Montreal: Pedals, Parks & Public Transport

By Katie Dolan, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

From the very first day that I arrived in Montreal, the city was noticeably vibrant, clean, and well-taken care of. In the summer time, there was music on every street, and every restaurant was full of people sitting outside on terraces. But as the months passed and the weather got (A LOT) colder, the atmosphere didn’t change. People embraced the cold weather and the snow. Every frozen lake became an ice rink, and winter jackets were fashionable. Over the year, the respect and love that Montrealer’s have for their city became so obvious.

Montreal is such a unique city because it is literally built around nature. Mont-Royal is the mountain in the centre of Montreal, and it truly is loved by Montrealer’s. There are parks all over the city like, La Fontaine Parc or Parc Jean-Drapeau, so there’s always somewhere you can go to get some fresh air and clear your head.

I have found that one of the reasons Montreal is so sustainable is because of how accessible the public transport is. The metro system covers over 70km across 4 different lines, it’s super frequent with trains arriving every 3-12 minutes, and it’s as cheap as $3.50! The downtown area is also very walkable meaning there’s really not much need to use a car at all.

And of course, I cannot forget about Montreal’s Bixi Bikes! These are the equivalent to London’s lime bikes. They’re super handy for getting around the city, they’re very sustainable, and they’re really fun to use – and I only ever fell off once!

Cycling on the F1 Track

Something else that has helped me to be more sustainable during my exchange are Flix buses! I had the opportunity to go to New York a couple of times, Toronto, Vermont, and Boston, all of which we used buses to travel around. I found this was a super sustainable way to travel, avoided the carbon emissions from flying, and it was very cheap. McGill also offered something called ‘Must-Bus’ where they organised buses and trips throughout the year to lots of different places like Ottawa, Toronto, New York, and Quebec City. They also ran day trips to pumpkin patches or to go apple picking!

Now, I understand a-8 hour night bus ride isn’t everyone’s ideal way to travel but as someone who has now taken several of these, I can genuinely say you will look back on these trips with fond memories and with the friends I was with, it wouldn’t have even mattered if I was walking!