STM announces Between Stops service expansion to all its customers

Credit: Société de transport de Montréal

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has announced that any customer travelling alone or with children can now request the Between Stops service between 19:30 and 05:30. This includes people in wheelchairs, as long as bus ramps can be deployed safely.

Since 1996, the Between Stops service has been offered exclusively to women travelling alone on the bus network, allowing them to get off the bus between two stops. Removing the eligibility criteria based on gender identity and expanding the service to include people with reduced mobility aims to offer the same safe travel experience to all STM customers who might feel unsafe in the city at night.

“The Between Stops service expansion is another step closer to our objective of ensuring that all our customers feel safe during their trips. The STM will continue to work with other transit agencies and community stakeholders to identify best practices in this area,” said Marie-Claude Léonard, STM CEO.

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Once a request for a drop-off between two stops has been made, the driver’s first responsibility is ensuring that it is possible to stop the vehicle safely. This service is not available on express lines and shuttles to limit impacts on the timeliness of service delivery, or on the coming Pie-IX BRT due to its configuration in the middle rather than the right lane.

STM believes that it is essential that all its customers feel safe when using the bus, métro and paratransit services, and recognises that street harassment exists in Montréal and, by extension, in its network. The agency strictly condemns street harassment and is committed to finding and implementing measures to address the issue. The Between Stops service expansion is in line with this commitment and is the first step in an important process that involves the entire organisation.