Transit and getting around

Public transit in Canada is run by the municipality or by a regional authority, not by the province. That is why the agency name, the fare structure and the fare card all change when you cross a municipal boundary — Montreal’s system is Société de transport de Montréal (STM).

Service area

Agglomeration of Montréal; the REM, exo commuter trains and STL/RTL buses serve the wider metropolitan area.

Before you travel

Fares, schedules and service changes are updated constantly and differ by fare zone, time of day and age group. The agency’s own pages are the only reliable source, so these are the links worth bookmarking rather than a table of fares that would be wrong within a season.

• Société de transport de Montréal (STM) — network maps, routes and news.
• Trip planner — door-to-door journey planning with real timetables.
• Service alerts — the fastest way to find out about a closure or delay before you leave.
• Fares and passes — current prices, day passes and monthly options.

Transit phone numbers

• City hall — main city number275, rue Notre-Dame Est, Montréal, QC H2Y 1C6 — 514-872-0311

  Montreal publishes one main number for general city business; permits and most services are handled by your borough.

  Official page

• STM — trip planning and general inquiries514-786-4636 (514 STM-INFO)

  Automated menu: option 8, then option 4. The bus-schedule line is 514-288-6287 (514 A U T O B U S).

  Official page

• exo — customer service1-833-255-6396 (1 833 allo-exo)

  exo operates the commuter trains and the bus network outside the STM/REM core.

  Official page

Paying for transit

Most Canadian systems have moved to a tap card or open payment, and many now cap daily or monthly spending automatically instead of requiring a pass. Accessibility is handled separately from the main network on every system listed here: door-to-door paratransit services usually need registration in advance, sometimes weeks ahead, which is worth doing before you need it rather than after.