By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
A new bus service is expected to be up and running between Cowansville, Bromont, Granby, Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby and East Farnham by the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year.
The future Circuit Brome-Yamaska is a one-year pilot project developed by the MRCs of Brome-Missisquoi and Haute-Yamaska, financed by the Quebec government’s Fonds Régions et Ruralité. It responds to longstanding demand from transit riders for service between the two MRCs.
Buses will run on a single circular route between the five municipalities; the service schedule, ticket prices, ways to buy tickets and exact location of the stops are yet to be determined, although the service is being developed with students at the Campus Brome-Missisquoi and Cégep de Granby, commuters and patients and staff at local health facilities in mind. A call for tenders is expected to be launched in the next few weeks to find a bus service provider. Once the bus service has begun, the route and schedule may be adjusted to better adapt to how people are using the service.
“This has taken many years of work, but we are extremely pleased to have officially ratified this important inter-MRC agreement. In Haute-Yamaska, we are convinced that improving the regional public transit offering is a key element in achieving a more carbon-neutral region, in addition to being an essential service for our communities,” said Paul Sarrazin, prefect of the MRC of Haute-Yamaska.
Sarrazin said the two MRCs had been working together for several years on resource-sharing agreements before hitting on the idea of a shared transit service. “For the last several years, we have been working more and more closely, and we said, ‘Why can’t we work together on this?’,” Sarrazin said. “The [jurisdictional] obstacles were easily avoided because there was a lot of good will. We want to provide alternatives to solo car use.”
Sarrazin and MRC Brome-Missisquoi transport co-ordinator Khalil El Fatmi said the pilot project wouldn’t replace any existing transit services in the two municipalities, and that it would be co-ordinated as much as possible to allow riders to transfer between services – for example, to use the existing Haute-Yamaska bus service to travel from Waterloo to Granby and then the new Circuit service to go on to Cowansville. “A transport service succeeds or fails because of how easy to use it is, and we want to make it an interesting experience,” Sarrazin said. He said officials don’t have a specific ridership target in mind, but they “hope the demand will be there.”
“We want it to be operational for back-to-school in September, and we’ll give you more details before then,” said Sarrazin. “Things will move quickly over the next few months.”
MRC promotes local carpooling partnership
In other shared transportation news, the MRC of Brome-Missisquoi announced last week that it is rolling out a new carpooling service in partnership with the established online carpool reservation service Amigo Express, the Table des MRC de l’Estrie and several major employers. The service uses a mobile booking platform called Amigo Local to book rides and let other users know they’re looking for rides. “Thanks to this partnership, Brome-Missisquoi residents will now have access to a user-friendly and secure platform to organize their travel within the MRC and throughout the Estrie region. This local carpooling service is designed to meet everyday mobility needs while promoting an eco-responsible and community-based approach,” El Fatmi said. “This new service complements our current services and aims to expand the options available to everyone, particularly in underserved areas or during off-peak hours.”
Amigo Express founder Marc-Olivier Vachon explained that Amigo Local is “more informal” than the Amigo Express long-distance platform. “It’s about seeing who uses the same route as you do, developing a bank of contacts and chatting with them to co-ordinate. You determine the price and the payment method between yourselves; maybe you want to rotate drivers. Amigo Express doesn’t do the coordination, but our customer service line will be available if there’s a problem.” Signing up for the platform is free.
Although Estrie is the only region to date where Amigo Local is being promoted in partnership with municipalities and major employers, the platform can be used anywhere in Canada. “We have people who use it in Baie-Comeau and in Sept-Iles,” said Vachon.
Vachon said clear communication is key for a fun, safe and simple carpooling experience. “Carpooling is more than just going from a to b … be open-minded and don’t be afraid to start a conversation,” he said. To learn more about Amigo Local, email info@amigoexpress.com or call the Amigo Express customer service line at 1 (877) 264-4697.