STM consultations on public transit in the West Island of Montreal underway – Montreal

The STM is reaching out to West Island municipalities to get their opinion on the best way to improve service.

The elected officials and residents of Senneville, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and Baie-D’Urfé are among the first guests.

Officials at Montreal’s largest public transit agency hope to learn how to better meet the needs of their customers but also prepare for the arrival of the REM, Montreal’s future all-electric light rail.

The train line to the west of the island is expected to be in service by the end of 2024.

“We have to rethink all our bus lines according to their connection to the REM,” STM president Éric Alan Caldwell told Global News on Thursday.

Caldwell says the consultation process involves redirecting some buses to act as arteries to future REM stations.

The Mayor of Senneville supports the initiative but she would also like an STM telephone application to be reinstalled to allow commuters to make reservations to take taxi-buses to major STM bus terminals or the train station.

“I will definitely push for this to come back to life,” Julie Brisebois, the mayor of Senneville, told Global News.

There is no regular bus service in Senneville and most residences are single-family homes spread over large lots.

Some residents doubt that improving transit service in this community makes much sense.

»What will they do? Are they going to run shuttles every 15 minutes, every half hour, every hour? I don’t think people have time to wait,’ Anders Lafon told Global News.

In Baie-D’Urfé, one of the major issues is to ensure that public transit service improves in the industrial park. Buses are sporadic and many employers tell the mayor that more services would help.

“They would really like to see improved service to get their employees in and out of the park,” Baie-D’Urfé Mayor Heidi Ektvedt told Global News.

The West Island has the highest automobile use on the island of Montreal according to the STM. The western part of Montreal is currently served by a flood of STM bus lines and the exo commuter train line. Many hope that the addition of the REM in a few years will provide a third option to try and convince more people to leave their cars at home.

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