By John Connelly (EGPR ’21)
When doing your study abroad semester in Montreal, getting to campus may be a little more of an adventure than what you are used to. If you lived on campus in Burlington, this could be a big difference, since what used to be a quick walk to get to class has become a little journey. If you want to just walk it, it’s not so bad in the summer, but it might not be that fun come winter to brave a 35 minute walk through the Montreal cold. But if getting there by foot is not for you, there is a much faster way to get to class, where a 35 minute walk is transformed into a 15 minute subway ride. That’s right, public transportation.
In order to get to campus from the Evo student residence, the most simple and direct route would be to take the subway (or Metro, as they call it here in Montreal), but as direct as it may be, it could be a new challenge for many incoming students who have never been in a metro station before. The good news is that getting to the metro station from Evo is quick and easy. For starters, the entrance to Square-Victoria-OACI metro station is accessible through the Evo building, meaning there is no above-ground commute to get to the station, just a quick walk down some stairs and through a few tunnels.
Once you arrive at the ticketing entrance, you will need to purchase a ticket, assuming you don’t have one already. In Montreal, there is a reusable transit card called the “OPUS” on which rides can be added to in order to board the subway. The most cost effective of these would be the monthly pass, since it is assumed you would be taking the metro at least twice every day you have class. However, this may not be the best deal if you were to purchase the card midway through the month, so keep that in mind.
Once you have a card, you will either tap the Opus card to the turnstile sensor, or if you have a single-use ticket, it goes in the slot. If it is single-use, make sure you retrieve it from the output slot and hold onto it, because not only is it a reusable transfer ticket for one hour, but also proves you paid for your ride on the subway, which is routinely checked. After going through the turnstile, you want to look for the sign that says Montmorency, since that is the final stop in the direction you’d want to go to get to campus.
After waiting for the subway to arrive and boarding, you only have to ride for four stops: Place-D’Armes,Champ-de-Mars, Berri-Uqam, and finally get off at Sherbrooke. Then, after exiting from the turnstile on the other side and following the big red sign to your left that says “Sortie” (exit), there is a quick escalator ride.
Now, like Evo there isn’t much walking while exposed to the elements, since there is a neat little tunnel you can get to by going through a set of revolving doors, which when followed will lead you right to the outside of the academic center. Simply scan your key fob to get into the building and bam, you just made it to school! If you want to get back to the residence just do everything in reverse, making sure to ride the Côte-Vertu line to Square-Victoria-Oaci.
So, what you may have thought was hard is easy as step, tap, and go!