SRB Pie-IX | Fifteen stations from Monday, a 30% faster service promised

Bus Rapid Service (SRB) will finally be a reality. About fifteen stations in this corridor of 11 kilometers of reserved bus lanes will be in service as of Monday. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) estimates that it will be able to offer a trip 30% faster than before by bus.

Henri Ouellette-Vezina
The Press

At the beginning of October, the STM had announced with great fanfare that the SRB Pie-IX will be “gradually” put into service as of November 7. This vast project has been under construction since 2019.

“Our objective is to maximize the commercial speed of the buses, with stations further apart than normal. And the reserved lanes, located in the center, are less impacted by vehicles making right turns on parallel streets,” said the senior director of the SRB Pie-IX project, Marc Dionne.

The latter assesses that a “time saving of around 30%” compared to before is possible for users, which will be faster than by car, we promise. This corresponds to a gain of about 10 to 15 minutes compared to the 40 minutes previously taken by a trip from the Henri-Bourassa metro station. Around fifty works of art are also installed on the 15 stations which will be ready on Monday.

At the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), spokesperson Simon Charbonneau recalled that the SRB will be “connected to the north to the Mascouche train line”. “We know that there are many users who disembark at Sauvé to connect with the orange line. Now there is a new option. This is good news for relieving congestion on the orange line,” he said, inviting users to check which of the new “metropolitan fares” will best suit their use.

The “All modes AB” single pass – for someone coming from Laval to Montreal, for example – costs $4.50, compared to $3.50 for someone living on the island. Several commuters from the North Shore and the South Shore are also demanding that the ARTM rebalance this fare difference.

To date, the extension to rue Notre-Dame Est – which has been put on hold – is still planned. Mr. Dionne affirms that the STM will be able to make announcements soon on this subject, but that faced with an unsatisfactory call for tenders, the organization is back in analysis to optimize costs. Initially set at around 300 million, the SRB Pie-IX budget has experienced several cost overruns in recent years. Including the addition of Notre-Dame, the bill for the project had risen to more than 650 million.

More steps to come

Not everything will be ready by Monday, however. In fact, the new rapid bus service will only operate on boulevard Saint-Martin in Laval, with a 750-space incentive parking lot, up to avenue Pierre-De Coubertin in Montreal. Conversely, the Jean-Talon sector, where the construction of the pedestrian tunnel linking the future blue line station is continuing, will not be operational immediately, as will that of the Pie-IX bridge, whose repairs will be completed in Fall 2023. The two Jean-Talon and Bélanger stations will therefore have to wait until then.

Moreover, the construction of a pedestrian tunnel, which is still in progress, will lead to the complete closure of the intersection of boulevard Pie-IX and rue Jean-Talon Est this fall.

Eventually, the SRB Pie-IX must serve the east of Laval by crossing four boroughs. Connections are planned with the metro green line, at the Pie-IX station, as well as with the Société de transport de Laval (STL) and the exo5—Mascouche commuter train line.

A “transitional offer”

However, the frequency of buses using the SRB will depend on the construction sites in progress, including those in the Jean-Talon sector, but also on the work under the responsibility of the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) at the Pie-IX and de la Concorde bridges. The City has also invested 130 million in recent years to restore the road infrastructure all along the Pie-IX axis.

A “transitional offer” will be in effect until then. The 439 Express Pie-IX line will become the main line, with a “greatly improved” frequency in the SRB corridor, and its shelters will be located in the center of the tracks. The frequency of buses will also be increased for this route in three sectors: Lacordaire/Henri-Bourassa, Carrefour Henri-Bourassa/Pie-IX and Laval. It is estimated that the buses will run regularly, once every four to ten minutes during the day on weekdays.

The timetable for line 139 Pie-IX will be “adjusted downwards”, as this line will become more useful for “local trips” or shorter journeys, with stops at the curb. As for the night line, 355 Pie-IX, its frequency will remain “unchanged”. About 20,000 users currently use lines 439 and 139.