With traffic to and from Trudeau airport entering its peak frustration season, Aéroports de Montréal has shelled out for a new shuttle bus linking to the REM’s Des Sources station. The airport is fully funding the new No. 815 bus line, which will make direct trips to the airport from the Des Sources station in Pointe-Claire starting June 17. It will run every 15 minutes and make a roughly 15-minute trip, using the reserved lane that runs along part of Des Sources Blvd. in Dorval.
The cost to ride the bus will be the same as a regular STM fare. The line is part of a pilot project scheduled to end in October. “Our critical traffic period is the summer,” said Jérôme Conraud, vice-president of strategy, planning and sustainable development for the airport authority. “That’s when we have two million passengers who come to the airport each month.” The airport area is in the midst of a reconstruction project expected to last until 2031 as a multi-level parking lot is
demolished and rebuilt, and the road network is revamped to double its vehicular capacity. Conraud said Aéroports de Montréal is keenly aware of how difficult it is to access the main terminal. However, with the REM’s airport station still roughly a year and a half away from opening, officials say there are at least two difficult summers ahead for travellers. Conraud said the airport authority will gauge the popularity of the new bus line over the course of the next four months to see whether
it warrants extending to the Christmas season. The media got a sneak peek of the bus line’s route on Thursday, as an STM bus picked up roughly two dozen reporters and PR agents for the myriad transit operators. The bus stopped on Des Sources Blvd. and made the trip south toward Highway 20. It then followed Cardinal Ave. to approach the airport from its southwestern entrance. The bus stopped at a roundabout that the airport has built for shuttle buses. The roundabout will also be
the spot for Uber and Lyft drivers to pick up passengers in the coming months, Conraud said. The bus loop is about 200 metres away from the airport’s main terminal building, leaving passengers to walk through a tunnel, and then an alleyway behind a concrete wall separating them from a sidewalk used by people boarding other transportation services. Conraud said a stretch golf cart that was put into service in December is still available to shuttle those with mobility issues for that last stretch. The
airport authority is working on a new entrance so that passengers can get into the building from the bus loop. However, that won’t be ready until at least the end of the year. “The entrance will have elevators and escalators, and passengers will be able to go directly inside the terminal building,” Conraud said. For the summer period, he advises travellers to arrive three hours before their flight to avoid getting stuck in traffic. “We’re also telling people not to drop anyone off at the
main terminal building,” he said. Those coming from Highway 20 should go to the P4 loading/unloading zone to get a shuttle bus to the terminal. Anyone arriving from the Côte-de-Liesse Expressway should go to P10, where there is another shuttle available. Those shuttle buses are available 24 hours a day. The new 815 line will be operational from around 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. The full schedule is expected to be posted on the STM’s website. The 815 adds to other STM bus lines offering
service to Trudeau airport. It joins the 747, which leaves from Berri-UQAM métro with stops downtown and at Lionel-Groulx métro, the 460, which serves the Crémazie and De La Savane métro stations, the 209 serving Sources Blvd. and the 214 that shuttles to the Dorval train station.
STM 815 shuttle, REM Des Sources, Trudeau airport, Aéroports de Montréal, Pointe-Claire, Dorval, Dorval train station, bus line 747 460 209 214