Jean-François Mezei

@EdwinG What chores? clip your toe nails? May not apply to you because you are too young, but collect coins from under the couch cushions? :-) That is always "do the laundry".

@dhd6 @EdwinG With funding cuts to EXO du money shifted to help CDPQ, it is doubtful we can see any improvements to service, we should be happy to keep whatever trains remain. Unless a new government restores funding.

@EdwinG @dhd6 So if EXO gained control over Blainville-St-Jérome in 2007, it means that the additions of the sidings was planned by EXO and so was positioning of the Mirabel station next to siding instead of south of it.

Siding should have been extended to cross the road, allowing for platforms on either side of Mirabel station.

@dhd6 @EdwinG Mirabel is interesting. EXO started service tro Blainville and later extedned it back t St-Jérome, but the tracks were there, used by Québec and Gatineau to get to Gatineau.

2009 No siding.
2012 Siding built, no station
2020 and it wasn.t till 2020 that the Mirabel station was built. Don't remember when EXO extended service to St-J.érome and if Mirabel added laterl

There is really no way for train in oppopsing direction to make a stop there. the siding needs to be moved.

@dhd6 @EdwinG Yeah like at Dorval train station. Only validator is on tunnel south of the eastbound track. So if you enter on airport side and wish to go west, there is no valaiadator and you are expected to go down into tunnel, walks to other side of tracks validate and backtrack.

I asked a control agent on train once and told me "yes, and now that I know you know, you can't use that excuse on me ever" :-)

@EdwinG For EXO trains: when fare validator is broken, you need to take a picture of it with the red light and show it to the controller if you are checked.

@EdwinG If the card reader is broken, they should just sell you fares without charging your credit card and apologize for not charging you for the fares :-)

@heliomass @EdwinG @dhd6 Correct. The OPUS cards has storage for only 4 types of fares.

UPDATE: just checked, and it appears OPUS can now zap unused fares because I have card with 4 fare types, and it offers me all fares.

Months ago, or last year, Chrono didn't offer the fare I needed and was puzzled, and was able to load it at the train station machine without problem. Called STM and they confirmed Chrono couldn't delete fares when card already had 4.

@EdwinG Your train will arrive at Platform 9 3/4.

@dhd6 @EdwinG surprisingly , after scanning my A Opus card, choosing the C zone for fares (which it shouldn’t have allowed) Chrono did offer me the bus fares.

@EdwinG Ever since they "locked" OPUS cards to a zone (opening of REM), if you have an AB card, you can only load AB fares on it, so obviously any machine , even the metro, will draw an AB fare from it. It can't draw an A fare since there are none.

The question becomes if someone with an A opus card with only A fares loaded can board an STL bus in Montreal to travel on it. (if so, it implies honour system once you cross bridge you are expected to have a paid a B fare.

@EdwinG @dhd6 Chrono has a quirk: it does not have the ability to delete expired fare from your card.

Say you have :
-monthly pass
-10 tickets (expired)
-daily (expired)
-evening (expired)
Chrono wont offer you a weekend pass because it would be unable to load it on card because all 4 "registers" are loaded. But a vending machine will have no problem and will delete 1 of the unused registers to make way for new fare.

Monthly Bus ABC is offered:
(Monthly C and D also available at $119)

@EdwinG
Looking at EXO bus routes from Vaudreuil, some go to the Island (McDonald College, and REM station). Those gong to REM station have no other stops on island, so bus at REM station could require C fare.

But those going to MacDonald college has 1 or 2 stops before terminus.

EXO *could assume* that anyone who came in to island would have only C fares on card so when boarding in Montreal, a C fare would be drawn. But machine might accept A fares for someone pretending to travel 1 stop.

@EdwinG Wasn't aware the 439 went to Laval !

It is normal to charge a B fare when you board a bus bound for Laval. But if a bus from Laval has 3 stops in Montreal, should it really bother with the logic of charging a A fare if person boards at first stop in montreal to get off at 3rd/terminus without going to Laval. This steals revenue fro STM. (cabotage).

@EdwinG Southbound STL buses shouldn't allow boarding on the island (and if they did would still charge a B fare). But northbound, would allow boarding for people going to Laval (and charge a B fare).

@EdwinG Do the STL buses 52-252 stop at the same platforms as the 439 rapibus? 9or doe they stop on conventional sidewalks and you then have to cross to middle of roads to catch the rapibus?

@EdwinG So it's the train that closed the doors on you? If so, I know the Alstom conductor, We had him on our line a while back and he did that to a whole bunch of people who were waiting on the other platform and ran under to the other platform once train was obviously not on track EXO had told us to wait on. He eventuallty re-opened the doors to let us in and I had a chat with himl he was adament that he must keep the schedule and not wait for late passengers. Bad attitude.

@EdwinG If your buses can be tracked real time in Chrono or other, then that is what you have on as you leave the house to guide you on how fast you need to run to make the bus stop before the bus.

@EdwinG
1- OK, so if you pay $205 it means you are 99.5% across the Thousand Island River and almost in Zone C. (Zone C monthly is $206)
Laval is B and $170.

2-You need to learn to plan your life around public transit. If you know there is a bus at noon and next one at 16:00, then you plan your day to leave at noon to catch that bus.

And with experience, you get to know whether buses arrive at your stop on time, ahead or always late.

July 4th 1986, 40 years ago, I cycled from Fort Qu'Apelle to Esterhazy

150km, 8 hours 54 minutes, average of 16kmh , maximum 43.0
Echo Lake Prov Park/Fort qu'Apelle/10/22/Esterhazy

This area of Saskatchewan had villages created from bunch of folks arriving from different countries. Stockholm was populated from Swede expats, Esterhazy from Hungarians etc. But just passing through, you wouldn't notice.