Montreal bus rapid transit

Service is project to be restored by 2022, with two dedicated lanes in the middle of the street and 24-hour service.[1][2] The service will be transferred from the MUCTC, which operated the BRT line until its suspension in 2002, to the AMT. The rebuilt line was originally projected to cost $150 million CDN.[3] The new service will extend into Laval, and is projected to cost $300 million CDN, as of 2010.[4] The portion in Laval will extend 5 kilometres (3.1 mi), and include parking lots. As the portion in Laval will operate on a grade separated expressway (the former trace of Autoroute 25, since moved to a new right-of-way further east) and have dedicated on-ramps and off-ramps.[5] The system will extend from Autoroute 440 in Laval, all the way to Notre-Dame Street near the southern shore of Montreal Island against the Saint Lawrence River.[6]

As originally envisioned, the BRT route would extend from Henri Bourassa Boulevard to René Lévesque Boulevard.[7]

At the issue of an early planning study made by Genivar/CIMA+ for the AMT, the planned line is to have the following stops.

• Saint-Martin (Laval) (500 park-and-ride spots)
• de la Concorde (Laval)
• d'Amos
• Castille
• Fleury / Forest
• 56e Rue / Gare Montréal-Nord — intermodal station with Mascouche commuter rail line.
• 47e Rue
• 39e Rue
• Robert
• Jarry
• Jean-Talon — intermodal station with Metro Line 5 Blue
• Belanger
• Beaubien
• Rosemont
• Laurier
• Mont Royal
• Pie-IX — intermodal station with Metro Line 1 Green (Pie-IX Station)

There are plans to replace the BRT with a true LRT tramline on the street using the shared right-of-way. A Montreal Metro line was also once planned to run underneath Pie-IX Boulevard, but this never came to fruition. At one time, a tram line ran on Pie-IX, prior to the establishment of regular bus service along the thoroughfare.

There is a planned BRT line along Henri Bourassa Boulevard, running for 5 kilometres (3.1 mi), projected for operation in 2018. It would create two dedicated reserved lanes in the middle of the street, and operate 24 hours a day. The plan is projected to cost $25 million CDN as of 2010.[7]

Old BRT shelter on Boulevard Pie-IX at Bélanger.

The STCUM 505 R-BUS Pie-IX (Express Pie-IX), running along Boulevard Pie-IX (Pope Pius the Ninth), provided supplementary, limited-stop service to the 139 Pie-IX bus route during rush hours. It operated from 1989 to 2002, being the first reserved-lane bus service and first BRT service in Montreal. The system had 10 dedicated stations, and a regular stop and terminus at the Pie-IX metro station.[8]

Prior to 2002, this route used to run against traffic on the part-time dedicated bus lanes on the opposite side of the traffic median. It featured dedicated sheltered BRT stations, a high frequency of service, and priority traffic signals. The use of these bus lanes were suspended indefinitely after a passenger, unaware of the traffic contraflow, was struck by a bus.[1] In the interim, from the suspension of service, until its planned resumption, alternate service occurs on the reserved-lane rush-hour bus 505 Reserved Lane Pie-IX. There were plans to restart the service once safety cones and fences are installed along Pie-IX Boulevard.[8]

The stations were dismantled as of August 2010, to make way for the revised service system.[6]

• Pie-IX Metro
• Laurier
• Rosemont
• Beaubien
• Belanger
• Jean Talon
• Jarry
• Robert
• 47e rue
• Fleury
• Monselet