Category Archives: Public transit

| Montreal, Public transit

AMT (finally) releases 2009 fare table

The AMT today finally released its fare table for 2009 (PDF), after previously announcing that rates would go up about 3.5%. (You’ll notice their release last week put the increased service and parking in ALL CAPS, but left the fare increases in lowercase.)

The 3.5% figure had actually been leaked through La Presse’s Bruno Bisson in October (he had said in September the AMT was considering a 4.3% fare increase). While they kept to that 3.5% for most of the monthly passes, the cash fares have gone up much higher (if only to keep to round numbers).

The biggest change to the fare structure is that “intermediate” will mean not just students 18-21, but now 18-25, bringing it in line with the STM’s “Carte Privilège” and similar systems at other transit networks.

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 Zone 8
Areas in this zone Downtown Montreal North end, St. Laurent, eastern West Island, between Pie IX and Highway 25 Longueuil, Laval, eastern and western tips of the island La Prairie, Île Perrot Vaudreuil, Deux Montagnes, Terrebonne, Repentigny, Sainte Julie, St. Bruno, Chambly, Candiac, St. Constant, Kahnawake, Châteauguay and Mercier Saint Lazare, Hudson, Rigaud, Blainville, Mascouche, Verchères, Beloeil, Marieville, Beauharnois Les Cèdres, Oka, Mirabel, L’Assomption, St. Sulpice Valleyfield, Laurentides, St. Jerome, Sorel, St. Hyacinthe,
Train stations in this zone Central Station to Montpellier, Lucien L’Allier to Lachine, LaSalle and Chabanel Du Ruisseau to Roxboro, Dorval to Cedar Park, Bois de Boulogne Beaconsfield to Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Île Bigras, St. Lambert, St. Hubert, plus all stations in Laval Île Perrot, Pincourt Grand Moulin, Deux Montagnes, Dorion, Vaudreuil, Rosemère, Ste. Thérèse, St. Bruno, St. Basile le Grand, Ste. Catherine, St. Constant, Delson, Candiac Hudson*, Rigaud*, Blainville, McMasterville, St. Hilaire St. Jérôme None
TRAM (regular fare) $79.50 ($77 +3.2%) $93 ($90 +3.3%) $109 ($105 +3.8%) $119 ($115 +3.5%) $138 ($133 +3.8%) $165 ($159 +3.8%) $191 ($185 +3.2%) $218 ($211 +3.3%)
TRAM (intermediate fare) $63.50 ($61.50 +3.2%) $74.50 ($72 +3.5%) $87 ($84 +3.6%) $95 ($92 +3.3%) $110 ($106 +3.8%) $132 ($127 +3.9%) $153 ($148 +3.4%) $174 ($169 +3.0%)
TRAM (reduced fare) $47.50 ($46 +3.3%) $56 ($54 +3.7%) $65.50 ($63 +4.0%) $71.50 ($69 +3.6%) $83 ($80 +3.8%) $99 ($95.50 +3.7%) $115 ($111 +3.6%) $131 ($127 +3.1%)
TRAIN only (regular) N/A N/A N/A $109 ($105 +3.8%) $117 ($113 +3.5%) $140 ($135 +3.7%) $162 ($157 +3.2%) N/A
TRAIN only (intermediate) N/A N/A N/A $87 ($84 +3.6%) $93.50 ($90.50 +3.3%) $112 ($108 +3.7%) $130 ($126 +3.2%) N/A
TRAIN only (reduced) N/A N/A N/A $65.50 ($63 +4.0%) $70 ($68 +2.9%) $84 ($81 +3.7%) $97 ($94 +3.2%) N/A
Six tickets (regular) $16 ($15.50 +3.2%) $18.50 ($18 +2.8%) $22 ($21 +4.8%) $24 ($23 +4.3%) $27.50 ($26.50 +3.8%) $33 ($32 +3.1%) $38 ($37 +2.7%) N/A
Six tickets (reduced) $9.50 (no change) $11 (no change) $13 ($12.50 +4.0%) $14.50 ($14 +3.6%) $16.50 ($16 +3.1%) $20 ($19 +5.3%) $23 ($22 +4.5%) N/A
Single regular fare $4 ($3.75 +6.7%) $4.75 ($4.50 +5.6%) $5.50 ($5.25 +4.8%) $6 ($5.75 +4.3%) $7 ($6.75 +3.7%) $8.25 ($8 +3.1%) $9.50 ($9.25 +2.7%) N/A
Single reduced fare $2.50 ($2.25 +11.1%) $2.75 (no change) $3.25 (no change) $3.50 (no change) $4.25 ($4 +6.3%) $5 ($4.75 +5.3%) $5.75 ($5.50 +4.5%) N/A

*The “promotion” that allows Zone 5 passes at Hudson and Rigaud stations continues in the new year.

For those who missed them, the fare tables for STM, STL and RTL were released earlier.

| Montreal, Public transit

RTL fares for 2009 to piss off occasional users

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.

| Montreal, Public transit

STL fares for 2009

The STL today announced its fare table for 2009, with moderate increases in fares (though La Presse is all up about side issues including increasing the limit on intermediate fare eligibility from 22 to 25 years old, and reducing the single fare to $1 on smog days).

Here’s the skinny:

2008 2009 Difference
Single fare $2.50 $2.60 +4%
8 tickets (regular) $18 (8x$2.25) $18.50 (8x$2.31) +2.8%
8 tickets (reduced) $12.50 (8x$1.56) $13.00 (8x$1.63) +4%
Monthly pass (regular) $74 $76.50 +3.4%
Monthly pass (intermediate) $59 $61 +3.4%
Monthly pass (reduced) $44.50 $46 +3.4%

The STM announced its fare schedule two weeks ago. Still waiting on AMT and RTL, though you’d think they’d give the customary 30 days’ notice.

| Montreal, Public transit

AMT announces additional service on four train lines

The AMT today announced that it is adding departures on four of its five commuter train lines starting Jan. 12. (The Blainville line is the one left out.)

Though the overcrowded Deux Montagnes line gets the most new service with 26 new departures a week, the big changes are on the St. Hilaire and Candiac lines, which used to be unidirectional rush-hour services. Both lines now have lunch-hour departures in both directions, and St. Hilaire gets evening departures in both directions.

Details of the schedule changes are below. I’ve omitted schedule shifts of less than 10 minutes.

Montreal-Deux Montagnes

  • Weekdays: toward Montreal
    • New departure at 5:30am from Deux Montagnes becomes first train of the day (previous first departure was 5:50am, which stays the same)
    • 6:35am departure from Deux Montagnes is brought back to 6:20am
    • The 8am departure from Roxboro is replaced by a 7:50am departure from Deux-Montagnes (sorry, Pierrefonds residents used to their guaranteed seats)
    • A new departure is squeezed in from Deux Montagnes at 9:22am.
    • All but one morning inbound train (8:50am from Roxboro-Pierrefonds) now depart from Deux Montagnes. Train schedules between 8 and 10am in both directions are readjusted to let traffic through on the single track
    • A new departure is added at 10:25am, with subsequent departures pushed back by 30 minutes (11:25, 12:25, 1:25, 2:25)
    • Departures at 7:51, 8:51 and 9:51pm are made a half hour earlier (7:20, 8:25, 9:25)
    • An evening departure at 10:51 is removed
  • Weekdays: Toward Deux Montagnes
    • A new departure from Central Station at 7:55am
    • A new departure from Central Station at 3pm
    • Departures at 7pm and 7:40pm become 7:05pm and 7:30pm. The rest of the afternoon rush hour schedule is untouched
    • Last train of the day is now 12:15am instead of 12:30am
  • Saturdays: Toward Montreal
    • A new departure from Deux Montagnes at 8:55am means service every hour from 7-10am
    • A new departure from Deux Montagnes radically changes the afternoon/evening schedule: Departures at 3:55, 6:15 and 8:55 become 3:25, 4:25, 6:25 and 9:25
    • Last train of the day is at 11:25 instead of 11:40pm
  • Saturdays: Toward Deux Montagnes
    • Two new departures from Central Station in the morning at 8am and 10am (11am departure moved to noon)
    • 3pm departure from Central Station moved to 4:30pm
    • 10:50 departure becomes 10:30
    • Last train of the day is now 12:15am instead of 12:30am
  • Sundays: Toward Montreal
    • All departures from Deux Montagnes are now on the hour instead of five minutes before
    • New departure at 10am means two hours, not four, between inbound trains in the morning
  • Sundays: Toward Deux Montagnes
    • 10am departure is replaced by departures at 9am and 11am
    • Last train of the day is now 12:15am instead of 12:30am

Montreal-Dorion/Rigaud

  • Weekdays
    • New departure #114 from Vaudreuil to Lucien L’Allier at 6:40am (previous departures leave 5 minutes earlier)
    • New departure #121 from Lucien-L’Allier to Vaudreuil at 4:20pm (next departure is moved from 4:30 to 4:40)
  • Saturdays/Sundays: No changes

Montreal-Mont St. Hilaire

  • Weekdays: Toward Montreal (all departures from Mont St. Hilaire)
    • First ever inbound afternoon trains with new departures at 1:45 and 7pm from St. Hilaire
  • Weekdays: Toward Mont St. Hilaire (all departures to Mont St. Hilaire)
    • New departure at 12:30pm (previously earliest departure was 4:30pm)
    • New departure at 9:15pm (previously latest departure was 6:25pm)

Montreal-Delson/Candiac

  • Weekdays: Toward Montreal (all departures from Candiac)
    • 7am departure moves to 7:10*
    • New departure at 8am
    • 9am departure moves to 8:50
    • New departure at 1:20pm becomes first afternoon inbound train for this line
  • Weekdays: Toward Delson/Candiac (all departures to Candiac)
    • New departure at 12:20pm (previously, first departure was 3:40pm)
    • New departure at 4:15pm

UPDATE (Dec. 12): A full week later, this news hits the newspaper.

*UPDATE (Dec. 27): And public protests have resulted in changes to the changes in the Delson line. The morning 7am departure stays, as does the evening 5:15 departure (which was to be moved back to 5:10).

| In the news, Montreal, Public transit

Quebec parties’ transit promises

Now that the debate is over, I guess we can assume that the party platforms are out there. I was interested in how each party is looking at public transit. Even though the economy and health care are the big issues, it’s never been sexier to be green.

From news interviews and party platforms, here’s what I’ve been able to piece together about what the parties have promised for public transit in Quebec.

The promises are about what you’d expect: practical but uninspiring from the Liberals, pandering and expensive from the PQ, non-existent from the ADQ and completely unrealistic from the Green Party and Québec solidaire.

Nothing radical or even particularly interesting comes out of the main parties (the PQ’s promises, in particular, involve many things that are already being planned), but it does give an idea of what portions of the electorate each party is targeting.

Liberal Party of Quebec

  • Increase the frequency of train trips to Laval and the South Shore suburbs by 35% within 12-24 months, an additional 230 train departures each week, or 264,000 seats
  • 10,000 new parking places at commuter train stations (a 35% increase)
  • Consider Montreal proposal for construction of tramways

Total cost: $260 million ($200 million through the province, $60 million from the AMT)

Sources: Charest promises increased transit to Laval, Longueuil

Parti Québécois

  • Extend blue line east
  • Build a tramway to Old Montreal
  • Create a direct rail link to Trudeau Airport
  • Create express bus lines on Henri-Bourassa Blvd.
  • Create an LRT from Brossard to downtown
  • Build a commuter train to Repentigny
  • Build a commuter train from Longueuil to Châteauguay
  • Create reserved bus lanes on Highways 13, 15, and 19
  • Increase public transit use 16 per cent by 2013 (double the current Liberal goal)

Total cost: $3.6 billion, not enough says Normand Parisien of Transport 2000

Sources: PQ promises $3.5B for public transit, Transit union boss backs PQ

Action démocratique du Québec

The ADQ has nothing in its platform (PDF) about public transit beyond a vague promise to “modernize its management”, though Mario Dumont has said in the past he would make public transit an essential service, removing from its unions the right to strike.

Québec solidaire

  • Reduced fare for low-income earners
  • In the long term, the complete elimination of transit fares
  • Encouraging the use of fully electric vehicles
  • Increase use of collective taxis in low-density areas where bus service is impractical
  • Unspecified extensions to metros, commuter trains and bus network on the island of Montreal

Total cost: $1.2 billion over five years

Source: Party platform

Green Party of Quebec

  • Create high-speed rail link between Quebec City and Windsor
  • Extend Montreal metro’s blue line east to Anjou
  • Build tramways in Montreal (including, apparently, on Pierrefonds Blvd. in the West Island), Quebec, Longueuil, Gatineau, Laval and Sherbrooke
  • Electrify existing rail links connecting Quebec City, Alma, Gaspé, Sherbrooke and Montreal
  • Reduce the cost of transit passes by 50%

Total cost: $40 billion over 20 years (includes non-public transport measures), financed by a carbon tax and road tolls

Sources: Party platform (PDF), Transport plan announcement

What do you think? Which party has the best public transit platform?

| Montreal, Opinion, Photos, Public transit

There be doors here

UPDATE (April 21): After being cancelled because the stickers peeled off, the STM has restarted the project.

The STM has begun a pilot project in an effort to reduce boarding problems at metro stations, particularly during rush hour. The idea is to mark where the doors open (they always open at the same place), and create a buffer zone so that people can exit the train safely while others wait off to the side to get on. Believe it or not, this is actually a problem: people are so desperate to get on that they crowd the doors and don’t leave any room for people to get off. Sometimes it can be like trying to get to the stage of a rock concert.

The project is in place at three platforms, each with a different design.

Continue reading →

| In the news, Montreal, Public transit

STM releases 2009 fare rates

There were rumours that the fares would go up again (not exactly going out on a limb), but the STM last night made it official. The new rates (PDF) are as follows:

Regular Reduced
Monthly CAM $68.50 ($66.25 + 3.4%) $37 ($36 + 2.8%
Weekly CAM $20 ($19.25 + 3.9%) $11.25 ($11 + 2.3%)
Three-day tourist pass $17 (no change) N/A
One-day tourist pass $9 (no change) N/A
10 trips (Opus card only) $20 ($2/trip) $10.75 ($1.08/trip)
Six trips $12.75 ($2.13/trip, $12 + 6.3%) $6.75 ($1.13/trip, $6.50 + 3.8%)
Single fare $2.75 (no change) $1.75 (no change)

Transit agencies have to give 30 days notice for fare changes, which means they have until 11:59pm on Dec. 1 to announce any changes to take effect for Jan. 1, 2009.

| Montreal, Public transit

STM to let kids on free on weekends

The STM has announced that, starting Dec. 6, adults who pay their fare to get on the bus or metro will be able to take up to five kids under age 12 for free on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. (Via Transport in Montreal)

The STM has pulled $400,000 out of its ass as the projected “cost” of this program.

It’s part of a campaign by the city to get families out doing stuff (going to museums and other attractions) on weekends by reducing prices.

| Montreal, Public transit

STM increases service to St. Laurent industrial park

New schedule for 175 bus with added departures highlighted (via CPTDB)

New schedule for 175 bus with added departures highlighted (via CPTDB)

The STM has announced some changes to bus lines, primarily in the area of the St. Laurent industrial park:

  • The 72 Alfred Nobel has had seven departures added in the morning and evening rush hours to increase frequency. The hours of service remain the same. The major changes to the route begin next year. In January, service between rush hours will be added, and in March the line will be extended westward to the Fairview bus terminal, while the eastern terminus will be shifted to the Côte-Vertu metro station.
  • A collective taxi service is now being offered that shuttles between the St. Laurent industrial park and the Sunnybrooke train station during rush hours. Fares are the same as buses, but people have to reserve in advance.
  • The 175 Griffith/Saint-François and 196 Parc Industriel Lachine (or as I like to call them, the buses from nowhere to nowhere) now have service between rush hours, with 30-minute intervals. This follows a pattern the STM has been following recently filling up the time between rush hours, then extending into the later evenings and finally adding weekend service.

Also approved by the STM’s board of directors last week is the creation of a new line, the 467 Express Saint-Michel, which would provide limited-stop service along St. Michel Blvd. during rush hours. The 67 Saint-Michel is the busiest single bus route in the entire STM network with about 40,000 riders a day (the Côte des Neiges, Parc Ave. and Pie IX Blvd. axes have more ridership split over regular and rush-hour reserved lane routes). Expect this new line to come into service either in January or March.

| Montreal, Public transit

Turnstile terror

Turnstiles at Peel metro

Turnstiles at Peel metro

As students were forced into the new Opus smart card system when their reduced-fare passes expired on Oct. 31, the STM took the opportunity to change the configuration of turnstiles at metro stations, switching more to the newer smart-card machines.

Instead of one or two newer turnstiles and the rest using the old punch-card and magnetic-strip systems, the ratio is now reversed with a single older turnstile and the rest on the new system. Besides working with different cards, I’ve noticed the newer turnstiles are also lower, which means that instead of being whacked in the gonads when the turnstile locks up, you’re smacked in the legs.

The change quickly began irritating riders using the magnetic bus passes, who have already taken to writing letters about their frustrations.

I’m going to miss quite a bit about the older turnstiles when they’re eventually phased out entirely. Instead of reading miniature punch cards, they’re scanning RFIDs. Instead of a welcoming two-tone acknowledgment of a fare paid, there is only a single soulless beep.

| Montreal, On the Net, Public transit, Technology

Google Transit includes all Montreal transit networks

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.