Dissatisfied with the return of the river shuttle

Adjustments can modify the river shuttle service that connects the east of the island with Old Montreal. Returning to the service frustrated customers, who could no longer reserve their space or use it during the morning rush hour.

The river shuttle connecting Point-Ox-Trembles and Old Port returned on July 5, but is unlikely to depart before 10 a.m. and the integration of the Opus Card will no longer allow you to reserve as much space as possible, customers who used it for work when the pilot project was first implemented in 2019 Denied.

Francine Ducharm, a resident of Point-Aux-Trembles, who can no longer count on this service to go to work in Old Montreal, denied that she and other customers would fall back on their solo car. “The shuttle is amazing,” she says. There was never a delay and it worked very efficiently. “

Car replacement?

The river shuttle takes you in twenty minutes from the tip of the island to the Old Port, which is travel time by car or public transport. The epidemic prevented two 47-seat boats from sailing in 2020 and early 2021.

Following the news of the return, the River Shuttle was said to be an alternative to the Solo car. However, the current service cannot be considered as such, said Sarah V. Snyder, director general of Trajektoir Quebec. Doan is discouraged, he suggests leaving early in the morning, otherwise it will “turn into a tourist service”.

Adjustments will be considered

“The schedule is based on feedback from 2019, which showed that ridership was low before 10am,” explained Matthew Roy, ARTM’s public affairs adviser. In addition, the vast majority of workers are still teleworking or have a distinctive schedule. “

However, according to our information, ARTM can again offer short-term reservations.

“We appreciate the fact that some have appreciated the opportunity to reserve their place on the shuttle,” Mr Roy said. We are going to evaluate with our supplier the possibility of re-offering this option (with the OPUS card) for a certain number of places on the shuttle. “