July 1, 2022 A new phase of the fare reform takes effect

 The Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) is the organization responsible for planning, organizing, financing and promoting public transit in the Greater Montréal area (of which the Agglomération de Longueuil is part). The ARTM is also responsible for setting public transit fares on its territory.

Given this role, in 2021, the ARTM introduced an initial fare reform on Montréal’s North and South Shores (Zones C and D). This year, a new phase takes effect on July 1, 2022; given that it will apply in Montréal (Zone A) and in the agglomerations of Laval and Longueuil (Zone B), it will directly affect RTL users.

In concrete terms, this means new fares will be introduced, old ones will be discontinued, and the entire fare schedule will be reformed. The goals of this exercise are to harmonize fares, simplify the existing fare structure, and establish a common framework for the RTL, STM, STL, exo, and future REM. Consistency, harmonization and simplification are the watchwords of this fare reform, with goal of ensuring all public transit users can navigate the system easily and conveniently. This colossal undertaking—last attempted in 1998—is designed to reflect transit users’ current habits in order to better meet their needs.

• 1 fare schedule instead of 17 separate ones
• 4 fare zones instead of 8
  • ZONE A: Agglomération de Montréal
  • ZONE B: Agglomération de Longueuil and Agglomération de Laval
  • ZONE C: North and South Shores
  • ZONE D: Outside the ARTM territory
• Harmonized fare discounts for children and students
• Some 100 transit fares in total (versus 750+ previously)
• Creation of two new families of transit fares: All Modes (allows the user to combine all modes of transportation for 120 minutes) and Bus (allows the user to travel by bus only for 120 minutes).
• Full fare integration between regular and paratransit services by 2025.

RTL users will notice several benefits of this fare reform, including simplified travel and optimized fares. Here is a summary of the main highlights for RTL users:

• Starting July 1, most RTL users will need to purchase a Bus fare, which will allow them to travel by bus within the Agglomération de Longueuil and in Zones A, B and C (with the exception of certain exo lines).
• Users who use another mode of transportation instead of/in addition to the bus (commuter train, metro, future REM) will need to purchase an All Modes fare.
• Users who travel only by metro between the South Shore and Montréal will see the price of their individual transit fare increase to $5.25. Conversely, a single transit fare (All Modes AB) will now allow users to travel by RTL bus to the Longueuil metro, then by metro to Montréal, without having to purchase a new transit fare, representing a savings of $1.75 per trip.
• Introduction of new special fares linked to the REM (South Shore branch), i.e., the introduction—as soon as the REM starts running—of new fares for RTL users who previously only took the bus downtown.
• More specific conditions apply to paratransit.

Note that the new transit fares that take effect on July 1, 2022, are available at the usual points of sale, at our authorized partner sites, in the automatic ticket dispensers (terminals, metro stations), at metropolitan ticket offices, by subscription, and through OPUS En ligne.

For full details about the fare reform (fares, zones, rates, etc.), visit the ARTM website. Note that the section on Zone B—in which the Agglomération de Longueuil is located—can be viewed here.