By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
The MRCs of Brome-Missisquoi and Haute-Yamaska will launch a long-awaited intermunicipal bus service pilot project on Aug. 25, just in time for the new school year.
The service, offered in partnership with Transdev and the Régions et Ruralité fund of the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs, will run on a loop – with one bus running clockwise and the other counterclockwise – from 6 a.m. to about 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, with departures, approximately every 30 minutes during peak hours. Complete information about the route and stop locations was not available at press time, but a partial list of stops provided by the MRC of Brome-Missisquoi (MRCBM) includes the Cégep de Granby, the Granby industrial park, Massey-Vanier High School, the Cowansville Hospital, the Bromont CLSC and yet-to-be-determined stops in East Farnham and Saint-Alphonse de Granby. MRCBM transit co-ordinator Khalil El Fatmi said there would also be a stop at Autoparc 74, allowing riders to catch onward buses to Sherbrooke and Montreal.
The final list of 14 stops will be determined after a road testing phase, according to the MRCBM. Once the testing is complete, an interactive map will be posted on the websites of both MRCs and accessible via a mobile app. The bilingual online tool will allow users to locate stops, view detailed schedules and track their bus in real time. Since the bus runs on a regular schedule, reservations will not need to be made in advance.
A single ticket will cost $5 and can be bought on board the bus. Single tickets and booklets of ten tickets ($40) will be on sale at the Brome-Missisquoi and Haute-Yamaska MRC offices, adapted transit offices and the co-op store at the Cégep de Granby. The buses will be equipped with bike racks.
The pilot project will be reevaluated after a year, according to the MRCBM.
MRCBM prefect Patrick Melchior and his counterpart in Haute-Yamaska, Paul Sarrazin, have been vocal supporters of the project. “We are very proud of this historic agreement, which connects the two territories of our MRCs. Finally, the population will be able to count on a sustainable and practical mode of transportation to get to school, to work, or simply to discover the tourist attractions specific to each of our regions,” said Sarrazin in a statement.
El Fatmi said the MRC had no specific expectations or targets in terms of ridership. “This is a brand new service that we have never done before; we need to monitor it, see the response and adjust it in function to how it is used,” he said. “For example, if we see that a stop isn’t being used, we’ll move it.”
“Our target audience is workers, students, people going onward to Sherbrooke or Montreal and pretty much anyone who needs to get from one place to another,” El Fatmi said. “We’d like to invite everyone to give it a try and tell us about your experience.”
Bromont, Farnham on-demand taxi service free this summer
In other transit news, residents of Bromont and Farnham who need to travel within their respective municipalities will have access to free on-demand taxi service to and from a series of set stops this summer. The taxi-on-demand pilot project was launched in February and normally costs $4 per trip. The MRCBM has made the service free until Sept. 15 in hopes more people will give it a try. The service runs from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Riders must reserve their trip at least 30 minutes in advance by calling 450-263-7010, and arrive at their chosen stop five minutes before their reservation time.
“Our target audience for this service is workers and students, but it’s also for seniors and tourists and anyone who needs to get around within their municipality,” El Fatmi said.
Since the service was established five months ago, El Fatmi said uptake had been good in Bromont. “The response…hasn’t been excellent, but it is there,” he told the BCN. In Farnham, on the other hand, he said the service was “underused.”
“It’s a bit too early to say why,” he added. “We’re hoping that now that it’s free, more people will use it.”
To learn more about the taxi-on-demand program in Farnham and Bromont, call 450-263-7010 during business hours.