Montreal has an excellent public transit system. It is safe and fast, and you can get almost anywhere with it. It is operated by the STM [Societé de transport de Montréal]. STM Fares usually go up every year. Click here for the latest fares from the STM website.
The metro has 68 stations on four lines (Green, Orange,Yellowand Blue) connecting the island of Montreal to the island of Laval and the South
Shore. You can get a map of the metro and bus system at any metro station or at the map page of the STM website. The metro and buses run seven days a week from 5:30 am until 12:30 am (1:00 am on Saturday nights). There are differences on different lines. Check the official schedule here.
To get schedules for buses, you can get a free schedule on the bus or at metro stations the bus stops at. Also, you can download the schedules from the Planibus site in pdf format.
If you want to go somewhere, but you don’t know how to get there, try the Tous Azimuts site from the STM. You can use a map or enter an address for your starting point and destination, and Tous Azimuts will tell you different ways to go by metro and bus, and how long each way will take.
If you use single tickets, they work for a one-way trip. You put the ticket in the turnstile, and it comes out again on top. Keep your ticket, because it is a transfer for taking the bus after the metro, or the metro after the bus. It is also proof that you paid.
If you are under 26 years old (or over 65) and a full-time student, you can get a special OPUS card to get cheaper monthly passes for the bus and metro in Montreal.
At your orientation, the program coordinator will give you a special letter from McGill that lets you get a special photo-ID OPUS card from the STM Photo Studio, at 1717 Berri Street, at the Berri-UQAM metro station. The card costs $15, but you save a lot for monthly passes.
Information about the bus service in Laval: Laval STL.
For bus service on the South Shore: Longueuil RTL