MONTREAL – As West Island commuters run to catch their buses at the Lionel Groulx metro station, they’re also running into a lot of confusion.
A new bus terminal has been built behind the metro station for a dozen bus lines – many of them heading to the West Island.
The terminal is on Greene Avenue at the St-Jacques Street intersection and it is a longer walk for some people who were used to catching buses on Atwater Street.
But the real problem is finding it.
Signs indicating to commuters where to catch their buses are not very well located and not only that, when people find them, they’re hard to decipher.
“I’m on my way to work right now and I’m like, ‘Where the hell am I supposed to go?'” one commuter told Global News.
The new terminal cost $3.3M to build.
The Societe de Transport de Montreal (STM) opened it in order to meet the anticipated growth in demand for public transit once construction on the new Turcot Interchange begins.
“This new terminal is safer for operations and clients,” said Marc Bélanger, the STM director of planning and development.
Tens of thousands of commuters will now catch their buses at this new depot and the drop off points are not changing.
The depot will also help bus drivers, as some complain of having to drive around the block several times to find spaces to park.
City planners hope that centralizing the bus terminal at the metro station will ease the bus congestion that often builds on St-Jacques Street and Atwater Avenue.
Several finishing touches remain to be done to the new terminal, including the addition of new glass panes to cut the wind chill factor during the winter and provide shelter for commuters from rain, snow and other inclement weather conditions.
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