Tunnel work may boost river ferries
Work on the Lafontaine tunnel may afford a boost to the river ferries, which have never been a major part of the transit picture. But they became much more popular this year, as the graph shows, and services may be increased next spring to take some pressure off tunnel traffic.
DeWolf 12:58 on 2022-10-26 Permalink
I took one for the first time this summer and it was great. Ferry rides are always relaxing and with service increases it may actually be a useful form of transport, something that can help reorient the city around the river. Metro reported the other day that, in theory, ferry services could run from early April to late December every year without any issues.
Kate 13:07 on 2022-10-26 Permalink
It’s also free now! (Is this the Metro piece you saw, DW?)
The Navark website has not been updated yet to show that it’s free and extended into November.
I feel an urge to be on the river when it’s snowing…
Blork 16:09 on 2022-10-26 Permalink
If only the navette from Longueuil were easier to get to. As it stands, it’s about a 700 metre walk from the nearest bus stop, and given that the navette only leaves once per hour, that’s a sweat-inducing 700 metres when time is running short.
Also, it would be nice if the first boat left earlier. As it is, first crossing is at 9:30, which gets you into Old Montreal at about 10:00AM. Not ideal for most commuters, especially if you still have to hoof it to a Metro station and continue on to downtown or whatever.
It works well for people who work in Old Montreal though, and who have a flexible work schedule, and who live within biking or walking distance of the Longueuil Marina. (As you can see, the scope is quite narrow.)
Kate 16:21 on 2022-10-26 Permalink
The Navark website, which I probably linked above after you’d written your comment, Blork, says there’s a departure from Boucherville at 7:30 a.m., also 9 and 10:30 am. Are we looking at the same data?
John B 17:03 on 2022-10-26 Permalink
The Metro article says it’s the Montreal Mercier – Boucherville ferry, (MMB), not the Boucherville – Vieux-Port ferry. Here’s the Navark page for the MMB route, which is updated.
Do lots of people commute between the south shore and somewhere on the island east of the tunnel?
Blork 17:46 on 2022-10-26 Permalink
Kate, that’s the Boucherville to Old Port ferry. I’m talking about the Longueuil to Old Port ferry.
The Longueuil one is more leisure-oriented than the other ones. Much more space for bikes, and the seating is all outdoors (although you can go into the “hold” with the bikes if it gets cold or rainy). Also, it stops at Ile Ste-Helene in both directions, and runs late (something like 10:00PM or even later) but doesn’t start early in the morning.
Blork 17:53 on 2022-10-26 Permalink
Here’s a photo of the Longueuil ferry, taken from above (the JC bridge) about 11 years ago. It’s still the same boat.
This was the first boat of the day, heading from Montreal to Longueuil at 10:00AM I think (they started even later then) so of course it has no passengers. That whole exposed top deck is where people sit, plus there’s an exposed lower deck at the back but it’s pretty noisy there. The inner part (where you see the line of windows) is like a cargo area where there is limited seating along the two sides and the middle is all bike racks. It can hold about 50 bikes I think, although the they had reconfigured it on my last ride in September to have fewer bike racks. I’m not sure why.
Compare that with the PAT and Boucherville ferries, which are much smaller and have seating more like a bus (and clear canopies over the seating).
https://flic.kr/p/9Xv6cV
Kate 18:16 on 2022-10-26 Permalink
Thank you both for clarifications!