the commute
Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh my
Every weekday I walk from our apartment to the route 103 bus stop just down the road (or run, if I see the bus coming), ride the bus to the nearest Metro station (Villa Maria on the orange line), run down the stairs/escalators, catch the train and ride 4 stops to Namur, get off, run up the stairs/escalators, and catch another bus (the 115). Fun huh?
Montreal has a decent transit system. I was initially impressed by a number of things: the frequency of the metro, the speed of the metro trains, and the ability to travel from one end of downtown Montreal to the other in a very short time. It’s definitely better than Edmonton’s transit system by far and probably one of the best in North America. For $59 a month one gets full use of the metro and bus system within the core of Montreal. But it does have a lot of quirks and oddities.
One thing I have noticed, that is starting to bother me, is how overcrowded the busses get and how the passengers really push and shove each other around. I rarely have a chance to sit during rush hour and usually all the standing room is packed full. In some cases, the route 103 gets full after only 1/2 of its route to Villa Maria and doesn’t even stop for the other half of the stops! From what I have seen, I think they get every second or third bus to start the route halfway through so those passengers on the later stops can actually get on. Actually its quite surprising that some people who live about 10 minutes walk away from the metro station bother to wait for a bus at all … if I were them I would definitely walk. The same goes for when I take the 115 from Namur. There are a whole bunch of people who get off at the first stop and I wonder the same thing when they shove their way off the bus. People really don’t have any qualms about pushing people who are “in their way” around on the bus or the metro and its honestly a bit disturbing. And annoying. I don’t wear a large backpack but people never fail to brush against me and yank on my shoulder bag even if there is plenty of room for them to get past. On the other hand, people won’t move to the back of the bus even though the front 2/3 is packed full, which is just ridiculous.
The bus drivers drive fast. I mean really fast. They also step on the brakes very hard in order to stop at the bus stops. This makes (usually) for a fast but really jerky ride and I sometimes can’t keep my footing! Winter was particularly interesting, as I was expecting that we would not be able to stop on more than one occasion because of the snow or ice. The only time things slow down is when we’re stuck in traffic, which fortunately doesn’t happen too often. The bus drivers also get really close to the curb when they are slamming on the brakes to make a stop and the gutter isn’t exactly smooth.
The metro is amazingly rapid. I don’t know how fast the trains go, but I would guess higher than 90 km/hr. It only takes about 20 minutes to go from the east end of downtown Montreal to the west end by metro, including the time stopped at ~6 stations on the way. The metro is also incredibly hot, like above 25 degrees most of the time. I don’t know whether that is due to Montrealer’s fear of cold or the fact that too much heat is generated from the trains, people, and geothermal energy, but wow. I usually have to take off my coat/sweater by the time I get to the platform. Oddly enough I am usually the only one who does this. Most of the people I see keep their toques/mittens/scarves/jackets on even on the metro (more on this in a later blog).
Interesting things can happen. One day I got on the bus leaving work and inexplicably, there was a clear garbage bag full of dirty clothes in the back on the floor, which apparently didn’t belong to anyone. Another day a guy who was talking to himself stood right next to me and (accidentally) bumped me in the chest with his elbow and then stuck his arm where my head was so that he could hang on to the railing. Another time a girl with long hair kept unintentionally flicking it in my face as I was waiting behind her to get off the bus. Sadly, one day in late March or early April I think someone jumped in front of the train at my metro station during the afternoon rush hour. It took me an hour and a half to get home that day and I contemplated walking because the alternate bus I was waiting for never showed up.
Finding out news about whether the metro is running ok or not is nearly impossible. The official STCUM’s website (I don’t know exactly what that stands for but it is the authority that oversees the busses and metro) never announces any temporary closures or problems on their website. Once I heard a brief mention of the metro being down on the radio sandwiched between traffic reports but no follow-up. True, once in the metro there is a very muffled audio message in French only if the metro is down that I cam sometimes make out, but one actually has to go to the metro to find this out, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense if you need to use another method (taxi, bus, ride, walk, bike …).
One thing that really surprised me was that there is such limited night service. Sure, at least they have something that runs after midnight, but the metro is closed, all regular bus routes are stopped, and only a handful of busses run (every 45 minutes). The nearest route to our place would still involve a 20-30 minute walk, which is probably not a good idea at 1 or 2 AM, particularly in the winter.
Despite all these things, I consider myself fortunate to have a transit system that allows me to get to almost all of the places I need to go with relatively little hassle. But now I have to go, I have to catch the bus!
Karen