Launch of route 257 – Navette Or Rivière-des-Prairies

Press release


 

Launch of route 257 – Navette Or Rivière-des-Prairies


Montréal, October 6, 2009
– Messrs. Marcel Tremblay, member of the Board of Directors of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), member of the executive committee – cultural communities, Parc Jean-Drapeau, communications and special events, and councillor for the district of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Cosmo Maciocia, mayor of the borough of Rivière-des-Prairies – Pointe-aux-Trembles, Joe Magri, city councillor – district of Rivière-des-Prairies and chairman of the traffic committee for the borough, and Mr. Jean-Marc Gibeau, city councillor for the Ovide-Clermont district – Montréal-Nord borough, today announced a new route targeted primarily at seniors living in residences in Rivière-des-Prairies as well as in certain residences in Montréal-Nord located on Gouin Boulevard East. The new route 257 – Navette Or Rivière-des-Prairies will make it easier for seniors to travel by public transit in their neighbourhood as of October 13.

The 40-km round-trip route includes 15 stops in each direction and will serve several seniors’ residences in the area as well as the main local points of interest for this clientele. In addition to the residences, the bus route will include the CLSC Rivière-des-Prairies, the Rivière-des-Prairies aquatic and community centres, the library as well as Galeries d’Anjou.

Route 257 – Navette Or Rivière-des-Prairies will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the trip will take approximate ly 50 minutes in each direction. As well, the route number will be displayed on a gold-coloured background at the shuttle stops to make it easier to identify this particular service.

“It is with great enthusiasm that I join my colleagues for the launch of a new ‘navette Or’ route. This service, which forms part of the service improvement program carried out with the financial support of the ministère des Transports and the Ville de Montréal, was conceived expressly to respond to the specific transportation needs of seniors in the borough of Rivière-des-Prairies – Pointe-aux-Trembles and encourages their participation in community life,” stated Mr. Tremblay.

Mr. Maciocia, mayor of the borough of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, added, “When the STM told us that they were introducing the 'navette Or' in Montréal-Nord, which would serve some of our seniors’ residences, I immediately asked if there was the possibility of establishing a similar service in Rivière-des-Prairies and Pointe-aux-Trembles. I am very pleased with the implementation of this new ‘navette Or’ and to see that a solution has also been found to better serve the population of Pointe-aux-Trembles.”

In addition, as of spring 2010, the STM plans to extend routes 186 – Sherbrooke Est and 189 – Notre-Dame to the Radisson métro station and to Place Versailles to link sectors on either side of autoroute 25 (Mercier-Est, Montréal-Est and Pointe-aux-Trembles) and thus avoid a transfer for clients. These modifications to current routes will benefit the population of these three sectors, including seniors and students at Cégep Marie-Victorin, by eliminating the need for a transfer with line 1 of the métro.

“This ‘navette Or’ will benefit our seniors, managers of our seniors’ residences, who will now be able to complement the STM’s offer and provide various outings for their clientele, as well as businesses in the borough, who will see their business increase,” suggests Mr. Magri, city councillor for the district of Rivière-des-Prairies.

“This new shuttle service is excellent news for our senior citizens. The Montréal-Nord service offer was already very much appreciated, and the addition of the one in Rivière-des-Prairies will no doubt increase the opportunities for them to participate in physical, cultural and recreational activities, do their shopping independently and maintain social relationships,” affirmed Mr. Gibeau, city councillor for the Ovide-Clermont district.

To publicize the new route 257 – Navette Or Rivière-des-Prairies, flyers will be distributed in each of the seniors’ residences served by this shuttle. In addition, community organizations and the boroughs will promote the service. Finally, posters will be displayed in locations frequented by seniors and along the shuttle route. For more information, clients can call STM-INFO (786-4636). They can also call A-U-T-O-B-U-S (288-6287) to obtain the schedules at their bus stop. The STM’s Internet site at www.stm.info also provides access to the schedules as well as to plenty of other useful information.

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