South Shore transit user says her commute times will double when the REM opens

The South Shore portion of the new REM rail line will open to the public at the end of July. When it does, buses will stop porting commuters across the Champlain Bridge.

In theory, people can just take the REM instead, but some say it will significantly increase their travel time.

“My first reaction was kind of feeling a little disappointed and abandoned a little bit by the project,” said Annick Beauchemin, who takes the bus from Brossard, Que. to work in Griffintown in Montreal.

She’s one of hundreds of people who take the 90 and 45 bus routes to the island, and says it usually takes her just over 30 minutes to get there. She expects that to change when the REM opens on July 31.

That’s because the Griffintown-Bernard Landry Station won’t open that day. Instead, the public will only have access once the rest of the system is completed.

“So now, instead of going straight to the bus, I'm going to have to take a bus to the REM station in Brossard, then take the REM to Gare Centrale, and then I’m going to have to take another bus from the STM to go to work,” said Beauchemin.

She expects that route will take twice as long as her current commute and cost her $47 more in fares each month.

“If I didn't love public transport so much,” she said, “I could switch to my car, and it could take me 17 minutes to come to work.”

CTV News reached out to the REM’s developer, CDPQ Infra, which referred those questions to Longueuil’s transit authority, the RTL.

“The deal with the REM was (that) our busses will no longer be allowed to cross the Champlain Bridge,” said Maxime Liberte, a spokesperson for the RTL.

He says the agency knows the new system isn’t ideal for commuters, but says temporary solutions are in the works.

“The STM will put in place some lines from Gare Centrale that are going to Cite Multimedia and Griffintown,” he said. 

LISTEN ON CJAD 800 RADIO: Eric Edström, Spokesperson for EXO explains why the opening of the South Shore leg of the REM has lead to the redesign of some bus routes.