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How can I contribute?True to its French heritage, Montreal is a European-style walking city. In fact, neighborhoods such as Gay Village are closed to car traffic during the summer. Instead, visitors can rent bicycles and cycle along bike paths and shortcuts through Ville-Marie. There is also a well-connected subway and a bus system, and taxis can be hailed almost anywhere. The 747 shuttle connects Montréal-Trudeau Airport and Gare d'autocars de Montréal 24/7 and takes between 45 to 60 minutes, depending on traffic.
If you're driving into the city, take I-91 or I-89 from Vermont, I-87 from New York, and Autoroute 20 (also known as Autoroute Jean-Lesage) from Québec City. Note, however, that having a car in Downtown isn't ideal - garages are expensive and on-street parking can be a hassle. The city has a diligent tow-away and fine system for double-parking or sitting in no-stopping zones during rush hour, and ticket costs are steep. In residential neighborhoods, beware of alternate-side-of-the-street-parking rules and resident-only parking. In winter, street plows are ruthless in dealing with parked cars in their way. If they don't tow them, they'll bury them.
An extensive network of bike paths and relatively flat terrain make Montréal ideal for bicycles. The Bixi (a contraction of "bicycle" and "taxi") system-with more than 3,000 sturdy aluminum-frame bikes at more than 300 credit-card operated stands throughout the city-makes two-wheel exploring easy. For just C$5 you can take as many bike trips as you like over a 24-hour period, or for C$12 you can extend that to 72 hours. A one-way trip is C$2.75. Pay attention to the time, though: the system is designed for short hops; keep any one bike for more than 30 minutes, and you'll be charged extra.
The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) operates the metro, which is clean and quiet (it runs on rubber tires), and with 68 stations, will get you to most of the places you want to visit. For those few places that are more than a 15-minute walk from the nearest métro station, bus connections are available. Bicycles are also allowed on board during off-peak hours.
Metro hours on the Orange, Green, Blue, and Yellow lines are weekdays 5:30 am to 12:30 am, with some lines extending to 1:30 am on weekends. Trains run every three minutes or so on the most crowded lines-Orange and Green-at rush hours. A single ride costs C$3.25 and one- and three-day unlimited-use cards are available for C$10 and C$18. Note that it's cash only at the booth, but machines take credit and debit cards.
Montreal has four different public bus systems: Local buses run every 10 minutes or less to stops around the city. All-night buses run continuously every day of the week, but on a less frequent schedule. Express buses use designated lanes and take fewer stops, and shuttle buses travel to and from the airport, and to select tourist attractions, such as Old Montreal and Old Port.
Visitors can pay per ride with exact change, or use their Opus card for a reduced rate. An Opus card is an electronic ticket that visitors can top up with money or with passes. For example, one bus trip costs C$3.25, but an Opus card holder can purchase ten trips for C$26.50, or a weekly pass for C$25.50. Opus cards can be purchased at any metro station from the machine or the booth; booths accept cash only.
Taxis in Montréal will charge a C$3.45 bas rate and an additional C$1.70 per kilometer (roughly ½ mile). They're usually easy to hail on the street, outside train stations, in shopping areas and at major hotels, or can be called for dispatch at no extra cost. A taxi is available if the white or orange plastic rooftop light is on. Uber also operates in the city.