In an effort to expand services to West Islanders, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has launched a taxibus service in Ste. Anne de Bellevue that will run on the weekends. The taxibus - a call-based taxi service - will be provided on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, linking the Ste. Marie residential neighbourhood to the west terminus of the Anse à l’Orme 217 bus route beginning on Aug. 19.

“The added shared taxi service follows a request by area residents, making it easier for them to get around locally using public transit, particularly during off-peak periods,” said the vice-chairman of the STM Board of Directors Marvin Rotrand at the news conference to launch the service. “The new service, equally funded by Transports Québec and the Montréal agglomeration, (is) part of the public transit service improvement program.”

The service will be offered every hour (depending on requests) over the weekend and is synchronized with the timetable of the 217 bus. The STM’s purpose of providing this taxi-share is to connect Ste. Anne residents with the bus to help them get to places such as the Fairview Shopping Centre and the Colisee Kirkland.

“This project is a first step in the overall improvements to public transit service in the north end of Ste. Anne de Bellevue,” said Mayor Francis Deroo. “We are hoping that a large number of our citizens will use the new service, thereby promoting the expansion and optimization of public transit services in that part of town.”

This service adds to the STM’s shared taxi program with other taxibuses available in Baie d’Urfe and Senneville, to name a few. Residents hoping to use the service will have to call the CO-OP des propriétaires de taxi de l'Ouest métropolitain (514-636-6666) 40 minutes beforehand and only need to show a valid STM fare to get onboard. For more information, visit www.stm.info.