Montreal, August 22, 2003 ; Beginning Monday, August 25, 2003, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) will modify the 148 ;

Press release

Bus 148 – métrobus Maurice-Duplessis route modification
Improved service in
the Anjou and Rodolphe-Forget industrial parks

Montreal, August 22, 2003 – Beginning Monday, August 25, 2003, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) will modify the 148 – métrobus Maurice-Duplessis bus route to provide a direct link between Radisson métro station and both Anjou and Rodolphe-Forget industrial parks. The new route will replace the public taxi service offered in the sector since October 1999, which officially ends this Friday, August 22.

Employees working for companies located within the two industrial parks will benefit from shorter commutes by no longer having to transfer from the bus to the taxi. From Monday to Friday, six eastbound departures are scheduled in the morning from Radisson métro station, between 6:35 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.. In the afternoon, seven westbound departures will take place from the corner of 6th Street and 71st Avenue, between 3:08 and 6:08 p.m.

Inaugurated in March 2002, the 148 – métrobus Maurice-Duplessis bus route has been providing Rivières-des-Prairies residents with a fast way to reach Radisson métro station and downtown. The new service met with immediate success and is still popular today. Indeed, from the start, the bus line registered an average daily ridership of 1300 transit users, that has since topped 1400. The route modification will not compromise service for them, as the changes only affect the return portions in the opposite direction.

According to Claude Dauphin, president of the STM Board of Directors: "Demand for transportation was insufficient in 1999 to justify the creation of a new bus route. Still, implementing a public taxi service did fulfill a certain need which, over the years, has increased to a point where it has now become pertinent to provide bus service. The STM is proving that by offering made-to-measure services, it is possible to gain new public transportation customers."

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