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Les nouvelles du jour - La Presse+ NOUVEL OUTIL POUR SUIVRE LES AUTOBUS PLUS VITE QUE LA STM ELLE-MÊME JEAN-FRANÇOIS CODÈRE LA PRESSE La jeune entreprise montréalaise TransitApp lance aujourd’hui une mise à jour qui permettra aux usagers de la Société de transport de Montréal de voir en temps réel la position de certains autobus, un concept sur lequel travaille elle-même la STM depuis quatre ans. TransitApp est une application mobile offerte sur iOS et Android qui permet à ses utilisateurs de prévoir des trajets en transports en commun. Elle se décrit notamment comme « la plus importante application dédiée aux transports en commun aux États-Unis » et elle est fonctionnelle dans plus de 125 régions, de Chicoutimi à Nairobi. Avec sa nouvelle version lancée aujourd’hui, elle veut miser sur les « plusieurs dizaines de milliers d’utilisateurs quotidiens » qui lui font confiance à Montréal pour fournir des données que la STM peine toujours à récolter et rendre publiques. Environ 85 % des sociétés de transport dont Transit affiche les renseignements lui offrent des données en temps réel sur la position de leurs équipements. Ce n’est toutefois pas le cas de la STM, qui a pourtant signé il y a quatre ans une entente avec une firme allemande pour y parvenir. Le système en question, baptisé iBus, est présentement installé dans certains autobus, mais ses données ne sont pas encore partagées. Pour parvenir à ses fins, TransitApp mise donc plutôt sur ses propres utilisateurs. Concrètement, TransitApp a lancé en septembre dernier une nouvelle fonctionnalité baptisée « Go ». Quand elle est activée pour un trajet, celle-ci suit la position de l’utilisateur en tout temps et peut, par exemple, lui signifier que son arrêt approche. Mais dès sa conception, Go avait aussi pour objectif de donner une raison aux utilisateurs de TransitApp d’accorder à l’application le droit d’accéder à leurs coordonnées GPS. Trois mois plus tard, l’entreprise revient donc à la charge avec une autre nouveauté basée sur les données récoltées par Go. À compter d’aujourd’hui, la position de tous les autobus à bord duquel se trouve un utilisateur de Transit ayant activé le mode « Go » sera affichée en temps réel dans l’application. Selon Samuel Vermette, cofondateur et président de TransitApp, dans son état actuel, le mode Go est activé par au moins un utilisateur dans 5 % à 20 % des trajets d’autobus montréalais. La nouvelle mise à jour implante quelques nouveautés pour convaincre davantage d’utilisateurs d’activer Go et ainsi rendre la position de leur autobus accessible en temps réel. « Quand tu vas activer Go, on va te dire combien de personnes tu aides, explique M. Vermette. Même chose quand ton trajet est terminé, tu vas pouvoir savoir combien de personnes tu as aidées à avoir accès à des coordonnées en temps réel. Ça ajoute un effet d’altruisme et, on espère, un effet d’entraînement. » Ce service est aussi lancé aujourd’hui à Victoria, en Colombie-Britannique, où il n’y a pas non plus de service en temps réel « officiel ». Il sera éventuellement étendu à toutes les régions desservies par Transit. « La plupart des services en temps réel sont mis à jour chaque minute ou aux trois minutes, donc notre fonctionnalité basée sur les utilisateurs va améliorer la précision même dans ces marchés », indique M. Vermette. Transit a annoncé en septembre dernier qu’elle avait reçu un financement totalisant 2,4 millions US provenant de deux nouveaux investisseurs, les fonds américains Accel et Accomplice, et de ses premiers investisseurs Real Ventures et BDC Capital.
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NhÃ* ở Ngõ 157B Chùa Láng nhé ( Ä�ầu ngõ lÃ* Ä‘iểm xe bus )
un sujet a posté Invité dans Photographie urbaine
NhÃ* ở Ngõ 157B Chùa Láng nhé ( Äầu ngõ lÃ* Ä‘iểm xe bus ) Chủ nhÃ* mình nhá» mình đăng tin Hiện Còn 3 phòng vá»›i mức giá 2TR2 - 2TR5 ( Tùy từng tầng ) Äiện 4k/1 Số ;NÆ°á»›c 100K / 1 ngÆ°á»i Phòng khoảng 12 - 15 m2 Có nóng lạnh ,Có gác xép để đồ vÃ* cả Ä‘iá»u hòa.Bạn nÃ*o có Máy giặt thì để ban công Chủ nhÃ* thoải mái,An ninh tuyệt đối 11H đóng cá»*a.Nam nữ ở chung cÅ©ng OK -
Lu sur Reddit : https://www.reddit.com/r/montreal/comments/4rcpiu/community_thank_you_to_the_kind_soul_that/?st=iq9kth1j&sh=1cf6b1a0
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First Québec 100% electric bus by STM
un sujet a posté nickdude dans Projets oubliés et/ou en suspens
http://www.masstransitmag.com/press_release/12142808/the-first-quebec-100-electric-bus-is-unveiled Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk -
L'AMT a publié un appel d'offres pour la création d'une voie réservée sur accotement sur la route 116, entre Saint-Bruno et Saint-Basile-le-Grand. Évalué autour de 5,3 M$, ce projet s'inscrit dans le plan stratégique de l'AMT visant à l'implantation de Mesures Préférentielles pour Bus (MPB). https://www.amt.qc.ca/fr/actualites/projets/voies-reservees https://seao.ca/OpportunityPublication/ConsulterAvis/DuJour?SubCategoryCode=C02&callingPage=4&ColumnAction=1&ItemId=911630a1-84d4-4699-843f-b9952b625800&COpp=Search&p=2&VPos=0 http://ancien.amt.qc.ca/corpo/Appro/appel/appels_fiche.asp?fiche=1000936
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Earth to anglos: This is Quebec. Bus drivers speak French BY NICHOLAS ROBINSON, THE GAZETTE JANUARY 7, 2014 I’m an expat American whose family transferred here (my father worked for ICAO) in 1976. In 1988, after having gone to college and graduated in California, I moved to Japan and spent five years there, teaching English. When I returned, my parents had relocated to California, but left their condo here unrented and unoccupied. Naturally, I chose to resettle here instead of California, and I’ve been here ever since. I spoke French before I came to Montreal, having learned it in francophone African countries, so I had no problems getting around Montreal. Except in my lengthy absence, Bill 101 had been passed, and many anglos were hightailing it out on the 401. It was strange coming back to a Montreal that had language issues; I’d never had the Eaton-fat-lady experience while I had been here in the 1970s and had never had any problems back then. And at first, actually, for over a decade, I resented the ridiculous sign law that made English two-thirds smaller than French on signs, plus all the “tongue-trooper” shenanigans over the years. But then my mind started changing, and today I’m pretty much the polar opposite to what I was in 1994. I now teach Japanese to individuals in Montreal, having enthusiastically learned it from scratch while in Japan. Most of my students are francophone, but we usually end up having the class with a mixture of all three languages. Now when I hear about people “not getting service” in English in such institutions as hospitals, or not being responded to in English by bus drivers, my stance is: tough luck. When I moved to Japan, I quickly discovered that almost nobody spoke English, and that in order to function, I would have to learn Japanese — and fast, which I did. And now I feel maybe Bill 101 should have gone farther and made all signs only in French. After all, we are living in a French-speaking province that just happens to be in the middle of a vast country called Canada. Any anglos who have been here for any length of time — over a year or so — should at least be able to carry out basic living functions in French and learn how to read signs in French. The wheedle-factor here is enormous. To my mind, the French speakers of Quebec have been incredibly tolerant of the anglophone “community,” and a vast swath of them have gone to the immense trouble of learning English — when they don’t have to at all. Yet they do, happily and willingly and without a single murmur of protest. Why then, can’t the so-called “anglophone community,” knowingly residing in a province that has every right in the world to make everything in French, not do a better job of learning French? Earth to anglos: this is Quebec. In Quebec most people speak French. Bus drivers have every right in the world to respond to you in French, even when you speak to them in English. And my suggestion to these besieged individuals is simply: learn how to speak French. There are literally hundreds of places where you can learn it absolutely free. Or take some of my classes and move to Japan, where there is a severe shortage of English teachers; I promise there are no French speakers there to hound you. Nicholas Robinson teaches Japanese in Montreal. © Copyright © The Montreal Gazette
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by Tabia Lau (facebook) on Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 6:51pm · My Dear Montreal, I miss you like nothing else. Montreal, your walls of concrete and collapsing bridges, your tardy buses and delayed metros. Your incidents that causent un ralentissement for a duree indeterminee sur la ligne orange in my direction. Oh Montreal, your potholes and signs of ARRET and odd hilltop slopes. Your grey skies and hesitant Autumns with children rattling off numbers in a playground in broken Quebecois and your speedy Springs and torrential snowfalls in February and April. Your french baguettes and hipsters on Ste-Catherine on bixis and plaid hats with red squares. Montreal I miss your Tam tams. I'm homesick for your noise, Montreal. I miss the buses driving by, I miss the pitter-patter of jaywalkers, the french chatter on St-Denis and the gusts of winds up on Mont-Royal. Oh I miss Mont Royal, your blue skies and green lawn, the music of your LARPers and Tam-tams. I miss the Tam-Tams, the self-forming circle and slight haze of 420, the city, the earth, the blades of grass breathing with us as we beat, as a city, as one. I miss your cracking Old Montreal, your warm creperies and bus tours. I miss your dying newspapers and your bill 101. I miss your easy film rating system, the way bus drivers wave to one another. I miss your voice in the metro, the parade of scarves in October, Americans already in puffy coats, girls in UGGS in Westmount. I miss your jewish bakeries and italian pasta, your chinese noodles and greek wraps, your hidden Tibetan cuisine and Indian buffets, Your fresh fruits by Cote-Des-Neiges and buses upon buses at Vendome. I miss this ridiculous bagel feud (St-Viateur ftw), and this slightly less ridiculous language barrier. I miss your music festivals, Montreal. No one loves music the way you do. I miss your Quebecois accent, and your ridiculously small street signs. Your rude old ladies and creepy old men. The violinists on the metros and free hugs in the Old Port. I miss your habs riots and your policemen on horses, I miss your street construction and lights. I'm going to miss your Christmas lights, Montreal. That'll be when this hits hardest, won't it? Christmas. I miss your Christmas lights, Montreal. Rene Levesque and Penfield with large wreaths. I miss your Autumn already, Montreal. It isn't fair I may never live through the entirety of another Montreal autumn, another Halloween night. I love your leaves and gusts and the parks, at night. I miss your chilly raindrops. You know, I will try to collect some of your sunscent, your gorgeous bilingual humid night moisture bring it with me wherever I go whoever I become you will always be home.
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STM plans to build solar-powered bus shelters Panels could be used to power lighting * and illuminate revenue-producing ads By Monique Beaudin, The GazetteFebruary 2, 2009 Montreal’s public-transit agency is planning to spend $14.4 million to buy 400 new bus shelters – some of which would use solar panels to provide electricity. The new shelters need an energy source to allow the Société de transport de Montréal to use new tools to provide customer service and advertising. In some cases the shelters would be powered by solar energy, in others the shelters would be linked into a local source of electricity. Several other cities – including London, Vancouver and Toronto – already have bus shelters that use solar panels to charge batteries that power their lighting systems. Blainville, north of Mont-real, put up four such shelters in October and plans to replace all its bus shelters with solar-powered ones by 2010, said spokesperson Yves Meunier. Blainville’s plan was to make their bus shelters self-financing, by using revenue generated from selling advertising in the shelters. For that they needed an energy source to illuminate the ads. “People selling advertising want the ads to be visible for a certain number of hours every day, especially during the winter,” Meunier said. Blainville’s bus shelters – which cost about $30,000 each – were designed and built by a local firm, Meunier said. The city will recycle the old shelters by selling them to other municipalities, he added. The STM also expects that by selling ad space in its new shelters they’ll pay for themselves over a 10-year period. While the STM has already tested several different kinds of solar-powered bus shelters, spokesperson Isabelle Tremblay said the agency hasn’t chosen a specific bus shelter model to buy yet. The transit agency is still waiting for the results of a bus-shelter design contest announced by Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay last September. Tremblay called on the city’s designers to come up with new ideas for five things – the Champs de Mars métro station, the eastern wall of the courthouse, bus shelters, taxis and temporary festival furniture. Design Montreal has not yet launched the contest, spokesperson Stéphanie Jecrois said yesterday. The agency is still meeting with its partners to determine how the contest will work, but she said the contest details should be announced with a few weeks. The contest will be held in 2009, she said. Meanwhile, at the STM, Tremblay said the agency will only go to tender for new bus shelters after the Design Montreal contest wraps up. The STM now has 2,977 bus shelters, serving about one-third of its bus stops. It would like to install 100 new bus shelters over the next two years, and 100 more each year from 2011 to 2013. mbeaudin@thegazette.canwest.com © Copyright © The Montreal Gazette
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Peu importe où l'on se trouve sur la planète, je pense qu'on pourra toujours se consoler en regardant Détroit..... http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/mother-six-trades-98k-house-used-minivan-152424777.html
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Expo photo sur l’essor du bus à Montréal
un sujet a posté monctezuma dans Divertissement, Bouffe et Culture
150 ans de transport collectif Expo photo sur l’essor du bus à Montréal Agence QMI Jean-François Cyr 24/05/2011 19h50 MONTRÉAL — Afin de souligner 150 ans de transport collectif dans la métropole, la Société de transport de Montréal (STM) propose une exposition photo nommée «Hommage aux travailleurs d'hier à aujourd'hui», présentée à la Passerelle des arts, à la station de métro Place des Arts. Jusqu'à la mi-juin, le second volet de l’expo de 36 photos permet de revisiter les métiers des employés du réseau des bus au fil du temps et de constater l'évolution. Une façon modeste mais efficace de témoigner de l’importance de leur travail depuis le début du XXe siècle. On y apprend d’ailleurs que les responsables du réseau d’autobus ont exploré de nombreuses avenues avant d’arriver au réseau actuel. «Les premiers bus ont fait leur apparition en Amérique et en Europe au début du XXe siècle. Chez nous, la Montréal South Shore Autocar Company a commencé à exploiter dès 1904 cinq bus qui reliaient Saint-Lambert au square Victoria, en passant par le pont du même nom», a expliqué Benoît Clairoux, conseiller en communication à la STM et historien de formation. Après quelques essais incertains au cours des vingt premières années, celui-ci raconte que la Montreal Tramways Company a donné une véritable chance au bus, qui n’a cessé de s’améliorer avec le temps. Elle a notamment créé en 1925 une division des bus et inauguré coup sur coup trois nouvelles lignes : la ligne Lachine-Montréal-Ouest (6 août), la ligne Lachine-LaSalle (15 août) et la ligne de la rue Sherbrooke (19 août). Pour le visiteur qui souhaite de plus amples informations sur certaines photos et qui possède un téléphone intelligent, rien de plus facile : un code matrice apposé à côté de quelques-unes des photos permet de télécharger l'audioguide. Il est également possible de consulter l'ensemble de l'exposition et une section de photos supplémentaires sur le site mobile http://m.expositionstm.info. -
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/School+crashes+into+building+Penfield/3099570/story.html#ixzz0pfhIUE1k Just another reason why cyclists should be forced to abide by the exact same laws as drivers. What if someone had been killed?
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I was all around the south shore yesterday and I truly began to appreciate the fact that it is far from being totally suburban, especially Vieux Longueuil. With all this talk of bringing more families to the island, with its limited space and homes that are far more expensive than those off the island, I propose taking the pressure off the island a bit and looking south. The creation of the autoroute 30 beltway poses a huge opportunity for highway 20 from Longueuil to La Prairie: the creation of a large boulevard (shown in blue) with limited north south connections that could include reserved bus lanes or a tramway. The boulevard as opposed to the highway would make it easier and more attractive for people living south of the autoroute to enjoy and make use of the waterfront. It could also make for some interesting developments including the connection of the Pointe-de-Longueuil, the Saint-Charles 'village' and 'downtown Longueuil' (shown in yellow). The following graphic shows the length of the new boulevard and how I'd reroute the affected highways:
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(Courtesy of The Montreal Gazette) I should have done this years ago when I lived in Pierrefonds. The 201 would never show up on time. Sometimes it be 30 mins to an hour late
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Voila quelque photos de mon périple en Australie, cette fois ci la ville de Perth. Le centre ville piéton (vraiment semblable à toute les villes australienne) Gare centrale Perth la nuit depuis le jardin botanique Perth depuis l'autre rive du fleuve Swan The bell Tower Transport en commun très agréable à Perth (bus moderne avec air conditionné, et gratuit sur le centre ville)
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A une émission de Radio-Canada, on parlait de véhicules élecltriques, dont des autobus entièrement électriques qui arrêteront à des bornes, le long de leur parcours, pour se recharger pendant 1 minute. L'expert disait que la technologie existe déjà, et que les trolley bus (et tramways j'imagine) étaient des technologies dépassées. On disait aussi que le Québec est particulièrement bien placé au niveau du moteur-roue, et des technologies de batteries, pour profiter de la nouvelle vague verte. Voici un exemple: Hybrid-Electric Design ZERO emissions (with hydrogen fuel-cell or battery-electric options) Reduce fuel costs by greater than 90% Fewer parts to maintain with all-electric drivetrain Ultra-quiet drive system reduces noise pollution 90% regenerative braking recapture Unique All-Composite Body Low floor minimizes boarding time and increases passenger safety Impact resistant composite body increases vehicle safety and reduces maintenance Low center of gravity reduces chance for roll over Light weight body reduces impact on streets Modern appearance ADA-friendly design enables all passengers to ride the bus No corrosion - composite body and stainless steel subframe Other Features Safety front door prevents passengers from walking directly in front of the bus Large windshield for increased visibility Driver footwell glass for increased safety Incremental cost paid for by fuel savings http://www.proterraonline.com/transit.asp
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Des livraisons dès cette année Nova Bus obtient un contrat de 190M$ de la STM 17 février 2009 - 07h44 http://argent.canoe.com/lca/infos/quebec/archives/2009/02/20090217-074446.html Par Louis-Pierre Côté ARGENT Le constructeur d’autobus Nova Bus de Saint-Eustache vient d’obtenir un contrat évalué à environ 190M$ (1,3 milliard de couronnes suédoises) pour fournir 410 autobus à la Société de transport de Montréal. Les livraisons débuteront dès cette année et s’échelonneront sur trois ans. Les 410 autobus, de modèle LFS, remplaceront d’autres autobus construits par Nova Bus qui sillonnent les rues de la métropole depuis 1996. La commande, qui a été annoncée par la société-mère de Nova Bus, Volvo Bus Corporation en Suède, s’ajoute aux commandes déjà placées par la STM. Au cours des trois prochaines années, Nova Bus livrera un total de 958 autobus à la Société de transport de Montréal, soit 214 autobus en 2009, 427 en 2010 et 317 en 2011. Certains des autobus qui seront livrés seront des véhicules articulés. Les nouveaux véhicules seront équipés d’un système de caméras pour améliorer la sécurité des passagers. En plus d'une usine à Saint-Eustache, sur la couronne Nord de Montréal, Nova Bus exploite une usine à Saint-François-du-Lac, dans la région de Nicolet. Plus de détails à venir
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La firme d’ingénierie suédoise Consat a choisi Laval pour y jeter les bases de sa filiale canadienne. S'affichant comme l'une des plus importantes sociétés d’ingénierie privées de la Suède, Consat qui compte plus de 200 employés à travers le monde est déjà implantée aux États-Unis et prévoit une implantation en Amérique du Sud pour 2009. La filiale lavalloise compte pour l'instant un employé permanent en provenance de la maison-mère, auquel se greffent plusieurs employés suédois engagés sur la base de projets distincts, précise-t-on. Le président de Consat Canada, Shahriar Ravari, insiste pour dire que la culture d'entreprise a toujours privilégié «une croissance organique, étape par étape» à une croissance via les fusions et acquisitions. Ainsi, la nouvelle filiale se donne quelques mois pour combler une demi-douzaine de postes. Nova Bus Mine de rien, Consat est active dans la grande région métropolitaine depuis 2004. De fait, la société suédoise collabore avec Nova Bus de Saint-Eustache, une division de Volvo Bus Corporation, à la conception et à la production de solutions télématiques pour ses véhicules. «La solution ITS4mobilité de Consat», un produit de système de transport intelligent, «répond aux problématiques de la fréquence du service, du confort et de la sécurité en améliorant l'information diffusée aux passagers, aux conducteurs de véhicules de transport public et < la direction des transports», indique M. Ravari. Le système ITS4mobility diffuse aux véhicules individuels, aux arrêts d'autobus et aux centres de commandes de l'information continuellement mise à jour sur l'état des routes. Ce système permet notamment d'aviser les utilisateurs du transport en commun de l'heure de passage du prochain autobus et de la durée de leur trajet, de faire savoir aux conducteurs d'autobus s'ils respectent ou non leur horaire, de déterminer pour les régulateurs du trafic s'il y a trop ou peu de véhicules sur une route en particulier. L'installation de ce système peut être personnalisée et intégrer des fonctions très ciblées selon les besoins. Directeur général adjoint de Laval Technopole, Damien Cloutier a salué l'implantation de Consat dans la région, soulignant «la création de richesse, le savoir-faire partagé et l'expertise au profit de la communauté économique». -
(Courtesy of CBC News)
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Prévost Car investit 149 M$ au Québec http://lapresseaffaires.cyberpresse.ca/article/20071218/LAINFORMER/71218133/5891/LAINFORMER01 18 décembre 2007 - 13h47 Presse Canadienne Prévost Car investit 149 M$ dans ses installations québécoises de Sainte-Claire-de-Bellechasse, Saint-Eustache et Saint-François-du-Lac. Québec soutient l'initiative à hauteur de 13 M$. L'entreprise accentuera ses activités de développement de nouveaux produits. La réalisation du projet devrait permettre de doubler la production dans la division Nova Bus, le fabricant d'autobus urbains, d'ici 2012. Les investissements permettront à l'usine de Prévost Car à Sainte-Claire de bénéficier de plus de 70 nouveaux employés au terme du projet. L'entreprise compte aussi moderniser ses infrastructures. Nova Bus à Saint-Eustache créera environ 200 emplois et accroîtra la cadence de production. Quant à l'usine de Saint-François-du-Lac, elle verra son personnel augmenter d'une trentaine d'employés, en plus d'être réaménagée. Le projet consolidera par ailleurs 1850 emplois. La division Nova Bus est un des plus importants fabricants d'autobus urbains en Amérique du Nord. La division Prévost Car est le deuxième constructeur d'autocars interurbains en Amérique du Nord.
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Highway/Freeway - 6-8 lanes (both ways) Roads/Blvd/Ave - 4 lanes (both ways) Would probably takes 25-50 years to fix everything on the island of Montreal. Also overhaul the metro system, like one person invisioned for 2100. If not that atleast a monorail system between the airport and the financial district. Thats all I can think of for the transportation bit It's true we need to expand our highways wider because even back in 50's/60's we had problems with congestion. Hopefully with doubling the lanes we might be able to cut down on congestion. Also have the city of Montreal, Quebec and Canadian government help pay for doubling the bus and metro cars to run 24/7 and split waiting times in 1/2.
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Seatle Times: Montreal, Cold? Mais oui, but the winter welcome is warm
un sujet a posté mtlurb dans L'actualité
Montreal | Cold? Mais oui, but the winter welcome is warm By Kristin Jackson Seattle Times travel staff PREV 1 of 3 NEXT STEPHAN POULIN / TOURISM MONTREAL Sled-dog races are just one attraction of Montréal's Fête des Neiges, the winter festival. KRISTIN JACKSON / THE SEATTLE TIMES Saint Joseph's Oratory, seen from a tour bus, is one of Montreal's grandest churches. Related Archive | Europe without the euro awaits visitors in historic Montreal MONTREAL, Quebec — Taxi drivers kept stopping to offer us rides, beckoning to the steamy warmth of their cabs. No wonder; it was 10 degrees below zero on a February night, and we were the only people on the city sidewalk. "Non, merci," I'd wave off the taxis, determined to get some fresh air after spending the day on stuffy planes en route to this French-speaking Canadian city. The air certainly was fresh — sparkling clear and frigid as my daughter and I trudged along, swaddled in all the clothes we'd packed. I looked like a walking sleeping bag in my old, very puffy down coat. On the narrow street, wrought-iron banisters and balconies of Victorian buildings were glazed in ice. Snow sparkled in pools of light cast from living rooms and old-fashioned street lamps. Another taxi stopped: "Vous êtes fous" — you're crazy — said the driver, as we smiled and walked on. Maybe it was nuts, but the intense cold of the starry night was exhilarating. And thankfully, it warmed up in the next few days to a relatively balmy 15 degrees. Ask Travel Seattle Times travel writer and editor Kristin Jackson answers your questions about Montreal and other Canadian destinations in a live Q&A at noon Tuesday on seattletimes.com. Off-season pleasures Winter visitors to Montreal, a city of 3.6 million that's the largest French-speaking city in the western world after Paris, do miss out on the bustling summer life of sidewalk cafes, music and heritage festivals, and the city's world-class film festival. Yet there are advantages to the off-season. It's much more peaceful, with none of the summertime hordes of tourists who cram the narrow, cobblestone streets of Vieux Montreal, the historic heart of the old city that was founded in 1642 by French settlers. Flights and hotels are much cheaper. I paid less than $100 a night for a somewhat ramshackle, but cozy, suite with a kitchenette at the small University Bed & Breakfast. Its location was unbeatable — a short walk to the heart of downtown or to the restaurants of the trendy Boulevard Saint-Laurent. And winter brings its own pleasures, including outdoor skating rinks in the heart of the city; sleigh rides and cross-country skiing in city parks; and an annual winter festival (La Fête des Neiges) with concerts and other cultural events plus snowy fun, including outdoor games of volleyball and soccer and dog-sled races. And there's indoor fun, from shopping and museums to music clubs and restaurants of every ethnicity. To warm up, we headed indoors to some of Montreal's excellent museums. The premier art museum, the Musée de Beaux-Arts (Museum of Fine Arts), was a stylish place to wander among paintings and sculpture, from European old masters, including Rembrandt, to Islamic art to moody 19th-century Canadian landscape painting. Day by day, Montrealers beat the cold in "Underground City" (called RÉSO in French), a 20-mile pedestrian network beneath the city center where it's always balmy. The brightly lit underground concourses are lined with hundreds of stores and eateries, and link the city's major sights, hotels, Metro and train stations. It felt like an endless shopping mall to me, and I soon coaxed my teen daughter away from the trendy shops to the streets above. When we got too chilled, we'd warm up at one of the many European-style bakeries, indulging in fruit tarts or handmade chocolates. I'd order in French; hearing my mangled grammar, the shopkeepers would immediately switch to English. While only about 18 percent of the city's residents are native English speakers, many Montrealers are bilingual. On the bus To see more of the city and stay warm, we hopped on a Gray Line sightseeing bus for a three-hour city tour, from the pastoral heights of Mont-Royal, a 343-hilly park that rises steeply above downtown, to the stately stone buildings of Vieux Montreal and the stadium of Olympic Park, where Montreal hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics. The bus driver cranked up the heat and his patter: "It's a nice shack, eh," he cackled as we passed the sprawling 19th-century mansions of Westmount, the traditional bastion of rich, native-English-speakers. Later, the bus lumbered past the modest row-houses of East Montreal, where exterior iron staircases, built outside to save space, spiral to the upper floors. The bus became so drowsily hot, it was a relief to get out at viewpoints and at some of Montreal's grand churches, evidence of the once-firm grip of the Catholic church on Montrealers and all of Quebec province. That changed with the "Quiet Revolution" of the 1960s as Quebec turned more affluent, secular and multicultural. The faithful (and tourists) still flock, however, to St. Joseph's Oratory, a massive hilltop church by Mont-Royal park. Started as a tiny shrine in 1904 by a devout monk, Brother Andre, it expanded through his relentless efforts into an imposing, ornate church with an almost 200-foot-tall dome. Outdoor stairways climb steeply to the church; pilgrims still struggle up them on their knees, imploring for the healing miracles for which Brother Andre was renowned. Always a fan of visiting churches, I led my daughter into Notre Dame basilica in Vieux Montreal, the historic heart of the city tucked between the broad (and icy) St. Lawrence River and the downtown highrises. We whispered as we entered the ornate Catholic church, with its soaring Gothic-style nave, stained-glass windows and a vaulted blue ceiling that shimmers with 24-karat gold stars. There was only a handful of tourists, dwarfed by the vastness of the church, which, while it looks almost medieval, was built in the 1820s. It was a place to sit quietly, to think of the religion and cultures intertwined with Montreal, where the Iroquoian natives roamed for thousands of years, where French explorers landed in the 1500s, followed by fur traders, settlers and eventually the British and now waves of immigrants from all over the world. Montreal Where to stay • Stay at a downtown hotel, where you can easily walk to major sites (even in winter, thanks to the "Underground City." Some top hotels and boutiques are on Rue Sherbrooke Ouest, including the landmark Ritz-Carlton Montreal. Other upscale lodgings include the Hotel Sofitel and InterContinental Hotel. • I stayed at the moderately priced University Bed & Breakfast (adjacent to the downtown McGill University, Montreal's premier English-language university). It won't suit everyone — furnishings are eclectic and services minimal — but for about $100 a night, I got a cozy suite in an old-fashioned, townhouse-style building, with a living room, bedroom and kitchenette (www.universitybedandbreakfast.ca or 514-842-6396). • Get hotel information and make reservations through the city's tourism office, www.tourisme-montreal.org/ or phone the Quebec Department of Tourism at 877-266-5687. Getting around You don't need a car in the city; its center is compact, and the downtown and adjacent Vieux Montreal are ideal to explore on foot. For outlying areas, the city has a good Metro system. Guided bus tours are offered through Gray Line Montreal (www.coachcanada.com/montrealsightseeing/), or take a ride in parks or Vieux Montreal on a "caleche," a horse drawn-carriage (or sometimes sleigh). Traveler's tip • You don't need to speak French to get by in Montreal; English is widely spoken (However, it's generally appreciated if visitors try to speak a bit of French.) • While winter can be the most economical and least crowded time in Montreal, late September/early October and May also can be good times to visit, with lower hotel rates and more moderate weather. More information • Montreal Tourism: www.tourisme-montreal.org/ or 877-266-5687. • La F&ering;te des Neiges (winter festival): www.fetedesneiges.com/en/ In a Notre Dame side chapel, Catholic schoolchildren finished their prayers. They filed out into the street, bare-legged and laughing in their gray and navy uniforms, skipping along the snowy sidewalk. They didn't give Montreal's winter cold a second thought.
