand transfers be reinstated.
The RTL notes that 48% of its clients use an AMT multi-zone pass, most commonly Zone 3, which covers Longueuil.
Late November has always been transit fare increase season, as the various agencies rush to approve fare hikes in time to give users the requisite 30-day notice.
But in the past couple of years, the transit agencies have been lazy, pushing late November into early December, giving people only a few weeks to prepare.
Now, this may seem trivial. In the past, the only real effect of cutting it this close has been printing monthly passes without prices on them (AA$ and BB$) for January and February. But it seems just another disrespect of users for these transit agencies to not follow their own rules.
La Presse points out that the STM and RTL haven't yet given notice of their fares for 2009, the STL didn't respond to say whether or not it had, and the AMT has apparently given notice to the government but not its users about fares for 2010.
The 30 days notice comes from Quebec's law concerning public transit corporations, section 90:
Titres de transport.
90. Une société établit, par règlement, différents titres de transport et en fixe les tarifs selon les modalités et pour les catégories d'usagers qu'elle détermine.
Tarifs.
Le secrétaire publie ces tarifs dans un journal diffusé dans le territoire de la société et les affiche dans les véhicules de la société. Ils entrent en vigueur le trentième jour qui suit cette publication ou à toute autre date ultérieure qui y est fixée.
Entrée en vigueur accélérée.
Cependant, lorsque la société est d'avis que des circonstances exceptionnelles le justifient, les tarifs peuvent entrer en vigueur à compter du dixième jour de leur publication pourvu qu'elle publie également les motifs de sa décision.
2001, c. 23, a. 90.
It's unclear if the transit agencies are ignoring the law, if this law somehow doesn't apply to them (or maybe I've read it wrong) or they're using that "exceptional circumstances" rule.
One thing is clear, as far as public notice goes, this is becoming a habit. Last year, the RTL, STL and AMT all announced fare schedules less than 30 days before Jan. 1. Only the STM announced its fares in November.
There are no exceptional circumstances. We should have fare tables by now.
The Réseau de transport de Longueuil, which handles public transit in Longueuil and its merged and demerged suburbs, is making a big effort to add service in a new schedule which began on Monday, especially in St. Bruno, which it had served with a handful of bus and collective taxi lines through an agreement with Veolia Transport. The contract (which the RTL points out predates its own existence) expired on Sunday, and the RTL is taking over service directly.
Among the additions, some of which are outlined in the press release:
Last year's guide seems to have been well received, so I'm doing it again.
Here's what to expect from the Montreal-area transit authorities for service this holiday season, including special holiday service schedules and free service days.
Once again, I ask that you have some sympathy for the bus or metro driver who has to work during the holidays getting whiny vomiting drunk people from A to B in thick snow.
The RTL announced its fare table on Friday (and Presse Canadienne recopied it).
The big thing here is a reduction in the single fare rate to encourage more occasional use. In exchange, transit users paying cash won't be issued a transfer and would have to pay for each individual leg of their trip unless they get a smart card or their new "disposable" Solo card (is advertising something as disposable really such a great idea in this eco-conscious world?).
Considering how "very occasional users" usually pay cash and are unaware of where the ticket offices are, this is bound to inconvenience tourists, visitors from other transit zones and anyone else who isn't a regular or semi-regular user of public transit in Longueuil.
| 2008 | 2009 | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single fare | $3.25 | $3 | -7.7% |
| Single fare (reduced) | $2 | N/A | Elimination of fare* |
| 6 tickets (regular) | $15.50 (6x$2.58) | $16.10 (6x$2.68) | +3.9% |
| 6 tickets (reduced) | $9.25 (6x$1.54) | $9.60 (6x$1.6) | +3.8%** |
| Monthly pass (regular) | $76 | $79 | +3.9% |
| Monthly pass (reduced) | $45 | $47 | +3.4% |
*Single tickets will no longer be available in reduced form. All passengers will be required to pay $3 cash, regardless of age. Solo passes are available in groups of no less than six tickets.
*Both the RTL press release and the Presse Canadienne cut-and-paste (and, of course, all the websites that republished it) have this backwards, which would result in a reduction.
The good news is that the RTL is confident it will meet the 8% increased ridership challenge set by the Quebec government by the end of 2009 (the deadline is 2011). Transit authorities who meet the 8% increase target get a gajillion dollars from the government, and a cookie.
Still waiting on AMT fares for 2009, but the RTL release hints that the TRAM 3 pass will go up by 3.5%, which means the $105 regular Zone 3 pass would go up to $108 or $109 a month.
An eagle-eyed netizen tells me that Google's Transit service, which allows you to choose "by public transit" when finding directions via Google Maps, has been updated to include route and departure information for the STM's buses and metro.
For an example, here's a route by public transit from Fairview Pointe-Claire (where all the anglos hang out, didn't you know?) to The Gazette's offices on Ste. Catherine St. downtown. (Et, bien sûr, c'est aussi disponible en français)
The service, which is also available in Vancouver, Ottawa, Fredericton and dozens of U.S. cities, and had previously included AMT train service (which was much easier since there are much fewer departures to put in a database), is effectively a competitor to the STM's existing Tous Azimuts service, which although revolutionary when it was introduced is now over a decade old and doesn't meet today's usability standards. Google Transit is slicker, faster and easier to use.
Like Tous Azimuts, Google Transit suggests alternate routes, says how long they'll take, and provides the time of departure and arrival of each bus or metro.
This is no simple undertaking. Google requires the transit agency to provide a database of all departures for all routes in a specific format. We're talking thousands and thousands of departures here.
This might also make other third-party STM trip-planning services obsolete, as Google Maps becomes a must-have application for cellphones.
UPDATE: I'm told by a helpful reader below that this also includes off-island transit networks like the Société de transport de Laval and the AMT-administered CITs, but not the south shore RTL network yet RTL data just went live so it now includes all the networks.
UPDATE (Oct. 29): Google, the STM, STL, RTL and AMT are making the joint announcement today, 10am at Google's Montreal HQ (1253 McGill College) (Thanks Jean). Google Transit has already been updated to list all the transit agencies in the area (thanks Dumitru).
Expect media coverage of the new service during the evening news. Some technology media are already covering it. UPDATE: more pieces from The Gazette, Branchez-Vous and RadCan. And Tristan Péloquin has some background about this project.
Google has also setup a special page with an introductory video in French and English, thought the English version has a British narrator and uses New York as an example.
To most people, this is just a bus. The kind that will take you to work on a daily basis.
But to a select few, this rust bucket is something special. A group of about 30 public transit fans chartered this RTL bus for a day last weekend, just for fun. I tell their story in today's paper.
Locked-out and striking workers at the Journal de Québec have asked for an arbitrator to finally help put an end to the conflict that's been going on since April.
The seemingly unsustainable situation, where the paper has been relying on quasi-legal Canoë, Journal de Montréal, wire service and management workers to put out the paper while the unionized workers have been publishing a competing free paper five days a week, has gone on so long that union members are being offered subscriptions to the Journal, and MédiaMatin has started a classified section:
The Journal is clearly not ready to back down, and as long as the union gets support from its solidarity-bretheren (the latest is the Réseau de transport de Longueuil) as well as overwhelming moral support from the public, they're not about to fold up shop either.
As the holidays approach fast, radio stations are switching to all-Christmas-music formats, malls are packed with desperate last-minute shoppers, and TV starts to suck really bad.
What better time to contemplate that most exciting of holiday traditions: complicated transit service schedules!
Fear not folks. Below is a day-by-day guide to what you can come to expect from the Montreal-area transit networks. Take a glance at it if you're planning to take a bus anywhere near Christmas or New Year's this year.
And have a bit of sympathy for that bus driver who has to spend midnight on New Year's Eve stuck at a traffic light handing out transfers.
Following the STM/STL transit fare increases announced last week, the Agence métropolitaine de transport has put out its list. Fare increases for monthly passes range between 1.0% and 3.8%:
| Adult fare (Jan. 1, 2008) |
Now | Increase | Intermediate fare (Jan. 1, 2008) |
Now | Increase | Reduced fare (Jan. 1, 2008) |
Now | Increase | |
| TRAM 1 (Downtown Montreal) | $77.00 | $74.50 | 3.4% | $61.50 | $59.50 | 3.4% | $46.00 | $44.50 | 3.4% |
| TRAM 2 (Midwest/ mideast/ North Montreal) | $90.00 | $87.00 | 3.4% | $72.00 | $69.50 | 3.6% | $54.00 | $52.00 | 3.8% |
| TRAM 3 (Longueuil, Laval, Far West/East island) | $105.00 | $103.00 | 1.9% | $84.00 | $82.50 | 1.8% | $63.00 | $62.00 | 1.6% |
| TRAM 4 (Ile Perrot, La Prairie) | $115.00 | $113.00 | 1.8% | $92.00 | $90.50 | 1.7% | $69.00 | $68.00 | 1.5% |
| TRAM 5 (Vaudreuil/Dorion, Chateauguay, Kahnawake, north shore, Repentigny, Sainte-Julie, Saint-Constant, St. Bruno) | $133.00 | $131.00 | 1.5% | $106.00 | $105.00 | 1.0% | $80.00 | $78.50 | 1.9% |
| TRAM 6 (St. Hilaire, Mercier, Hudson/Rigaud, Blainville) | $159.00 | $156.00 | 1.9% | $127.00 | $125.00 | 1.6% | $95.50 | $93.50 | 2.1% |
| TRAM 7 (Mirabel, Oka, St. Sulpice, lower St. Jerome) | $185.00 | $182.00 | 1.6% | $148.00 | $146.00 | 1.4% | $111.00 | $109.00 | 1.8% |
| TRAM 8 (upper St. Jerome, Valleyfield, St. Hyacinthe, Sorel) | $211.00 | $207.00 | 1.9% | $169.00 | $166.00 | 1.8% | $127.00 | $124.00 | 2.4% |
STM (Montreal):
| Adult fare (Jan. 1, 2008) |
Now | Increase | Reduced fare (Jan. 1, 2008) |
Now | Increase | |
| Monthly CAM | $66.25 | $65 | 1.9% | $36 | $35 | 2.9% |
| Weekly CAM Hebdo | $19.25 | $19 | 1.3% | $11 | $10.75 | 2.3% |
| Six tickets | $12 | $11.75 | 2.1% | $6.50 | $6.25 | 4% |
| Cash fare | $2.75 | $2.75 | No change | $1.75 | $1.75 | No change |
| Tourist card (3 days) | $17.00 | $17.00 | No change | |||
| Tourist card (1 day) | $9.00 | $9.00 | No change |
STL (Laval):
| Adult fare (Jan. 1, 2008) |
Now | Increase | Intermediate fare (Jan. 1, 2008) |
Now | Increase | Reduced fare (Jan. 1, 2008) |
Now | Increase | |
| Monthly pass | $74 | $72.50 | 2.1% | $59.00 | $58.00 | 1.7% | $44.50 | $43 | 3.5% |
| Eight tickets | $18 | $21 | -14% | $12.50 | $12.25 | 2.0% | |||
| Cash fare | $2.50 | $3.00 | -17% | (None?) | $1.80 | ? |
Still no word from the RTL about Longueuil rates for 2008.
UPDATE (Dec. 18): Finally the RTL releases their 2008 rates. The increase is substantial, especially for reduced fare monthly passes.
| Adult fare (Jan. 1, 2008) |
Now | Increase | Reduced fare (Jan. 1, 2008) |
Now | Increase | |
| Monthly pass | $76 | $73 | 4.1% | $45 | $42 | 7.1% |
| Six tickets | $15.50 | $15 | 3.3% | $9.25 | $8.90 | 3.9% |
| Cash fare | $3.25 | $3.25 | No change | $2 | $2 | No change |
Midnight Poutine has a rant-post about something I've heard a couple of times recently: when taking a trip that spans two transit networks, it's treated as two separate trips, and you're charged full-price for each.
So imagine someone taking public transit from western Laval to Brossard. That person would have to take an STL bus ($3), the metro ($2.75), and an RTL bus ($3.25). Total cost: $9.
We have, thanks to the Agence métropolitaine de transport, a "zone" monthly pass, which allows unlimited travel in multiple transit networks at a price considerably below what you'd pay for the different network's passes individually. Why can't we do something about individual trips to save people some money?
Part of the STM's plan as they introduce a smart card system next year will be to be able to control zoning better. This will probably mean that a trip between downtown and the West Island will cost more than a trip within the downtown area. Hopefully this might also mean it'll cost less than $9 to cross three transit networks on a single trip.
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