Bus rapid transit on Pie-IX Boulevard

Over the past ten years, and as a member of a consortium, CIMA+ has delivered several studies for the implementation of a bus rapid transit (BRT) on Pie-IX Boulevard in Montreal and Laval, which was the first project of this type in Quebec. This major BRT that will serve 70,000 passengers daily includes 13 km of reserved lanes in a bus-only roadway, 18 stations in Montreal and 2 stations in Laval, as well as a park-and-ride facility. CIMA+ developed and put its expertise forward in the design and implementation of structuring public transit projects. Its team of multidisciplinary experts provided numerous services in the framework of various studies, such as feasibility, preliminary and final design, urban integration, and electrification prefeasibility, as well as technical support during the call for tender process, and during work.

Located east of the Montmorency–Côte-Vertu subway line, Pie-IX Boulevard is the busiest public transit corridor serving 45,000 passengers on a daily basis with two bus routes: a regular one, and a rapid transit one which operates during rush hours.

With the objective of optimizing the public transit offer along the boulevard, while ensuring users’ safety, the AMT entrusted the consortium, which CIMA+ was a member of, to conduct a prefeasibility study. Based on the results, a recommendation was made to implement bidirectional central bus-only reserved lanes. Building on the success of this first assignment, the consortium subsequently carried out various complementary :

  • Feasibility study that included the evaluation of a trolleybus operation option, and preliminary design on the Pie-IX boulevard reserved lane. This multidisciplinary study led to the optimization of the BRT concept in order to maximize urban integration and minimize the impacts on neighbouring areas (removal of mature trees along the corridor).
  • Preliminary and final design on the selected concept. Users’ safety was one of the project’s major issues CIMA+’s experts tackled through a study on pedestrians’ itinerary and flow, in order to adequately size pedestrian crossings, refuge areas, platforms and stations.
  • Drawings and specifications were produced, and work supervision was carried out for the Laval portion of the project and the Amos station sector in Montreal.

At a cost of $525M, and partial commissioning planned for November 2022, the Pie-IX BRT service will allow for connecting Laval and Montreal over 13 km of reserved lanes including 20 stations between the Saint-Martin terminal and the subway station located near Pierre-de-Coubertin Avenue. This project will improve the sector’s public transit service (buses running seven days a week, and every two minutes during rush hours), and users’ commute times. It will contribute to easing congestion on the east portion of the orange subway line. Developments provided to citizens and users will be safe, user-friendly, universally accessible, and comfortable.

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