More than a decade after it was first announced, the reserved bus lanes on Pie-IX Boulevard will finally open to the public on Monday.
The Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) is designed to give buses priority on the congested road and offer an express lane stretching 11 kilometres from Saint-Martin Boulevard East in Laval to Pierre-de-Coubertin Street at the Pie-IX metro station in Montreal.
The buses will make 17 stops and run along the middle two lanes of Pie-IX Boulevard.
The $472-million project is supposed to save commuters 12 minutes in driving time and, more importantly, take more cars off the road.
“We’re so excited. This one, we’ve been waiting for a while,” Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said.
Public transit use on the STM bus and metro system remains almost 30 per cent below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels and the number of cars being registered on the Island of Montreal continues to rise every year, according to the mayor.
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“The reality is that there are always more cars,” Plante said.
Trying to change that dynamic and convince people to leave their cars at home remains a major challenge for public transit advocates and elected officials.
“If it is as long for me, and maybe less comfortable for me, to take public transit instead of my car, alone in my car, I won’t take it,” Geneviève Guilbault, the transport minister, told Global News.
Plante is hoping more efficient public transit systems will help.
“Every time there is a new option we want people to jump in, to take it,” she said.
But already, the new BRT system will be facing some hurdles. Ongoing roadwork on part of Pie-IX Boulevard will force the buses to take a short detour.
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