On March 29, the STM will launch the 747 “Express Bus” which will shuttle travellers and airport employees between downtown Montreal and the airport. For anyone who has ever tried to take the bus to the airport, this is more than welcome news. Currently, one must take a ridiculously convoluted route to make the simple and more than common trip from Montreal to Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport in Dorval. It consists of taking the Metro to Lionel-Groulx, catching the almost-always crowded 211 bus to the Dorval train station then transferring to the 204, a bus that comes about once every half hour. It is not unusual for people to skip the transfer and trek across the highway to catch one of the parking lot shuttle buses instead. All this with however much luggage one’s trip requires. The bus ride from the airport to Montreal is even less fun with the 204 going in both directions stopping at the airport with only a confusing handwritten sign saying which bus goes which way. I always felt sorry for the 204 driver.
It seems as if a shuttle bus would be a given considering the fact that Montreal’s airport is the third busiest in Canada and that almost any other city on Earth has some sort of direct airport to central core shuttle service. No matter, we have our bus now, so how will it work? Fagstein, as per usual, breaks it down excellently but here are the basics:
Fares: A single fare will cost 7 dollars and will come with a day-long unlimited use pass. Such passes already exist for this price so this isn’t really a deal. Any other pass (CAM [reduced or regular], TRAM, 3 day tourist passes, and day-long passes) will be accepted like any other bus, with no additional cost.
Frequency: The bus will pass every 20 minutes during the weekday rush-hours; every 30 minutes between rush-hours, in the evening, and on weekends; and every hour between 1am and 5am.
Stops: There will be 9 westbound stops and 10 eastbound stops. The downtown terminus is at Station Centrale where it will either depart or terminate. The bus will run on boul René Lévesque, stopping at major intersections along the way. There is another stop at Lionel-Groulx Metro station then non-stop to and from the airport. This route allows boardings and departures near most of the major downtown hotels and attractions. A map of the bus’s route can be downloaded from these links: French, English.
The bus: The bus will be a regular STM NovaBus retrofitted with luggage racks and fewer seats. The exterior of the bus will feature a modified version of the STM’s “Movement Collectif” branding with a picture of an airplane and the route number.
It should also be noted that this new route will make the (more expensive) private Aérobus service redundant and it will cease to operate when the 747 begins service on the 29th. Taxi service won’t be affected but they’re not happy.
Every Saturday, we highlight recent posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region.
• Spacing Ottawa looks at the history and the potential future of the city’s Parkdale Avenue:“a fume-filled arterial road functioning as an on-ramp to the busiest stretch of expressway in Eastern Ontario”. Recent community consultations have resulted in comprehensive planning recommendations that, if adopted, would significantly alter the Parkdale Avenue of today.
• In the second post in Spacing Ottawa’s ongoing “CityVotes2010″ series, Ian Capstick looks at why Ottawa has become a “change-adverse” city and asks how everyday Ottawa residents can become a “catalyst for change”
• Growing customer dissatisfaction with the with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and the looming municipal election have led to earnest conversations on how the fledgling city agency can be overhauled. One idea on the table is to integrate the TTC into the larger regional transit organization Metrolinx. Spacing Toronto hosts a debate between contributors and transit experts, John Lorinc and Steve Munro, on the pros and cons of uploading the TTC.
• Toronto is one step closer to its first civic museum with the launch of a new website “The Toronto Museum Project”. Marcus Browmen takes us through what the online museum has to offer and why its helping to create a collective “civic consciousness”.
• Widely considered a blight on the urban landscape and a “quintessential example of bad development”, Halifax’s Fenwick Tower is getting an overhaul. Templeton Properties, the new owners of the 33-storey, 40-year-old unfinished tower are hoping to turn the infamous high-rise into a mixed-use space more hospitable to the public. Spacing’s Emma Feltes and Rachel Caroline Derrah take us through the specifics of the new plan.
• Danish architects Louise Kielgast and Kristian S. Villadsen recently gave a talk at Montreal’s Mcgill University. The designers (from the world-renowned Gehl Architects) spoke on “people-focused” urban design with particular attention to the challenges and opportunities of Northern cites. This week Spacing Montreal hosts the video of the talk which should prove interesting to all Spacing readers.
• Émile Thomas offers some small but transformative suggestions on how to improve and re-imagine Montreal’s St-Viateur street.
Is it possible to plan people-centric streets and friendly urban environments in Northern cities that face rough winters?
The answer is a resounding YES ― at least, according to the Danes. Like their Viking ancestors before them, Louise Kielgast and Kristian S. Villadsen, part of the world-renowned design firm Gehl Architects, came and conquered the hearts and minds of many urbanists and urbanites across Montréal.
For those of you who missed the opportunity to see these super-hot Scandinavians in person, due to illness, school work, or violin lessons, you are in luck. Here is the webcast of their public conference held on February 16th, 2010 at McGill University.
Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
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• Planning a bike trip using Google Maps is about to get much easier as the company is set to launch a new bike trip planner service in 150 US cities. According to the Chicago Tribune, the new service will provide cyclists with step-by-step biking directions that “factor in the length of the trip, changes in elevation and even fatigue”.
• Is Japan’s pictorial green “Running Man” sign more intuitive then North America’s lettered red “Exit” sign? In an ongoing series on signage, Slate Magazine weighs in on the international debate over the Exit Sign.
• The Guardian UK hosts a slide show of inventive ways artists and designers have re-imagined the bicycle.
• The Infrastructist Blog details the 10 most expensive transit project of the last decade, including San Juan’s 10.7-mile-$2.63 billion rapid transit Tren Urbano line.
• A photo essay on Foreign Policy looks at China’s unlikely “golf boom” and the social and environmental stresses the course construction frenzy is placing on the landscape.
picture of Emergency exit sign at the Frankfurt Airport by Markus Tacker
« Avec une voix forte dans la gorge, on est presque incapable de penser des choses subtiles. » - Friedrich Nietzsche
La transformation de la rue Bernard constitue une réussite en ce qui concerne les projets de réaménagements réalisés à Montréal. Le quartier est devenu un endroit plus accueillant aux citoyens. Il ne s’agissait pas d’un simple élargissement des trottoirs. Non : la Ville a apprécié les subtilités de cette rue pour encourager son intégration avec le domaine public. Le trottoir qui joue maintenant le rôle de place publique. La chaussée qui s’élève au même niveau des piétons aux carrefours. Les « parcelles de terre » devant les immeubles qui permettent aux commerçants de cultiver leur propre « jardin urbain ». L’éclairage qui est installé à deux échelles — humaine et véhiculaire.
On March 29, the STM will launch the 747 “Express Bus” which will shuttle travellers and airport employees between downtown Montreal and the airport. For anyone who has ever tried to take the bus to the airport, this is more than welcome news. Currently, one must take a ridiculously convoluted route to make the simple and more than common trip from Montreal to Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport in Dorval. It consists of taking the Metro to Lionel-Groulx, catching the almost-always crowded 211 bus to the Dorval train station then transferring to the 204, a bus that comes about once every half hour. It is not unusual for people to skip the transfer and trek across the highway to catch one of the parking lot shuttle buses instead. All this with however much luggage one’s trip requires. The bus ride from the airport to Montreal is even less fun with the 204 going in both directions stopping at the airport with only a confusing handwritten sign saying which bus goes which way. I always felt sorry for the 204 driver.
