Montreal Trudeau Airport Access

[GTJ]

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) recently announced a change to the bus service to Aéroport international Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau de Montréal, the main passenger airport for Montreal. This change may affect cruise passengers who had planned to arrive or depart from this airport.

 

Coach service between the airport and downtown Montreal has been operated by La Québécoise using standard intercity motorcoaches, CAD 16.00 single, 26.00 return. The coaches operated to and from the Gare d’autocars de Montréal, the main bus terminal for Montreal from which connecting motorcoaches operate to Quebec, New York, Toronto, and elsewhere.

 

Starting March 29, 2010, the La Québécoise service will be discontinued and replaced by STM bus route 747. The new bus route will continue to serve both the airport and the Gare d’autocars de Montréal, as well as several intermediate stops in downtown Montreal (including one on boul. René-Lévesque in front of the Gare Centrale, Montreal's main railroad station). However, the service will not use standard intercity motorcoaches but will instead use low-floor transit bus vehicles (no underfloor luggage storage, but there will be luggage racks inside the bus), and so the ride likely will not be quite as smooth as it had been. On the other hand, the fare is being reduced to CAD 7.00, and that fare includes an all-day pass for all other STM local buses and subway trains. Passengers will require exact fare upon boarding, though tickets will be available at the airport and bus terminal.

 

For more information consult the press release, http://www.stm.info/English/info/comm-10/a-co100311.htm, or the timetable, http://www.stm.info/English/bus/Planibus/747.pdf.

[PennyAgain]

The exact fare is in Canadian money? Right? A bargain fee at that.

[GTJ]

The exact fare is in Canadian money? Right? A bargain fee at that.

 

Yes, CAD means "Canadian dollars."

 

A lower fare, but also a lower type of service. Some will like it, some will not. A friend of mine noted that even with the lower fare, it is still more than twice the regular no. 211 express bus from Montreal to Dorval, then the no. 204 local bus into the airport . . . only CAD 2.75.

[scottbee]

The exact fare is in Canadian money? Right? A bargain fee at that.

 

Yes, things in Canada are priced in Canadian Dollars, the only legal tender of Canada.

[Ephraim]

Yes, CAD means "Canadian dollars."

 

A lower fare, but also a lower type of service. Some will like it, some will not. A friend of mine noted that even with the lower fare, it is still more than twice the regular no. 211 express bus from Montreal to Dorval, then the no. 204 local bus into the airport . . . only CAD 2.75.

 

The 747 ticket includes an all-day pass for the full transit system, not just that bus.

 

The shuttle would transfer you (when available) to a smaller bus to take you to your hotel. The 747 doesn't offer this service.

 

The $2.75 option is still there, if you want it. But who with luggage would? It's a minimum of 55 minutes, not including traffic. It has a lot more stops. No place to store luggage. And just to get to the same metro station (Berri-UQAM) would involved two buses and a metro (or three buses).

 

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=YUL&daddr=505+boulevard+de+Maisonneuve+Est,+Montr%C3%A9al,+QC+H2L+4R6+(Station+Centrale+d%27Autobus+Montr%C3%A9al+Inc.)&hl=en&geocode=%3BCb4d3hVowYeYFUmBtgIdGYud-yHiFnTr5pj_Ww&mra=ls&dirflg=r&ttype=dep&date=10%2F03%2F20&time=08:31&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=&sll=45.517654,-73.559067&sspn=0.009923,0.013926&ie=UTF8&z=12&start=1

[GTJ]

The $2.75 option is still there, if you want it. But who with luggage would? It's a minimum of 55 minutes, not including traffic. It has a lot more stops. No place to store luggage. And just to get to the same metro station (Berri-UQAM) would involved two buses and a metro (or three buses).

 

My friend is a pilot who lives just off of ch. de la Côte-Ste-Catherine, so he commutes regularly to the airport with luggage, though not on a daily basis. Ordinarily he travels on the 129, then the Métro to Lionel-Groulx, the 211 (or sometimes the 221), and then the 204 . . . with his luggage. He acknowledges that it will be more convenient doing just the 129 then 747: only two vehicles instead of four. However, since he doesn't commute daily he had not been able to justify the outlay for a CAM pass. I don't know yet if he's figured out yet what makes the most sense, (1) continuing the four vehicle journey, (2) buying a CAM pass even without using it daily, or (3) accepting the 7,00$ fare on workdays (and in that case I wonder if he will get credit for the 2,75$ paid on the 129 and pay only the additional 4,25$ on the 747, or if he'll end up having to pay twice, a total of 9,75$?).