The STM adds more bus service starting September 6

Press release

Montréal, September 5, 2011   As part of its Public transit service improvement program, the STM announces that it is adding more than 370 daily departures, Monday to Friday, throughout its network of 212 bus routes, starting September 6. These measures, including those already in place for the Turcot worksite, mostly impact the Express and Métrobus network, namely the 470 – Express Pierrefonds, 194 – Métrobus Rivière-des-Prairies and 410 – Express Notre-Dame, as well as regular bus routes, such as the 18 – Beaubien, 105 – Sherbrooke and 24 – Sherbrooke. On weekends, over 700 departures are added on Saturday, while some 480 extra departures are planned for Sunday, throughout the network. Compared to September 2010, the combined measures will see more than 3 000 additional bus departures per week and make it possible to transport up to 75 000 more people each week.

Measures related to the Turcot worksite
The STM reminds transit users that as of September 6, it will further enhance its bus service and gradually phase in additional reserved lanes to optimize service this fall. The following is a summary of measures announced by the MTQ to that end:

Additional weekday departures maintained on six bus lines running parallel to Highway 20:

173 – Métrobus Victoria (Gare Dorval / Lionel-Groulx métro station)
190 – Métrobus Lachine (32nd Avenue / Lionel-Groulx métro station)
211 – Bord-du-Lac (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue / Lionel-Groulx métro station)
221 – Métrobus Lionel-Groulx (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue / Lionel-Groulx métro station)
420 – Express N-D-G (Westminster / Peel)
506 – R-Bus Newman (Terminus Lafleur / Angrignon métro station).

Service on four bus lines synchronized with train arrivals at these stations:

  • Roxboro-Pierrefonds: 205 – Gouin and 206– Roger-Pilon
  • Sunnybrooke: 208– Brunswick • Dorval: 209 – Des Sources

Service on these bus lines is already synchronized with trains at these stations since last year:

  • Pointe-Claire: 203 – Carson • Pine Beach and Dorval: 204 – Cardinal
  •  Beaconsfield: 200 – Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, 217 – Anse-à-l’Orme and 261 – Trainbus Saint-Charles
  • Roxboro-Pierrefonds: 265 – Trainbus Île-Bizard and 268 – Trainbus Pierrefonds

Other measures planned for this fall
Bus reserved lanes will be created along Notre-Dame and Saint-Patrick this fall, extending from Gauron, at the Saint-Pierre Interchange, to Atwater, next to Lionel-Groulx métro station. Passengers travelling aboard the 173, 190, 191, 211, 221 and 747 bus routes are expected to enjoy faster, more efficient bus service as a result.

Moreover, the STM is setting aside parking space at the Dollard-des-Ormeaux Civic Centre for a park-and-ride lot, and will operate a new shuttle service to Côte-Vertu métro station, providing area residents with an alternative this fall.

The STM also reminds customers that the regular bus network still features the 10 minutes MAX services, offering maximum intervals of 10 minutes between buses on the 31 busiest bus routes, between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays. To help lessen traffic congestion around the Turcot Interchange and make commuting a little easier, transit users are encouraged to use these bus routes :

90 – Saint-Jacques ** (Lachine, Saint-Pierre / Atwater métro station)
105 – Sherbrooke * (Gare Montréal-Ouest / Vendôme métro station)
211 – Bord-du-Lac ** (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue / Lionel-Groulx métro station)
470 – Express Pierrefonds ** (Gouin at western tip of island / Côte-Vertu métro station)
106-506 – R-Bus Newman ** (Terminus Lafleur / Angrignon métro station)

* 10-minute intervals in both directions from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
** 10-minute intervals in one direction from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and in the opposite direction from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. This information is featured on bus stop panels.

Free public transit for a month with an annual subscription
The Ministère des Transports du Québec is offering a 12th month of free public transit to anyone who subscribes to the regular-fare Opus à l’année program. The offer is valid until October 14, 2011.

Details of measures taken by the STM to offset traffic created by the Turcot worksite are available at: http://www.stm.info/info/rentree2011.htm  

Villa-Maria station reopens
The STM also wishes to inform customers that Villa-Maria métro station will again be accessible at the usual opening time on September 6, according to the work schedule, after thirteen weeks. The renovations were required to ensure the soundness of installations and considerably increase the building’s service life.

Lastly, a few statistics to show that, thanks to investments by the Government of Québec and the Agglomeration of Montréal, Société de transport de Montréal (STM) efforts are producing results:

  • End of 2010, bus and métro service had increased by 21.6% since 2006 (bus, by 16.2%, and métro by 27.9%);
  • During the same period, public transit ridership increased by more than 7%, or an additional 25 million passenger rides. 

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