Société de transport de Montréal

[ZümmyZüm]

4 hours ago, webfil said:

Haven't seen "beggar's seats" in a while on a STM bus, since they are not standard on new orders since the inception of 3rd generation LFS.

A mandatory boarding by the backdoor was in effect for some time in 2020. Since the reinstatement of the front door boarding, it is forbidden for a customer to stand or sit further up front than the center of the front wheel well. A beggar's seat on pre-2009 models would be condemned anyway, if not for the risk of injury but for COVID protection.

Also, I believe most if not all buses ordered by the STM since 2009 come with 75/25 doors to accomodate front-door accessibility ramps. When the ramp is not in use, there is little reason to operate the smaller flap of the door — so even if my memory plays tricks on me about the seating, the risk of injury on a customer seating beside the door is reduced.

@2044 is referring to the rear door seating, at some point a passenger must of had their arm hanging over or elbow and the door whacked them. Hence why they closed it off pending a probably modification to raise that barrier 

STM still does on their newer models however I feel it’s not as much of a concern since they’ve been like this since forever 

 

a fix DRT would likely look into is the ways of miway and Brampton Transit 

 

[webfil]

1 hour ago, ZümmyZüm said:

@2044 is referring to the rear door seating, at some point a passenger must of had their arm hanging over or elbow and the door whacked them. Hence why they closed it off pending a probably modification to raise that barrier

Now I see it. Sorry about the kerfuffle.

[Frozen Yogurt]

The plastic divider hasn't changed as far as I know. At least, up until the newest one I took (some 41-0xx on the 144MR a few months ago). Either there hasn't been any reported incidents, or it's judged not a concern by the stm. However if you allow me to veer off the topic here, our XE40s have grey dividers and plexiglass, à la MiWay & Brampton, as shown below.

In addition, I'd just like to mention that the big yellow board is finally starting to gradually come off all buses, the seat next to the front door on rear ramp buses and that behind the driver will be available to sit. About time to get rid of that nonsense, since now ridership is up, passengers often have to stand next to the driver anyway.

[Mark Walton]

On 4/30/2022 at 8:51 PM, Frozen Yogurt said:

The plastic divider hasn't changed as far as I know. At least, up until the newest one I took (some 41-0xx on the 144MR a few months ago). Either there hasn't been any reported incidents, or it's judged not a concern by the stm. However if you allow me to veer off the topic here, our XE40s have grey dividers and plexiglass, à la MiWay & Brampton, as shown below.

In addition, I'd just like to mention that the big yellow board is finally starting to gradually come off all buses, the seat next to the front door on rear ramp buses and that behind the driver will be available to sit. About time to get rid of that nonsense, since now ridership is up, passengers often have to stand next to the driver anyway.

Kingston has gone s step further, requesting passengers not to stand in the space between the front wheels - a real choke point on LF buses. Picture attached.

One of the reasons for that: a flat-topped cover over the RF wheel makes a handy package shelf. Some systems use a sloped or "witch's hat" surface that prevents people from putting stuff there, and discourages them from standing in that area.

 

 

[Orlando Rei]

good morning 
I am a fan of Montreal trams and I am looking for a photo of the w63 grinder, the real last montreal's tram: do you have any or do you know where to find it?

Salut a tout le monde
Je suis un fan des trams montréalais et je cherche une photo du meuleur du rail w63, le vrai dernier tram de montréal : en avez-vous ou savez-vous où le trouver ?

[West Island Transit Fan]

Here is the list of extras for the fall schedule taken from the GTFS.

New for the fall is the modification of the 28 and 85. 85 is extended north to Boul des Sciences near the 39 terminus. 

2022_Fall_Extras.xlsx

[webfil]

Pie-IX BRT: commissioning slated for November 7

https://www.stm.info/en/press/press-releases/2022/pie-ix-brt--commissioning-slated-for-november-7

EDIT : I looked into the schedules to understand the works of it. 439, which has about 20 departures/day (6-9 AM/3-6 PM only), will get about 10-17 departures/hour during peak, 6 departures/hour off-peak. To the south, service will be extended to Notre-Dame street (½ departures, 20 min frequency). To the north, there will be split frequency with short turns at Henri-Bourassa for half of the off-peak runs. Service to and from Laval will be maintained as is (20 min frequency).

[jge0364]

3 hours ago, webfil said:

Pie-IX BRT: commissioning slated for November 7

https://www.stm.info/en/press/press-releases/2022/pie-ix-brt--commissioning-slated-for-november-7

EDIT : I looked into the schedules to understand the works of it. 439, which has about 20 departures/day (6-9 AM/3-6 PM only), will get about 10-17 departures/hour during peak, 6 departures/hour off-peak. To the south, service will be extended to Notre-Dame street (½ departures, 20 min frequency). To the north, there will be split frequency with short turns at Henri-Bourassa for half of the off-peak runs. Service to and from Laval will be maintained as is (20 min frequency).

I’ve also noticed the 139 has about half of the departures to be non-accessible which may mean that it’ll return to 40ft operation after many years. 

[Frozen Yogurt]

The 139 stays outside the BRT, using 40 footers with (potentially) 2022 Hybrids (AC'ed, etc.). The 439 moves inside the BRT with all the pomp and uses... beaten-up 2011 artics without AC... lol.

In addition, note that the 439 ends at 6pm on weekends and holidays - I predict it'll be a great source of confusion to passengers. I can already see confused people waiting in the middle of the road for nothing. The service could have been simplified as well: there are too many branches. 4 variations going South (From Laval, from HB/Pie-IX ending at Pie-IX metro, from Albert-Hudon via HB, and from Albert-Hudon via Léger), and 3 variations going to North (but none to where the SB trip starts, so the buses deadhead to Albert-Hudon from Lacordaire anyway...). I hope they program the destination signs accordingly, it'll be a joke if they simply use the "X ligne courte" code. There's room for improvements.

Also funny thing to note, they photoshopped the pic for that press release by erasing the T-arrow logo on the side (as 29-801 to 30-851 are delivered saying Mouvement collectif >> | T> STM). They could have simply used a 30-852+ without needing to photoshop. That goes to show, again, how each detail matters to the STM when it comes to media relationships, but not so much for the actual service off-camera.

[webfil]

13 hours ago, Frozen Yogurt said:

I hope they program the destination signs accordingly, it'll be a joke if they simply use the "X ligne courte" code. There's room for improvements.

It is not a custom of the house to bear clear d-signs with their actual destination.

[Bus_Dealership]

They should've brought back the 505 brt line they took it off back in 2012

On 10/11/2022 at 11:42 PM, Frozen Yogurt said:

The 139 stays outside the BRT, using 40 footers with (potentially) 2022 Hybrids (AC'ed, etc.). The 439 moves inside the BRT with all the pomp and uses... beaten-up 2011 artics without AC... lol.

In addition, note that the 439 ends at 6pm on weekends and holidays - I predict it'll be a great source of confusion to passengers. I can already see confused people waiting in the middle of the road for nothing. The service could have been simplified as well: there are too many branches. 4 variations going South (From Laval, from HB/Pie-IX ending at Pie-IX metro, from Albert-Hudon via HB, and from Albert-Hudon via Léger), and 3 variations going to North (but none to where the SB trip starts, so the buses deadhead to Albert-Hudon from Lacordaire anyway...). I hope they program the destination signs accordingly, it'll be a joke if they simply use the "X ligne courte" code. There's room for improvements.

Also funny thing to note, they photoshopped the pic for that press release by erasing the T-arrow logo on the side (as 29-801 to 30-851 are delivered saying Mouvement collectif >> | T> STM). They could have simply used a 30-852+ without needing to photoshop. That goes to show, again, how each detail matters to the STM when it comes to media relationships, but not so much for the actual service off-camera.

If they cared so much about heir logo and media relationships, I wonder why they don't recolor their old buses with the new chevron livery? Would that be too much money?

[webfil]

8 hours ago, Bus_Dealership said:

They should've brought back the 505 brt line they took it off back in 2012

It's light rail they should have built.

Also, in case you were off to another planet over the 14 last year during which they overhauled the 505 R-Bus service and infrastructure, the Pie-IX BRT is the result of the overhaul of the 505 service and infrastructure.

[Bus_Dealership]

On 10/13/2022 at 6:42 PM, webfil said:

It's light rail they should have built.

Also, in case you were off to another planet over the 14 last year during which they overhauled the 505 R-Bus service and infrastructure, the Pie-IX BRT is the result of the overhaul of the 505 service and infrastructure.

Making it an express route would confuse people instead of making the brt route its own separate route

[Rogmor]

According to the STM PTI,no new buses until 2024

All Electric

2024    1bus(probably a Nova Electric for testing)

2025 46

2026 140

2027 263

There's a option for 303 aditional bus in 2026-2027 but have to be confirm 

[Rogmor]

Tonight at the STM bord meeting,they annonce that 60 buses will be put out of service in 2023

[West Island Transit Fan]

2023_Winter_Extras.xlsx

[RTL_45]

The STM will introduce route 811, effective January 16: https://www.stm.info/fr/infos/reseaux/bus/reseau-de-navettes/811-navette-services-sante?utm_campaign=carrousel&utm_source=detours811&utm_medium=carrousel

The trajectory is similar to RTL route 462, except that it starts at Radisson and has some extra stops. The service frequency is much higher with 20-30 minute headways and off-peak service until 2000.

The press release also specifically mentions transfers with RTL route 461, so perhaps the 462 will be discontinued once the 811 starts running.

On another note, the STM has not dropped the réseau 10 minutes max designation from the 139 even though it has 30 minute headways during the week and only peaks with 4 to 5 hourly departures in weekend rush hours. Very silly indeed.

[Chris_the_traveller]

1 hour ago, RTL_45 said:

The STM will introduce route 811, effective January 16: https://www.stm.info/fr/infos/reseaux/bus/reseau-de-navettes/811-navette-services-sante?utm_campaign=carrousel&utm_source=detours811&utm_medium=carrousel

The trajectory is similar to RTL route 462, except that it starts at Radisson and has some extra stops. The service frequency is much higher with 20-30 minute headways and off-peak service until 2000.

The press release also specifically mentions transfers with RTL route 461, so perhaps the 462 will be discontinued once the 811 starts running.

On another note, the STM has not dropped the réseau 10 minutes max designation from the 139 even though it has 30 minute headways during the week and only peaks with 4 to 5 hourly departures in weekend rush hours. Very silly indeed.

On the website only 8 lines are listed as 10 minutes max. Sad to see this program not doing so well. https://www.stm.info/fr/infos/reseaux/bus/reseau-local/10-minutes-max

[eclair14]

On 12/29/2022 at 1:13 PM, Chris_the_traveller said:

On the website only 8 lines are listed as 10 minutes max. Sad to see this program not doing so well. https://www.stm.info/fr/infos/reseaux/bus/reseau-local/10-minutes-max

Speaking of the 10 mintues max, this 12 years old thing will be soon thing of the past.

On January 9th, all mention of 10 minutes max network will start to be abandonned on customer information tools (stops, website)

[Frozen Yogurt]

On 12/29/2022 at 1:13 PM, Chris_the_traveller said:

On the website only 8 lines are listed as 10 minutes max. Sad to see this program not doing so well. https://www.stm.info/fr/infos/reseaux/bus/reseau-local/10-minutes-max

Note that routes listed above aren't 10 min max either. For example, the 103-O is mentioned between 2pm and 9pm, the schedule clearly contradicts this: (Taken westbound from Villa-Maria, list of fall 2022)

As mentioned above, the 10 min max program will officially end next Monday, however in reality, no route has satisfied the 10 min max requirements since at least 2021. 

The frequency is expected to drop further this year. As an example, the 121 East will be every 20 minutes after 8:30am; this compares to 10 min max frequency between 6am to 9pm in pre-COVID times. There seem to be massive service cuts after dark, which coincided with periods of curfew last year. I think there might be some correlation in there, since the stm is clueless about how to interpret their ridership data (essentially, the service level is planned in blindness during the whole pandemic, as "they did not have their system working until a week before the lockdown", whatever that means). The stm claims that they finally learned, 3 years into the pandemic, that "industrial lines did not experience the same level of ridership drop as downtown office expresses" (seriously...) and the priority this year would be to cut service on downtown expresses. Similarly, the metro will have "minor to unnoticeable frequency decrease of about a minute" (paraphrasing the DG), and rush hours will start later and end earlier.

At this rate, I don't think the ridership will ever recover. The 121-O is now every 9 minutes in AM peak (and the 171-O has an 11-min gap around 7am), so there's not a single chance I'll ever squeeze in a bus. Might as well stop paying for a service I can't count on using.

[RTL_45]

On 1/5/2023 at 11:19 AM, Frozen Yogurt said:

Similarly, the metro will have "minor to unnoticeable frequency decrease of about a minute" (paraphrasing the DG)

Green line evening frequency is now 8-9 minutes, compared to 6-7 minutes before today. Yellow line stays the same, at 6-7 minutes. Early afternoon frequencies for the green and orange lines seem to be unchanged as well. For now, anyway.

[Ed T.]

Perhaps I can receive some advice about STC service. I'm going to be a tourist in Montréal for the next few days. I'll pick up a weekend unlimited pass when I get in Saturday afternoon, and a three-day pass on Monday. That will cover me, including between the train station and accomodation.

As far as I can tell, the weekend unlimited pass lets me go to Longueil and Laval. The three day pass doesn't. Otherwise, for the island of Montréal, they appear identical. Is that correct? And the three-day pass will let me visit the Expo islands?

While this is not a transit fan trip, are there any interesting transit places or routes I should check out? I don't have a firm itinerary other than visiting some attractions, and walking around various parts of Montréal.

Also, if it's rainy as is forecast for Monday, I would ride some bus routes and look out the window at the scene. Other than the obvious downtown routes (where I probably will be walking anyway), are there some longer suburban routes anyone would recommend? I'm thinking of grabbing the 747 just for the heck of it, as it's included in both passes. Anything else?

I assume that the REM is still not running.....or is it? I'd ride it just to ride it, if it was!

[West Island Transit Fan]

5 hours ago, Ed T. said:

As far as I can tell, the weekend unlimited pass lets me go to Longueil and Laval. The three day pass doesn't. Otherwise, for the island of Montréal, they appear identical. Is that correct? And the three-day pass will let me visit the Expo islands?

Yes, the unlimited weekend covers zones ABCD, meaning not only does it let you go to Longueuil and Laval, but also further suburbs covered in zones "C" and "D". See here for the list of municipalities in each zone.

The three-day pass is only sold as a zone A pass so yes, it will only include bus, metro, and commuter rail transport on the island of Montreal. By Expo islands I assume you mean Île Ste-Hélène and Île Notre-Dame (where Parc Jean Drapeau, LaRonde, and Gilles-Villeneuve racetrack are located). In that case, it is also considered zone "A" so the 3-day pass is valid.

 

5 hours ago, Ed T. said:

While this is not a transit fan trip, are there any interesting transit places or routes I should check out? I don't have a firm itinerary other than visiting some attractions, and walking around various parts of Montréal.

Also, if it's rainy as is forecast for Monday, I would ride some bus routes and look out the window at the scene. Other than the obvious downtown routes (where I probably will be walking anyway), are there some longer suburban routes anyone would recommend? I'm thinking of grabbing the 747 just for the heck of it, as it's included in both passes. Anything else?

This will mainly depend on what you're interested in riding fleet wise, but given you're from the GTA area I can give some pointers to what's unique here. 

We have a large variety of coach buses running on various suburban exo routes (these serve zones "C" and "D"). The most varied coaches being on routes 404, 496, 498, and 499 from various points on the island of Montreal to Deux Montagnes and St-Eustache (zone "C"). You can get MCI E-series originating from California with extremely comfortable leather seats for example. These only run Monday - Friday with coaches, so your 3-day pass will not work here. On a northbound trip, make sure to sit on the right side as this can give a brief glimpse at the backyard of the Nova bus factory while you're on highway 640. Note that these routes will also disappear once the REM on this side opens, so another reason to ride them.

For nice routes that are included in zone A, I can recommend the STM 211 Bord-du-Lac. It runs along the river for much of the length and you can visit the Ste-Anne village a short walk from the western terminus, or visit the Pointe-Claire village (stop Bord-du-Lac / Ste-Anne). 

If you are interested in older LFS, they are mainly found in the eastern part of the island on Frontenac and Anjou garage routes. You can check Transsee to see what's out and what blocks they're on as our blocks have heavy interlining unlike the TTC.

 

5 hours ago, Ed T. said:

I assume that the REM is still not running.....or is it? I'd ride it just to ride it, if it was!

No it's not running and nobody knows when it'll open (they say spring but no date is given). 

 

J'espère que cela vous aide et je vous souhaite un très bon voyage! Feel free to DM me if you need anything.

[Frozen Yogurt]

By "STC service", let's just make sure we're talking about the ARTM agencies here. STC Pierre-De Saurel is something completely different lol. 

Quote

look out the window at the scene

Well, forget about that on the stm lol - here's what I took yesterday.

On a more serious note, it might help to use Transit Tracker to get a 2nd gen (26-000, 27-000 and 28-000) which have forward (as opposed to perimeter) seating arrangement and no wraps on the windows. You don't want to be stuck staring at some stranger, stuck in traffic and getting a red at every corner. I think you will be disappointed by how slow some of the bus lines move.

I think RTL and exo are something to try if you want to actually take something enjoyable. For the STM, I'd say the West Island and Lachine routes could still be worth it, 211/405 for example. Another place of interest is Ile des Soeurs, as the first phase of REM will pass through there, therefore the bus routes will change there first, plus it's a quite nice sector. It might be interesting to take the 12 and 168. Same for the RTL, when the REM will be up and running (assuming it will ever be, huh) most of the routes will no longer be allowed to go to downtown Montreal.

Of course, if you want to see me suffer, feel free to come and take the 121 or 171 lol.

===

On another note, the planned service level for September/November lists should be similar to that from the March list, possibly a little more. It's probably the first time since 2020 that we're not seeing cuts everywhere. FYI, globally, for the January list, we stand at 7000 less hours of bus service per week compared to pre-COVID time, or about 9.5% less.

[eclair14]

12 hours ago, Ed T. said:

Perhaps I can receive some advice about STC service. I'm going to be a tourist in Montréal for the next few days. I'll pick up a weekend unlimited pass when I get in Saturday afternoon, and a three-day pass on Monday. That will cover me, including between the train station and accomodation.

Just to be sure you are not talking about STC Pierre de Saurel bus service, because in this case the unlimited weekend pass is NOT valid on those service as they are outside ARTM control.