Transportation In Montreal
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Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
is a transportation hub for
eastern Canada Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of the Hudson Bay/Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newfoundland and Labrador, ...
, with well-developed air, road, rail, and maritime links to the rest of
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, as well as the United States and Europe.


Air

Montreal has two international
airports An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
, one for passenger flights only, and the other for cargo. Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (also known as ''Dorval Airport'') in the City of
Dorval Dorval () is an on-island suburban city on the island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. In 2016, the Canadian Census indicated that the population increased by 4.2% to 18,980. Although the city has the largest surface area in Montré ...
serves all commercial passenger traffic and is the headquarters for
Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...
and
Air Transat Air Transat is a Canadian airline based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1986, it is the country's third-largest airline behind Air Canada and WestJet, operating scheduled and charter flights serving 60 destinations in 25 countries. Air Transa ...
. To the north of the city is Montréal-Mirabel International Airport in Mirabel, which was envisioned as Montreal's primary airport but which now serves cargo flights along with
MEDEVAC Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...
s and
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
as well as some passenger services. In 2016, Montreal-Trudeau was the third busiest airport in Canada by both passenger traffic and by aircraft movements, behind
Toronto Pearson Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surro ...
and
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
. In 2016, the airport handled 15.6 million passengers, and 225,203 aircraft movements. With 61% of its passengers being on non-domestic flights it has the largest percentage of international flights of any Canadian airport. Trudeau airport is served by 40 carriers to over 100 destinations worldwide. Airlines servicing Trudeau offer flights to
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
,
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
,
Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
, the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
,
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and other destinations within Canada. Trudeau Airport is home to the largest
duty-free shop A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who ...
in North America. Other
airports An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
in the Montreal area serve military and civilian use.
Plattsburgh International Airport Plattsburgh International Airport is a county public-use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) south of the central business district of the city of Plattsburgh, within the Town of Plattsburgh in Clinton County, New York, United ...
in the United States—closer to Montreal's southern suburbs than Trudeau—also serves the area. Public transportation to Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport is provided by the
Société de transport de Montréal The Société de transport de Montréal (STM; en, Montreal Transit Corporation) is a public transport agency that operates transit bus and rapid transit services in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Established in 1861 as the "Montreal City Passenger Ra ...
's bus line 747. A new electric light rail system, the
Réseau express métropolitain The Réseau express métropolitain (REM; en, Metropolitan Express Network) is a light metro rapid transit system under construction in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. When completed in 2025, the system will link several Montreal suburbs and ...
(REM), is currently in planning and will connect the airport with Montreal's downtown core upon completion, intended for 2020.


Surface Transportation


Rail


Intercity passenger service

VIA Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...
, which is headquartered in Montreal, provides rail service to other cities in Canada, particularly to
Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
, Ottawa, and Toronto with several trains daily on its
Quebec City-Windsor Corridor Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...
.
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
, the US national passenger rail system, also provides service to Montreal, operating its Adirondack daily between Montreal and New York City. All intercity trains operate out of
Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
. VIA and Amtrak trains also stop at several suburban stations, the largest of which is at
Dorval Dorval () is an on-island suburban city on the island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. In 2016, the Canadian Census indicated that the population increased by 4.2% to 18,980. Although the city has the largest surface area in Montré ...
, adjacent to the airport.


Regional passenger service

Regional passenger train service, geared largely to daily commuters to Montreal's
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
, is operated by
Exo Exo ( ko, 엑소; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean-Chinese boy band based in Seoul formed by SM Entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. The group consists of nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai ...
. Six train lines operate out of the Lucien-L'Allier and
Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
stations with Parc, Vendome, De La Concorde, and Sauvé as secondary stations. These facilities are all stops on the Metro system as well. Lines are operated under contract by Canadian National and Canadian Pacific. In some cases, Exo owns the track and infrastructure.


Freight service

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
(known as CP or the CPR), now headquartered in
Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...
, was founded here in 1881. Its corporate headquarters occupied
Windsor Station Windsor station or Windsor railway station may refer to: Australia * Windsor railway station, Brisbane * Windsor railway station, Sydney * Windsor railway station, Melbourne Canada * Windsor Station (Montreal) * Windsor station (Nova Scotia) * W ...
at 910 Peel Street until 1995. With the
Port of Montreal The Port of Montreal (french: Port de Montréal) ( ACI Canadian Port Code: 0395, UN/LOCODE: CA MTR) is a cruise and transshipment point located on the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, Québec, Canada. The port operates as an international contain ...
kept open year-round by icebreakers, lines to Eastern Canada became surplus, and now Montreal is the railway's eastern and intermodal freight terminus. CPR connects at Montreal with the Port of Montreal, the
Delaware & Hudson Railway The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP operates D&H ...
to New York, the Quebec-Gatineau Railway to Quebec City and
Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
, the
Central Maine and Quebec Railway The Central Maine & Québec Railway was a Class II freight railroad operating in the U.S. states of Maine and Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec with headquarters in Bangor, Maine. It was owned by Railroad Acquisition Holdings, LLC, ...
to Halifax, and CN Rail. The CPR's flagship passenger train, ''
The Canadian ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', once ran daily from Windsor Station to Vancouver. CP's passenger services were transferred to VIA Rail Canada in 1978. Montreal-based
Canadian National Railways The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...
(known as CN, or less-commonly, the CNR) was formed in 1919 by the Canadian government following a series of country-wide rail bankruptcies. CN was formed from the lines of the Grand Trunk, Midland and
Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Mani ...
s, and has risen to become CPR's chief rival in freight carriage in Canada. Like the CPR, CN transferred passenger services to VIA Rail Canada, now a
crown corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...
, but once part of CN itself.


Public Transit

Greater Montreal Greater Montreal (french: Grand Montréal) is the most populous metropolitan area in Quebec and the second most populous in Canada after Greater Toronto. In 2015, Statistics Canada identified Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) as with a ...
is served by a number of public transit providers.


Société de transport de Montréal

The STM serves the Island of Montreal as well as islands of Bizard, des Soeurs, Notre Dame, and Sainte-Helene. The bus network consists of 165 daytime and 20 night-time service routes. STM also provides
paratransit Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport ( UK) for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. ...
and limited wheelchair-accessible buses.


= Metro

= The Montreal Metro, a subway system, was inaugurated in 1966 and today has 68 stations spread out along its four lines. All but five stations are on the Island of Montreal and in STM's territory. Each station was designed by different architects with individual themes and features original artwork, and the trains themselves run on rubber tires, making the system quieter than most. The project was initiated by Montreal Mayor
Jean Drapeau Jean Drapeau, (18 February 1916 – 12 August 1999) was Mayor of Montreal from 1954 to 1957 and 1960 to 1986. Major accomplishments of the Drapeau Administration include the development of the Montreal Metro entirely underground mass transi ...
, who would later bring the Summer Olympic Games to Montreal in 1976. The Metro system has long had a station on the South Shore in the city of
Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...
, and has only recently been extended to the city of
Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...
, north of Montreal with 3 new stations. Since Sunday, February 7, 2016, the new Azur metro cars are accessible to the users, one of the many features of these new cars is that they can accommodate up to 8% more passengers than the current models who have been running since inauguration of the metro. The city of Montreal has announced plans to convert its entire fleet of buses over to
all-electric An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...
by 2025.


Société de transport de Laval

The city of Laval, on neighboring
Île Jésus Île Jésus (, ''Jesus Island'') is a river island in southwestern Quebec, separated from the mainland to the north by the Rivière des Mille Îles, and from the Island of Montreal to the south by the Rivière des Prairies. It is the second-larg ...
, is served by the Société de transport de Laval (STL). The STL runs 40 routes, many of which connect to one of the three Laval Metro stations or to the RTM train station at Sainte-Dorothée. Other bus routes connect to Metro stations on the Island of Montreal, including
Côte-Vertu Côte-Vertu may refer to: *Côte-Vertu Boulevard, in Saint-Laurent and Dorval (Montreal) *Côte-Vertu station, a Montreal Metro station in the borough of Saint-Laurent *Terminus Côte-Vertu, an Exo bus terminus partly north and partly south of the ...
and Henri-Bourassa.


Réseau de transport de Longueuil

Service to the densest part of Montreal's South Shore is provided by the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL). RTL's numerous routes serve the
Terminus Centre-Ville Terminus Centre-Ville is a bus terminus located within 1000 de La Gauchetière in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is multimodal with the Bonaventure Metro station and Lucien-L'Allier Metro station on the Orange Line, and the Central Station in ...
, the Longueuil Metro station, and several Exo train stations.


Exo

Exo provides commuter bus (as well as commuter rail) services to suburbs not served by the RTL or STL, via direct/express or feeder routes. In 2017, the Exo network carried more than 190,000 commuters daily.


Ferry services, summertime only

From late spring to early autumn, pedestrian/cyclist ferry service links the
Old Port of Montreal The Old Port of Montreal (french: Vieux-Port de Montréal, italic=no) is the historic port of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located adjacent to Old Montreal, it stretches for over along the Saint Lawrence River. It was used as early as 1611, when Fre ...
,
Saint Helen's Island Saint Helen's Island (french: Île Sainte-Hélène) is an island in the Saint Lawrence River, in the territory of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It forms part of the Hochelaga Archipelago. It is situated immediately offshore from Old Mont ...
, and the South Shore communities at
Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...
, a distance of . Mid-July 2016, a proposal was suggested by a competing riverboat operator at establishing summertime weekday rush-hour pedestrian ferry service between the downstream, northeastern, outermost borough of Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles and the Old Port, an approximate distance of . The city permanently adopted summertime sailings as of May 2019, and expanded service to seven days and six evenings per week. Having customarily trialed at 30 knots (approximately 34½ miles or 55½ kilometres per hour), implementation of the service has consequently seen its speediness reduced by at least one quarter; nonetheless, with its service even doubled during weekday peak hours it provides the valley with its swiftest sailings, and it even outpaces road traffic between its two docks. Other scheduled Island of Montreal services: * Lachine - Île Saint-Bernard (
Châteauguay Châteauguay ( , , ) is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, located both on the Chateauguay River and Lac St-Louis, which is a section of the St. Lawrence River. The population of the city of Châteauguay at the 2021 Cens ...
) * Mercier (
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
) -
Île Charron Charron Island (french: Île Charron) is an island in the Saint Lawrence River, the westernmost of the Îles de Boucherville archipelago, near Îles-de-Boucherville National Park to the northeast of Montreal. It is part of the city of Longueuil ...
(
Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...
) *
Pointe-aux-Trembles Pointe-aux-Trembles was a municipality, founded in 1674, that was annexed by Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1982. This was the last city to be merged into Montreal until the 2002 municipal reorganization. On January 1, 2002 this neighbourhood at ...
>
Varennes Varennes-en-Argonne (, literally ''Varennes in Argonne'') or simply Varennes (German: Wöringen) is a commune in the Meuse department in the Grand Est region in Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 639. Geography Varennes-en-Ar ...
(south shore) > Repentigny (north shore) >
Pointe-aux-Trembles Pointe-aux-Trembles was a municipality, founded in 1674, that was annexed by Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1982. This was the last city to be merged into Montreal until the 2002 municipal reorganization. On January 1, 2002 this neighbourhood at ...
—a one-way circuitous trio of journeys that total 1½ hours' sailing time (roughly ½ hour each one). Further nearby scheduled St Lawrence River services include: *
Boucherville Boucherville is a city in the Montérégie region in Quebec, Canada. It is a suburb of Montreal on the South Shore (Montreal), South shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Boucherville is part of both the urban agglomeration of Longueuil and Greate ...
- Île Grosbois * Île à Pinard -
Île Sainte-Marguerite The Île Sainte-Marguerite () is the largest of the Lérins Islands, about half a mile off shore from the French Riviera town of Cannes. The island is approximately in length (east to west) and across. The island is most famous for its fort ...
—entirely within Quebec's Boucherville Islands Park *
Lavaltrie Lavaltrie is a city located within the D'Autray Regional County Municipality in the southern part of the region of Lanaudière, Quebec, Canada, northeast of Montreal outside the suburban sprawl of the North Shore (i.e., the suburbs located north ...
- Contrecœur * Les Coteaux -
Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Salaberry-de-Valleyfield is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Regional County Municipality of Beauharnois-Salaberry. The population as of 2019 was 42,410. Situated on Grande-Île, an island in the Saint Lawrence River, it is bordere ...
*
Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...
-
Île Charron Charron Island (french: Île Charron) is an island in the Saint Lawrence River, the westernmost of the Îles de Boucherville archipelago, near Îles-de-Boucherville National Park to the northeast of Montreal. It is part of the city of Longueuil ...
* Notre-Dame-de-L'Île-Perrot - Beauharnois * Notre-Dame-de-L'Île-Perrot - Pointe-des-Cascades


Réseau express métropolitain

On 22 April 2016 the forthcoming automated
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
system, the
Réseau express métropolitain The Réseau express métropolitain (REM; en, Metropolitan Express Network) is a light metro rapid transit system under construction in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. When completed in 2025, the system will link several Montreal suburbs and ...
, was unveiled. Groundbreaking occurred 12 April 2018, and construction of the network – consisting of three branches, 26 stations, and the conversion of the region's busiest commuter railway – commenced the following month. To be opened in three phases as of 2021, the REM will be completed by mid-2023, becoming the fourth largest automated rapid transit network after the
Dubai Metro The Dubai Metro is a rapid transit rail network in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is currently operated by the French company Keolis. The Red Line and Green Line are operational, with a major 15 km (9.3 mi) extension to the Red L ...
, the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit, and the
Vancouver SkyTrain SkyTrain is the medium-capacity rapid transit system in the Metro Vancouver Regional District, serving Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. SkyTrain has of track and uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks running on underground ...
. Most of it will be financed by pension fund manager
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ; ) is an institutional investor that manages several public and parapublic pension plans and insurance programs in Quebec. CDPQ was founded in 1965 by an act of the National Assembly, under the go ...
.


Montreal Public Transportation Statistics

The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Montreal, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 87 min. 29.% of public transit riders, ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 14 min, while 17% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 7.7 km, while 17% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.


Road Network

Like many major cities, Montreal has a problem with
vehicular A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...
traffic congestion, especially from off-island
suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
such as
Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...
on
Île Jésus Île Jésus (, ''Jesus Island'') is a river island in southwestern Quebec, separated from the mainland to the north by the Rivière des Mille Îles, and from the Island of Montreal to the south by the Rivière des Prairies. It is the second-larg ...
, and
Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...
on the south shore. The width of the
Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
has made the construction of fixed links to the south shore expensive and difficult. There are only four road
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
s along with one road
tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
, two
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
bridges, and a
Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
line. The far narrower
Rivière des Prairies The Rivière des Prairies (; ), called the Back River in English, is a delta channel of the Ottawa River in southwestern Quebec, Canada. The Kanien'kehá:ka called it ''Skowanoti'', meaning "River behind the island". The river separates the citi ...
, separating Montreal from Laval, is spanned by eight road bridges (six to
Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...
and two directly to the north shore). On the
Island of Montréal The Island of Montreal (french: Île de Montréal) is a large island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, that is the site of a number of municipalities including most of the city of Montreal and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main ...
motorists are forbidden from turning right while facing a red traffic signal, a move permitted elsewhere in the
Province of Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...
.


Limited-access highways (Autoroutes)

The island of Montreal is a hub for the Québec Autoroute system, and is served by Québec Autoroutes
A-10 The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republi ...
(known as the Bonaventure Expressway on the island of Montreal),
A-15 A15 or A-15 may refer to: * A15 phases, a crystallographic structure type of certain intermetallic compounds * A15 road, in several countries * Antonov A-15, a Soviet glider * British NVC community A15 (Elodea canadensis community), a British Isle ...
(aka the Decarie Expressway south of the A-40 and the Laurentian Autoroute to the north of it), A-13 (aka Autoroute Chomedey),
A-20 A20, A 20, A.20 or A-20 may refer to: Vehicles * A-20 Havoc, a U.S.-designed attack aircraft used in World War II * A20 heavy tank, a British tank which did not enter production but of which a downsized version became the A22 Churchill tank * A-20 ...
, A-25, A-40 (part of the
Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
system, and known as "The Metropolitan" or simply "The Met" in its elevated mid-town section), A-520, and R-136 (aka the Ville-Marie Autoroute). Many of these Autoroutes are frequently congested at
rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...
. However, in recent years, the government has acknowledged this problem and is working on long-term solutions to alleviate the congestion. One such example is the extension of
Quebec Autoroute 30 Autoroute 30 (A-30), or the Autoroute de l'Acier (In English, ''Steel Freeway'') is an Autoroute in Quebec, Canada. Construction of the A-30 dates back to the early days of autoroute construction in the 1960s. Originally called Highway 3, the A- ...
on Montreal's south shore, which will serve as a bypass. Today's existing highways have been planned in the 1960s as part of a grid like transport system.


Street grid system

Since Montreal is on an
island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
, the directions used in the city plan do not precisely correspond with
compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...
directions, as they are oriented to the geography of the island. North and south are defined on an axis roughly
perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...
to the St. Lawrence River and the Rivière des Prairies: North is towards the Rivière des Prairies, and south is towards the St. Lawrence. East (
downstream Downstream may refer to: * Downstream (bioprocess) * Downstream (manufacturing) * Downstream (networking) * Downstream (software development) * Downstream (petroleum industry) * Upstream and downstream (DNA), determining relative positions on DNA * ...
) and west (
upstream Upstream may refer to: * Upstream (bioprocess) * ''Upstream'' (film), a 1927 film by John Ford * Upstream (networking) * ''Upstream'' (newspaper), a newspaper covering the oil and gas industry * Upstream (petroleum industry) * Upstream (software ...
) directions are defined as roughly
parallel Parallel is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Computing * Parallel algorithm * Parallel computing * Parallel metaheuristic * Parallel (software), a UNIX utility for running programs in parallel * Parallel Sysplex, a cluster of IBM ...
to the St. Lawrence River and the Rivière des Prairies, despite the fact that both rivers flow from the southwest to the northeast.
Saint Lawrence Boulevard Saint Laurent Boulevard, also known as Saint Lawrence Boulevard (officially in french: boulevard Saint-Laurent), is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A commercial artery and cultural heritage site, the street runs north–south through ...
, also known as "The Main," divides Montreal into east and west sectors. Streets that cut across Saint Laurent Boulevard undergo a name change, in that Est or
Ouest Ouest (French for west) may refer to: *Ouest (department), Haiti *Ouest Department (Ivory Coast), defunct administrative subdivision of Ivory Coast * Ouest Province, Cameroon * Ouest Province, Rwanda *Ouest-France, a French newspaper *West France ( ...
are appended to their names. Streets that do not cross the Main do not generally contain a
cardinal direction The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are at ...
at the end of their names. Address numbering begins at one at Saint Lawrence Boulevard. The numbers increase as you move away from the boulevard. On north–south streets, house numbers begin at the
Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
and the
Lachine Canal The Lachine Canal ( in French (language), French) is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres (9 miles) from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroug ...
and increase to the north. Odd numbers are on the east or north sides of the street, with even numbers on the west or south sides. Numbered streets generally run north and south, and the street numbers increase to the east. Moreover, the addresses are on a grid-axis system, as in many
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n cities. Streets generally retain their grid position throughout their course, even if they are slightly
diagonal In geometry, a diagonal is a line segment joining two vertices of a polygon or polyhedron, when those vertices are not on the same edge. Informally, any sloping line is called diagonal. The word ''diagonal'' derives from the ancient Greek δ ...
. For example: *
Sherbrooke Street Sherbrooke Street (officially in french: rue Sherbrooke) is a major east–west artery and at in length, is the second longest street on the Island of Montreal. The street begins in the town of Montreal West and ends on the extreme tip of t ...
, which runs "east-west" is 3400 (north of the Saint Lawrence), so a house on the north-east corner of Sherbrooke St. would theoretically be numbered 3401, and on the north-west 3400. *
Saint Hubert Street St. Hubert Street (officially in french: rue Saint-Hubert) is a north–south street that spans the island of Montreal. It is located east of Berri Street. It traverses the boroughs of Ville-Marie, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Rosemont–La Petite-Pat ...
, which runs "north-south" is 800 East, so a house on the north-east corner of St-Hubert St, would be 801 (or 801 East if the street crosses
Saint Lawrence Boulevard Saint Laurent Boulevard, also known as Saint Lawrence Boulevard (officially in french: boulevard Saint-Laurent), is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A commercial artery and cultural heritage site, the street runs north–south through ...
), and a house on the south-east corner would be 800 East. * Peel Street, which runs "north-south" is 1100 West, so a house on the north-west corner of Peel St, would be 1101 (or 1101 West if the street crosses
Saint Lawrence Boulevard Saint Laurent Boulevard, also known as Saint Lawrence Boulevard (officially in french: boulevard Saint-Laurent), is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A commercial artery and cultural heritage site, the street runs north–south through ...
), and a house on the south-west corner would be 1100 West. An anomaly is that zero is the
Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
''and'' the
Lachine Canal The Lachine Canal ( in French (language), French) is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres (9 miles) from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroug ...
, so address numbers south of the canal begin at zero at the river, then increase toward the canal, and the canal resets the address grid back to zero. Charlevoix Street crosses the canal, and Atwater Avenue formerly also did (the portion to the south has now been renamed Thomas Keefer Street); as a result, addresses south of the canal on these two streets have a leading 0 (zero) before the number to avoid repeating the same addresses that are used to the north. Therefore, 01000 Charlevoix Street is south of the canal, one block over from 1000 Hibernia; and 400 Charlevoix is north of it, one block over from 400 Lévis. Other grid axes: * ''North-south streets, east side'': St-Denis 400, Atateken/Christophe-Colomb 1100, Papineau 1800, De Lorimier 2100, Pie-IX Blvd 4100, Honoré-Beaugrand 8000, St-Jean-Baptiste Blvd 12000, Rousselière 14000. * ''North-south streets, west side'': St-Urbain 100, Park Avenue 300, Peel 1100, Atwater 3000, Décarie 5300, Cavendish 6500, Dollard 8800, Des Sources 11800, St-Charles 17000. * ''East-west streets:'' Notre-Dame 500, René-Lévesque Blvd 1150, Sainte-Catherine 1400, De Maisonneuve 2000, Sherbrooke 3400, Mont-Royal Avenue 4500, St-Joseph Blvd 5000, Beaubien 6500, Jean-Talon 7200, Jarry 8100, Henri-Bourassa 10700, De Salaberry 12000. Gouin Blvd, which follows the shore of Rivière des Prairies, is too
crook Crook is another name for criminal. Crook or Crooks may also refer to: Places * Crook, County Durham, England, a town * Crook, Cumbria, England, village and civil parish * Crook Hill, Derbyshire, England * Crook, Colorado, United States, a ...
ed to have a constant grid
reference Reference is a relationship between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. It is called a ''name'' ...
. The grid-axis system was introduced by the City of Montreal in the mid-1920s, but was not generally adopted by
neighboring A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural ar ...
town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
s. Most on-island suburbs or
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...
s merged recently on the west side of the island still have separate numbering systems, though most streets that start in the 9 original boroughs continue the Montreal numbering beyond its old borders. The highest address in Montreal is 23000 Gouin Boulevard West in the borough of Pierrefonds, beyond which begins the separate system of
Senneville Senneville () is an affluent on-island suburban village on the western tip of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the wealthiest town in the West Island. Situated close to the city of Montreal, it was historically a popular location f ...
.


Street naming

Most streets in Montreal do not change name throughout their course, respecting their grid axis. Streets such as
Saint Laurent Boulevard Saint Laurent Boulevard, also known as Saint Lawrence Boulevard (officially in french: boulevard Saint-Laurent), is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A commercial artery and cultural heritage site, the street runs north–south through ...
, Papineau Ave., De Lorimier Ave. and Pie-IX Blvd. have a foot in both rivers, and some streets re-commence despite gaps or interruptions. There are a few notable exceptions which continue for historical reasons. A few north–south streets which begin in
Old Montreal Old Montreal (French: ''Vieux-Montréal'') is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on th ...
change name at
Saint Antoine Street Saint Antoine Street (officially in french: Rue Saint-Antoine), formerly known as Craig Street, is a street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It runs to the south of Downtown Montreal and north of Old Montreal and Griffintown and Saint-Henri. ...
(formerly Craig Street), site of the former city wall (Saint-Pierre → Bleury →
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...
, Bonsecours → Saint-Denis). Only one street changes name many times: McGill StreetSquare-Victoria Street → Beaver Hall Hill → Frère-André Place → Phillips Place → Phillips Square → Aylmer St. According to the rules of th
Commission de toponymie du Québec
the
French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...
form of street names is the only official one, and is to be used in all languages: e.g. '' chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges''; '' rue Sainte-Catherine''; ''côte du Beaver Hall''. Most English speakers, however, use English generic equivalents such as "street" or "road", as do English-language media such as the
Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
. Officially
bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
boroughs have the right to use such names in official contexts, such as on street signs. In the past, a number of streets had both English and French names, such as "avenue du Parc" or "
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...
", "rue de la Montagne" or "
Mountain Street Rue de la Montagne, also known as Mountain Street, is a north–south street located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It starts at Wellington Street in the south and continues to above Doctor Penfield Avenue in the north, where it stops in a ...
", "rue Saint-Jacques" or " Saint James Street". Some of these names are still in common
colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conver ...
use in English, and perpetuated by the tourism industry. Many streets incorporate an English specific name into French, such as " chemin Queen Mary", " rue University", " avenue McGill College". There are also a few cases where two names are official, such as "chemin du Bord-du-Lac/Lakeshore Road". In English, the pre-Francization names are still commonly used, thus, although only the French is 'official', in English one often hears names such as Park Avenue,
Mountain Street Rue de la Montagne, also known as Mountain Street, is a north–south street located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It starts at Wellington Street in the south and continues to above Doctor Penfield Avenue in the north, where it stops in a ...
, Saint Lawrence Boulevard,
Pine Avenue Pine Avenue (french: avenue des Pins) is an east–west street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This street serves as the dividing line between the downtown Ville-Marie borough and borough of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, and also serves as the northern ...
, Saint John's Boulevard etc. Canada Post accepts the French specific with English generic, as in "de la Montagne Street" or "du Parc Avenue", although many such forms are never used in speaking. Another anomaly that typifies this kind of mixed
heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...
and history is
René Lévesque Boulevard René Lévesque Boulevard (french: Boulevard René-Lévesque), previously named Dorchester Boulevard () is one of the main streets in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is a main east–west thoroughfare passing through the downtown core in the borou ...
. Once called "Dorchester Boulevard" in its entirety, this long east–west street was renamed for Quebec former
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
Prime Minister
René Lévesque René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...
, except for sections that run through the very
Anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...
city of Westmount and the separate independent city of
Montreal East Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...
. However, the entire street is still sometimes referred to as "Dorchester." It is useful to note that, in Montreal as in other cities, the generic is usually omitted in either language, so one would simply talk of Park (or Du Parc), Mountain (or De la Montagne), Saint Lawrence (or Saint Laurent), University, McGill College, Doctor Penfield, or Fairmount. This is mainly because a specific is almost never given to two streets. If
duplication Duplication, duplicate, and duplicator may refer to: Biology and genetics * Gene duplication, a process which can result in free mutation * Chromosomal duplication, which can cause Bloom and Rett syndrome * Polyploidy, a phenomenon also known ...
exists, they are always in different boroughs or towns and are retained for historical reasons. For example, Montreal's present 19 boroughs have 6 streets named "Victoria" (2 streets, 2 avenues, one court, and one square), and 9 more in on- or off-island suburbs. In recent years Montreal and most of its suburbs have dispensed entirely with such generic and linguistically fraught terms on their street signage. In some heavily Anglophone suburbs, including Westmount and
Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...
, the street signs now list the specific alone, e.g., "Claremont" instead of "Avenue Claremont" or "Claremont Avenue".
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
is an unusual case: its signs are bilingual, and most streets in the town are designated as "rue" (street) in French but also "Road" in English.


Cycling and Cycling Infrastructure

The Copenhagenize Index ranked Montreal in the world's top 20 cycling-friendly cities from 2011 to 2019. In 2015, a study reported Montreal as the city with the highest rate of cyclists, the most separated cycling lanes, and fewest cycling crashes in Canada. The city is also known for its shared cycling services, such as the BIXI network, and cycling events including Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal.


History

Cycling in Montreal began in the mid-1800s, with the establishment of several riding schools and the first Canadian cycling club, Montreal Bicycle Club, in 1878. Following the invention of the safety bicycle around 1890, the worldwide bicycle craze swept Montreal, introducing more people to cycling and leading to the creation of more clubs and better cycling networks. In the 1970s, the second bike boom occurred in North America. Accordingly, the activist group Le Monde à Bicyclette demanded the establishment of bicycle lanes and a bike-friendly bridge across the Saint Lawrence River.Walker, P. (2015, June 17). People power: the secret to Montreal's success as a bike-friendly city. The Guardian . Online: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jun/17/people-power-montreal-north-america-cycle-city Accessed 9 May 2020. The city introduced its first bicycle lanes in 1985 and a bike-friendly bridge in 1990. Also in 1985, Vélo Québec launched the cycle parade Tour de L'île. The parade has since attracted thousands of cyclists annually and is slated to continue as of 2020. In 2013, an average of 116,000 bicycle trips were made each day on the Island of Montreal, an increase of 57% from 2008. Montreal's cycling network had more than doubled in size over the past 25 years, increasing in density and accessibility to people from different backgrounds.


Montreal’s Bikeway Network

Montreal was the first Canadian city to install on-street
cycling infrastructure Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except whe ...
. In 2017, Montreal had 850 kilometers of bikeway, with an average addition of 50 kilometers of new bikeway annually.Ville de Montréal. (2017). Montreal, City of cyclists - cycling master plan: safety, efficiency, audacity. 1-36. Online: https://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/page/transports_fr/media/documents/plan_cadre_velo_ang_final_lr.pdf Accessed 9 May 2020. Figure 1 shows the four main types of bikeways: exclusive bike paths, bike lanes, designated shared roadways, and on-street paths. Exclusive bike paths, accounting for 37% of the network, are isolated from traffic, often by concrete barriers. These lanes are installed primarily on wide avenues, and often consist of lower height traffic signs and special bike signals to protect cyclists from vehicular traffic. Bike lanes, accounting for the second-largest share of the total network, are integrated within the roadway but are separated from traffic by small barriers and are at least 1 meter apart from vehicle lanes to ensure rider safety.Société de l'assurance automobile du québec (SAAQ). (2020). Signs and signals and bicycle infrastructure. SAAQ. Online: https://saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/road-safety/modes-transportation/bicycle/signs-signals-bike ways/ Accessed 9 May 2020. Designated shared roadways, accounting for 24% of the total bikeway network, are often found on narrow streets. Designated shared roadways have no reserved bicycle lane, but priority is given to cyclists and speed is limited to less than 30 kilometers per hour to ensure rider safety. On-street paths (paved shoulders) are unique from separated bike lanes, as there is no buffer distance between vehicular traffic and riders.


Cross-River Cycling

The Jacques Cartier Bridge bike path connects the Island of Montreal with the South Shore of the Saint-Lawrence River. However, the winter closure of the bike path between November and March has caused inconvenience for commuting cyclists. Beginning in ate 2019, operators of the bridge announced a pilot project with 25 daily participants to test the feasibility of opening the path to the public throughout the winter.


Shared Bicycle Services in Montreal

Montreal has one of the most innovative
bicycle-sharing system A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost. The programmes themselves include bot ...
s in the world (Austen, 2015). In 2009, the city launched the BIXI network with 3,000 bicycles and 300 stations, one of the first docked cycling-sharing systems in North America. As of 2020, 610 BIXI stations have been installed across 17 boroughs and 3 cities (Westmount, the Town of Mount Royal, and Laval), with 7,270 regular bikes and 160 electric bikes. An additional 1,000 e-bicycles will be added to the network throughout summer 2020.BIXI Montréal. (2020b, April 14). BIXI Available for Essential Travel as of April 15, 6 a.m. Cision: Canada’s Newswire . Online: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/bixi-available-for-essential-travel-as-of-april-15-6-a-m--823353010.html Accessed 9 May 2020. The unlocking fee is $0.50 and $0.10 per minute, and yearly memberships cost $99 In total, over 44 million BIXI trips have been made in the city since the network's inception. In 2019, Uber launched a pilot project of its dockless “JUMP” electrical bicycles in Montreal, the first of its kind in Canada.Bruemmer, R. (2019, June 27). Uber’s bright red electric bikes roll onto Montreal’s streets. Montreal Gazette. Online: https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/ubers-jump-electric-bikes-hit-streets-of-montreal/ . Accessed 9 May 2020. JUMP bicycles can be dropped off anywhere there is a bicycle rack, are unlocked using Uber's smartphone application, and cost 30 cents per minute of usage.Pelletier, G. (2020, February 19). Les vélos de JUMP là pour rester. Le Journal de Montréal . Online: https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/02/19/les-velos-de-jump-la-pour-rester Accessed 9 May 2020. In 2019, there were approximately 1,000 JUMP bicycles in the city. Usage patterns of JUMP bicycles differed from BIXIs in 2019, with an estimated 28,000 trips in July 2019, compared to over 1.1 million BIXI trips in the same month. Despite the ban on other forms of shared e-scooters in summer 2020, JUMP bicycles are slated to return to Montreal's streets this year, but the city will charge a higher cost to Uber to obtain operating permits.
Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
named the bike rental system #19 in Time's Top 50 Inventions of 2008. Bike rentals are also available at the
Old Port of Montreal The Old Port of Montreal (french: Vieux-Port de Montréal, italic=no) is the historic port of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located adjacent to Old Montreal, it stretches for over along the Saint Lawrence River. It was used as early as 1611, when Fre ...
, as well as
quadricycles A quadracycle is a four-wheeled human-powered land vehicle. It is also referred to as a quadricycle, quadcycle, pedal car or four-wheeled bicycle amongst other terms. Quadracycles have been in use since 1853 and have grown into several famil ...
,
inline skates Inline skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates typically have two to five wheels arranged in a single line. Some, especially those for recreation, ha ...
, children trailers, and
Segway The Segway is a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter invented by Dean Kamen and brought to market in 2001 as the Segway HT, subsequently as the Segway PT, and manufactured by Segway Inc. ''HT'' is an initialism for "human transp ...
s. The system was created to offer an attractive and easy-to-use option that complements existing public transportation networks for those seeking an urban alternative to traditional fuel-powered vehicles.


Réseau Express Vélo (REV)

On May 27, 2019, Mayor Valérie Plante announced the Réseau Express Vélo (REV). The initiative will bring 184 kilometers of new, protected bike routes to the streets of Montreal; see Figure 2 for the proposed network.Ville de Montréal Transports. (2019). Réseau Express Vélo (REV). Online: http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=8957,143276111&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL Accessed 8 May 2020. The plans boast elevated bikeways, priority traffic lights, and concrete borders separating cyclists from automobiles for improved safety.Dauphinais-Pelletier, C. (2019, May 27). Réseau Express Vélo: cinq "autoroutes" cyclables d'ici 2021. Le Journal de Montréal . Online: https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2019/05/27/le-reseau-express-velo-en-chantier Accessed 8 May 2020. This network will ensure that 44% of Montrealers live within 500 metres of new bicycle infrastructure (Jadah, 2019). The transitional period will feature the “installation of a physical separation barrier, securing of intersections and synchronization of lights, visual signature and signage for cyclists” while long-term permanent construction continues simultaneously. No timeline for the project's final completion has been announced.


= Community Response to REV

= Local activists have questioned Mayor Plante's commitment to prioritizing cycling infrastructure, asserting that “there is no sense of urgency”, per Daniel Lambert of the Montreal Bike Coalition.Lalonde, M. (2019b, May 30). Project Montréal says quality makes up for slower bike path construction. Montreal Gazette. Online: https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/projet-montreal-insists-it-is-building-a-better-bike-network/ Accessed 10 May 2020. Community groups say that the $15 million allocated for funding in 2019 is “nowhere near what the city should be investing to respond to the climate crisis and meet its own goals to get significant numbers of Montrealers out of their cars and onto bicycles”. Further, intense criticisms of the 26 kilometers of new bikeways in 2019-2020 have arisen in comparison to the average of 46 kilometers of bikeways per year implemented between 2008 and 2017. Marianne Giguère, the city's associate executive committee member responsible for active transit, has stated that this decision is evidence of a shifted focus towards “security and finding ways to separate bikes from traffic”. The city continues to work with activist groups to promote bike safety and improve infrastructure.


Walking and Walkability

Walkability Walkability is a term for planning concepts best understood by the mixed-use of amenities in high-density neighborhoods where people can access said amenities by foot. It is based on the idea that urban spaces should be more than just transport ...
is a measure of how pedestrian-friendly an area is. Numerous factors influence walkability such as street infrastructure, safety measures and mixed land use. Benefits include positive contributions to health and happiness, the environment, and socioeconomic factors.


Background

Active transportation, including walking, accounted for 15% of trips in Montreal in 2013, an increase of 9.1% from 2008. The largest increase was observed in neighbourhoods near the city centre. Based on ease of access to errands by foot, Montreal is ranked by Walk Score as the second-most walkable city in Canada, with inner-city neighbourhoods such as Plateau Mont-Royal, Outremont and Ville-Marie obtaining the highest marks. Montreal is also home to around 50 car-free streets and one of the world's largest indoor pedestrian networks, improving access by foot to the downtown area. Challenges A key challenge to walkability is safety, with 19 pedestrian fatalities reported in 2019. Policymakers have responded by investing in improved pedestrian signals (Jadah, 2019: online) and by modifying traffic speeds and rights-of-way. In the Plateau Mont-Royal, Mayor Luc Ferrandez has gone further and cooperated with other boroughs to unveil a comprehensive action plan to prevent accidents. Montreal's pedestrian population also includes 122,600 people with limited mobility who face unique challenges. For these individuals, pedestrian-oriented infrastructure such as sidewalk cafés can limit mobility by blocking sidewalk access. Another challenge to walkability is higher precipitation or wind speeds in the winter months, which has a strong negative effect on pedestrian count. Montreal almost implemented heated sidewalks on St. Catherine street to combat the winter weather, but eventually decided against it, due to costs. However, Montreal's underground city allows pedestrians to be protected from the weather while they walk from metro stops to some downtown buildings.


Increasing walkability

Walkability can be improved by ensuring: ●     Pedestrians are the main priority ●     Safe, attractive, and highly connected pedestrian circulation ● Denser neighbourhoods with mixed uses that support public activity ● Transit networks that are alongside highly walkable areas ● Complete streets that support multiple modes of transport ● Limited, higher-priced curbside parking and hidden parking lots Montreal's Plans that Promote Walkability Following are some of the plans implemented in Montreal that focus on increasing walkability: ● Plan de Transport (2008) - Reduced the dependence on automobiles and focus on active modes of transportation. ● Plan D’Action en Accessibilité Universelle de la Ville de Montréal (2015-2018) - Pushed for universal accessibility especially for people with functional limitations. ● Politique de Stationnement (2016) - Introduced a new parking pricing approach, create an environment that supports more sustainable mobility, and create a government body to manage parking. ● Plan D’Action Montréal Physiquement Active (2014-2025) - Push for compact urban areas, more pedestrian networks, and safer cycling routes to promote a more active lifestyle. ● Vision Zéro (2019-2021) - Reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on the road to zero.


Benefits


= Health

= Health benefits arise from nutritious food accessibility, high urban density, and physical activity. Moreover, walkability benefits seniors experiencing a decrease in mobility post retirement. * ''Food access:'' Montreal ranks as the second Canadian city for widespread food insecurities and has a high number of food deserts, with a relatively high proportion of the population unable to access fresh food within a 500m radius. Having affordable healthy food within a walkable distance improves its inhabitants’ health potential.  Indeed, the spatial unattainability of nutritious food is one of the leading causes of obesity in North America and "in 2007, the obesity rate of Montreal adults was 14.8%, compared with 11.8% in Toronto and 8.6% in Vancouver". * ''Cardiovascular health & Obesity:'' Urban environments such as parks and green spaces can passively or intentionally stimulate the cardiovascular system leading to reduced obesity and an overall healthier and longer life. Contrary to gyms, these spaces are accessible to the whole socioeconomic spectrum, making shorter distances to such settings essential for the population's health. Mount-Royal park's immense size and central geographic position permit accessibility to a significant number of inhabitants. However, smaller parks are not found equally throughout Montreal. The future burden of chronic disease from obesity lies in Canadians with average BMI, and thereby a walkable environment benefits the greater number. Densely built neighbourhoods reduce physical inactivity since motorized commuting is unnecessary. Montreal is an island-city, thereby has a low index of urban sprawl. Besides its center, it possesses many dense mixed land-use neighbourhoods such as the Plateau and the Mile-End, which favour daily cardiovascular activity. * ''Seniors:'' Walking is the main physical activity in the senior population of Montreal (individuals over the age of 65), decreasing the likelihood of physical and mental health issues. Walkability for seniors is influenced by physical mobility, individual abilities and spatial accessibility. Locations that exhibit greater walkability have more crosswalks, four-way intersections and limited dead-ends. Research shows that regions in Greater Montreal that have stronger walkability to grocery stores, have improved independent ageing for seniors, meaning their autonomy to carry out essential tasks safely is prioritized. Further research is needed to make regions more age-friendly, especially for seniors since walking is a key factor in improving the quality of life due to the health benefits of remaining physically active.


= Environment

= Montreal has 17 large parks, representing a combined area of 4900 acres. Green spaces like Jean Drapeau Park and Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard Nature Park promote walkability through the addition of pedestrian safe zones. In July 2016, there was an estimated 1.7 °C difference between “Car-Dependent” and “Walkers’ Paradise” neighbourhoods in Montreal, revealing that regions with increased walkability had lower urban air pollution and air temperatures due to less vehicle emissions. To further mitigate increasing temperatures, Saint Michel, Montreal has a plan by 2032 to plant new vegetation (i.e. trees) to promote walkability by cooling pedestrian walkways, benefiting the environment through carbon sequestration.


= Socioeconomic'':''

= In Montreal, walking behaviour between regions varies due to socioeconomic factors like education level, employment and income. Research shows that low-income individuals in Montreal live in regions with less walkability due to a lack of infrastructure including pedestrian lanes and proper street lighting. However, overall walkability increases access to local businesses, thus promoting social interactions. Increasing urban development in tourist destinations like Old Montreal will subsequently increase walkability and attract more tourists and locals, promoting economic growth.


Taxis


Cars

For people who need a car for a short term, Montreal has many services to offer among auto sharing or car rental.


Marine

The region of Montreal is centred upon the
Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (french: Île de Montréal) is a large island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, that is the site of a number of municipalities including most of the city of Montreal and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main ...
, part of an
archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
in the
Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
. As a result, marine transportation has been integral to the region's history. The
Port of Montreal The Port of Montreal (french: Port de Montréal) ( ACI Canadian Port Code: 0395, UN/LOCODE: CA MTR) is a cruise and transshipment point located on the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, Québec, Canada. The port operates as an international contain ...
is one of the largest
inland port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers publ ...
s in the world. Montreal also sits at the head of the
Saint Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...
, a waterway that allows ocean-going vessels to travel as far as
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
and beyond. The Seaway replaced the earlier
Lachine Canal The Lachine Canal ( in French (language), French) is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres (9 miles) from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroug ...
which was the first facility that allowed boats to bypass the
Lachine Rapids The Lachine Rapids (french: Rapides de Lachine) are a series of rapids on the Saint Lawrence River, between the Island of Montreal and the south shore. They are located near the former city of Lachine. The Lachine Rapids contain large standing ...
.


References


External links


MontrealRoads.com by Steve Anderson
(English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Transportation In Montreal