Montreal City Weblog

Kate 13:55 on 2021-06-29 Permalink Reply  

• jeather 14:52 on 2021-06-29 Permalink

  KIds always have free transit when school is out, iirc.

• Tim S. 15:37 on 2021-06-29 Permalink

  I was going to make a comment discussing the part of England where my aunt lives, which has free public transit for the over-65s, who fill up the buses so much that it’s difficult for actual workers and students to get around (she advocates a reduced fare, say 1$). Then I realized that the state of Montreal public transit is such that no senior would ride it just for fun.

• JaneyB 17:54 on 2021-06-29 Permalink

  Oh, but @Time, what about that free stairmaster workout that comes with our transit system? What retiree could resist?

• Alex 09:23 on 2021-06-30 Permalink

  In England the free transport for over 60s is off peak only, so after 9.30am

• Mr.Chinaski 09:38 on 2021-06-30 Permalink

  I really wonder if the STM/AMT/REM is going to adjust their price with the half-work/half-home schedule of the future. Full month pass are to become completely useless if you go from 20 to under 15 days per month at the office.

  Perhaps they will introduce 2 or 3-day pass, or something like a 5-6 usage per week.

• dhomas 14:28 on 2021-06-30 Permalink

  @jeather Kids between 6 and 11 have to pay to use the bus if they’re alone. They pay the reduced fare even without an ID card, but they do pay.
  If they travel with an adult, they did not pay during select periods of the year: Christmas break, semaine de relâche, and summer break.
  As of July 1st, this will be in effect year-round. I think this is the difference they’re discussing in the article.
  Here’s a page that shows both how it was before and how it will be going forward:
  https://www.stm.info/fr/offres-speciales/sorties-en-famille

• jeather 17:15 on 2021-06-30 Permalink

  Ah, I didn’t realise it was kids with adults, because no one I know has kids old enough to be on public transit without an adult (I can’t imagine many kids in the single digits taking public transit alone).

• dhomas 17:43 on 2021-06-30 Permalink

  I took the city bus alone at 10-11 since my family had moved and I wanted to finish grade school at the same school, but that was in the early 90’s.
  I would let my kids do it at the same age, but my wife disagrees. I don’t think she’s in the minority, so I’m pretty sure you’re right in that not too many kids take the bus alone in this day and age.

• jeather 18:52 on 2021-06-30 Permalink

  I only really started taking the buses here when I started high school, as did most people my age then (also early 90s), but I think there are more protective adults now and kids get driven more at that age. My much younger (15y) sister was allowed to take the bus but none of her friends were, so there wasn’t much she could do with the freedom.

• Kate 20:07 on 2021-06-30 Permalink

  My family never had a car, so I was allowed to take the bus all over the place on my own from age 9. I think at that point I knew more about how to get around than my parents did.

  We also worked out a totally underhand discount method.

  We lived on a bus route one long block from a main street that had a bus that went downtown.

  My sister and I would take the bus on our street, paying with kid tickets and taking transfers, while my parents walked. We’d get off at the main street and hand our parents the transfers, then pay again with kid tickets on the bus downtown while my parents boarded the same bus with our transfers.

  I’m sure some kind of statute of limitations applies…

• dhomas 21:23 on 2021-06-30 Permalink

  My uncle used the same bus transfer for months at a time (since he never took the metro). When a driver would call him out about it, he would feign ignorance and say “oh! it’s expired?” and pay for a new ticket. 😀

• Joey 22:11 on 2021-06-30 Permalink

  It’s weird that the only kids who have to pay are “commuters.”