Latest news with #STM
Montreal Gazette
8 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
Fête nationale: What's open and closed in Montreal
If you plan on cracking open a cold one for the Fête nationale, you'd better buy your beer in advance — store closings and modified schedules will affect everything from the SAQ to public transit. Here's a partial list of what will be open or closed in Montreal on Tuesday: Government offices will be closed on Tuesday. That includes Accès Montréal counters, service counters and courtrooms — with the exception of detainee cases, which will be held at the courthouse on Gosford St. Most major banks will be closed. Check with your local branch. Canada Post will pause mail collection and delivery on the holiday. Post offices operated by private businesses may be open according to the service hours of the host business. All SAQ and SQDC branches will be closed across the province. All large commercial grocery stores, including IGA, Metro, Provigo, Supermarché PA on Parc Ave. will be closed on June 24, but some smaller independent grocery stores will be open, including Supermarché PA on Fort St. Montreal's public markets — including Atwater, Jean-Talon and Maisonneuve — will be open for the holiday, along with the neighbourhood public market kiosks at Square Victoria, Mont-Royal and Jean-Brillant. City services like garbage, recycling and compost collection will still take place across the city over the holiday. Check your borough schedule. Ecocentres will be open on June 24 and July 1, on the normal 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. summer schedule. Public transit will run at reduced hours. Société de transport de Montréal (STM) métros and buses will operate on a modified schedule. The STM invites customers to plan their trips and check the schedules on the holiday. Exo train lines for St-Jérôme and Vaudreuil/Hudson will run on a weekend schedule. Mascouche, Candiac and Mont-St-Hilaire lines will be closed. Réseau express métropolitain (REM) will run during normal opening hours on an off-peak schedule. Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL) will be operational and free for riders on June 23 and 24 for the holiday. The RTL notes because of the high volume of traffic during the Fête nationale celebrations on June 24, several streets around Parc de la Cité will be closed to traffic. Several bus routes will be diverted, including routes 8, 19, 42 and 160. City cultural sites, including the Biodôme, Biosphère, Botanical Garden, Insectarium and Planetarium will remain open. Montreal boroughs set their own schedule for sports facilities, pools, arenas, libraries and cultural centres. Check your local borough's website for more details. This story was originally published June 20, 2025 at 4:13 PM.
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
Montreal transit agency reinstates ‘move along' rule to boost sense of security
A Montreal Metro maintenance worker walks along a station platform during the early hours of the morning in Montreal, April 11, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes MONTREAL — Montreal's public transit agency has reintroduced a no-loitering rule in the city's subway tunnels. The Société de transport de Montréal says the measure helped decrease assaults on staff and increased users' sense of security when it was implemented as a pilot project earlier this year. Transit officials have expressed concern over the number of people struggling with drug addiction and mental illness who use the metro stations as unofficial shelters. They announced in March they would fence off problematic gathering places and implement a 'move along' policy for a six-week period. The announcement was criticized by advocates who said people who are homeless have nowhere else to go. But the agency says the measures had positive effects on safety and has reinstated them until April 30, 2026. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Montreal transit agency reinstates "move along" rule to boost sense of security
MONTREAL — Montreal's public transit agency has reintroduced a no-loitering rule in the city's subway tunnels. The Société de transport de Montréal says the measure helped decrease assaults on staff and increased users' sense of security when it was implemented as a pilot project earlier this year. Transit officials have expressed concern over the number of people struggling with drug addiction and mental illness who use the metro stations as unofficial shelters. They announced in March they would fence off problematic gathering places and implement a "move along" policy for a six-week period. The announcement was criticized by advocates who said people who are homeless have nowhere else to go. But the agency says the measures had positive effects on safety and has reinstated them until April 30, 2026. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025. The Canadian Press Sign in to access your portfolio
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
STM revives loitering ban in Montreal Metro to help improve safety
Social Sharing Montreal's transit agency announced Wednesday it is reintroducing a ban on loitering in the city's Metro system to increase safety for commuters and employees. The measure starts Wednesday and will be in place until April 30, 2026. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) said the decision to bring it back was made following positive results of a six-week pilot project in early spring. At the time, the STM cited increased safety concerns in the Metro linked to rising homelessness, criminal activity and public drug use. "Why we're coming back with that move-along order is because it works. It works for our clients, for our employees." said Éric Alan Caldwell, the STM's board chair, at a news conference on Wednesday. Decrease in crime during pilot project, STM says The STM provided data in a news release showing improvements in safety for the month of April, compared to the same month last year. Crime and offences were down two per cent, while assaults on employees dropped 20 per cent. The STM also noted 30 per cent fewer service disruptions and 17 per cent fewer people being escorted out of the Metro at closing time. Meanwhile, the STM has said that addressing safety concerns has come at a cost, with $11 million invested to hire more staff, such as special constables who are trained to help direct people to the proper resources when leaving the Metro. There's also a hidden cost in lost revenue, as people cancel trips because they feel unsafe. The STM estimates that number could be as high as $1.2 million per month. Caldwell said, however, that by improving security, the STM can refocus on its primary mission, which is to provide safe and reliable public transit. Groups working with unhoused people in Montreal said they understand the situation, but the measures don't really solve the problem. Better solutions needed In a news release, the Réseau d'aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal (RAPSIM), said the ban is exacerbating the situation for many vulnerable people because it's being implemented amid a housing crisis and at a time when community organizations are overwhelmed. While RAPSIM said that Metro users' perceived sense of security may have improved during the pilot project, the safety of people experiencing homelessness has been compromised. "Several outreach workers reported losing contact with people with whom they had established a relationship of trust," said RAPSIM director Annie Savage. RAPSIM added that women are especially impacted by the ban, as they often try to conceal their situation and seek out crowded places, like the Metro, for safety reasons. "These spaces offer them relative protection from harassment, intimidation, theft and street violence, to which they are particularly exposed," the release reads. Caldwell acknowledged that the ban on loitering wasn't a "magic solution," and that community organizations and the health network need more resources. Over the course of the next year, the STM will continue to collect data on the impacts of the ban. Caldwell said he believes it will help highlight the needs of its different partners and how to better answer those needs. He reiterated, however, that the Metro can't be a shelter. "We will intervene and we will offer to the people that we are asking to move along if they need help, if they need to get to specific resources and how can we help them get there," Caldwell said. "We will often organize transport so that they get there." RAPSIM, however, is urging the STM to consider alternative solutions and pointed to a project in Philadelphia where a subway station was transformed into drop-in centre for people experiencing homelessness. "This type of approach helps raise public awareness and create inclusive spaces. Rather than displacing homeless people outside, we offer them a local response that facilitates their recovery," Savage said.
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
Anti-loitering order back in effect in Montreal's metro
Cyclists can now bring their bikes on REM trains until July 4, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) Loitering is once again banned from Montreal's metro network, and the 'move-along' order will be in place until the end of April 2026, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) announced Wednesday. The STM said the measures, which were in place for six weeks in the spring, yielded positive results regarding safety and maintenance. But advocates for the homeless population say it could harm those who have nowhere else to go. The rules 'led to a noticeable increase in the sense of safety among both customers and employees, as well as a reduction in service interruptions caused by disruptive behaviour,' said Éric Alan Caldwell, chair of the STM board of directors in a news release. He said that reimplementing the measures in the summer will give the city time to plan for the winter months when some homeless people take refuge from the cold in metro stations. 'We recognize, however, that this is not an ideal solution. The real solution will be a tangible and sustainable response to help the vulnerable, including more funding for resources, all year long,' said Caldwell. The STM said 'physical measures,' mainly partitioning off access to certain areas and making open spaces smaller, will be in place at eight stations: Charlevoix Peel Places-des-Arts Beaudry Pie-IX Bonaventure Place-d'Armes Côte-Vertu The STM's anti-loitering rules were implemented mid-March after a reported surge in service interruptions and criminal behaviour, including drug use, that led to some customers feeling less safe in the metro. During the six-week period when the anti-loitering order was in effect from March to April, crimes and offences went down by two per cent, people being escorted out at closing time went down by 17 per cent, there was a 30 per cent reduction in service disruptions, and the reported sense of safety went up by eight points (all compared to April 2024), according to the STM's report. Impact on homeless population By bringing back and extending the move-along order, the STM wants to collect more data on the impact of anti-loitering orders on its operations and 'maintain stability' and hygiene standards. Advocates for Montreal's homeless population say they are worried the measure will only increase their vulnerability. The Réseau d'aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal (RAPSIM)'s director, Annie Savage, said intervention workers reported losing contact with people with whom they had built a trusting relationship. 'In the long term, these measures undermine essential prevention and support efforts carried out by the community, contributing to increased vulnerability and need among people experiencing homelessness,' she said in a statement. The RAPSIM said women will be the most impacted by the STM's order, since many of them hide in the metro to conceal their homelessness and feel safer in busy areas. 'These spaces offer them relative protection from harassment, intimidation, theft and street violence, to which they are particularly exposed,' they said. The STM has said it wants to refer homeless people who spend time in the metro network to appropriate resources, like Mission St. Michaels. But RAPSIM says those are stretched thin and are often overflowing which means people will simply be displaced. Savage says the STM is losing an opportunity to put its resources toward inclusive resources by instead using a chunk of its budget to increase surveillance and security. She pointed to an initiative in Philadelphia, which turned a metro station into a shelter where people can rest, have coffee, do their laundry and receive essential care. The STM stressed that the move-along order will not be applied systematically and its special constables will take several factors into consideration during interventions to avoid tension. In its report, the STM requested Montreal open 24/7 high-threshold resources near Berri-UQAM and Bonaventure stations, increase funding for Mission St. Michaels services and ensure emergency accommodations from early November to late April 'for more sustainable solutions.'
