In the Lanaudière region, paratransit is administered by the Conseil Régional de Transport de Lanaudière. This council groups together companies that offer paratransit services in the following regional municipalities (MRC’s): D’Autray, Joliette, Matawinie, L’Assomption, Montcalm and Les Moulins.
Service de transport MRC de D’Autray
In the municipality of D’Autray, paratransit service is offered by the Service de transport MRC de D’Autray. Their office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Reservations for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday service must be made by 3 p.m. the day before the transportation date while reservations for Saturday, Sunday and Monday service must be made by 3 p.m. on the Friday preceding the outing. Users may contact the paratransit service by calling(450) 835-9711, or the toll-free number 1 877 835-9711.
Transport adapté Joliette métropolitain
In the municipality of Joliette, paratransit is provided by the company Transport adapté Joliette métropolitain (T.A.J.M.). The admission process is identical to that of other regions mentioned above. An application form completed by the applicant and a health care professional must be submitted. A photo of the applicant measuring 1 inch by 1 inch (2.5 cm X 2.5 cm) must be attached to the application form. T.A.J.M. office hours are: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Reservations can be made from Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Transportation services are available 7 days a week, i.e. from Monday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. To find out if paratransit service in your municipality is provided by Transport adapté Joliette métropolitain, please visit their website at www.Espacebus.ca .
Users whose condition requires the presence of a personal attendant must be aware of the rules. There are four categories of authorized accompaniments: optional, compulsory, related to parental responsibilities, and to destination. Only personal attendants of the compulsory accompaniment category travel for free. Other types of personal attendants must pay the same fare as the user. Users related to parental responsibilities category may be accompanied by their children under 14 years of age. Only children under 5 years of age are exempted from paying the fare. In the cases of optional accompaniment, the personal attendant will only be allowed to travel with the user if seats are available on board the vehicle.
For any information concerning an application form or reservations, please contact them at the following address:
Transport adapté Joliette métropolitain
928, Saint-Louis Street
Joliette (Québec) J6E 3A4
(450) 759-8931
Réseau de Transport collectif régional
In the municipality of L’Assomption, the Réseau de Transport collectif régional (RTCR) de la MRC de L’Assomption is responsible for providing paratransit to users of this area. To be eligible for the paratransit service, users must present a request for admission. The request for admission form can be downloaded from the R.C.T.R. website, or can be obtained by contacting the customer service for paratransit at (450) 470-3860 from Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or on Friday between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. where an agent will be happy to answer questions and provide the necessary information regarding the admission form and process[1]. Processing time is 45 days following reception of the application.
The RTCR’s territory covers the towns of Charlemagne, L’Épiphanie and Repentigny. Fares can be paid three different ways: monthly virtual subscription, monthly subscription with an OPUS card, and cash. The monthly virtual subscription service is similar to that of the Société de transport de Laval: payments are made by cheque which must reach the RTCR office at the latest by the 21st of the preceding month. Cheques must be payable to the MRC de l’Assomption and dated for the first day of the month of the subscription. The user’s name and complete address must be indicated on the front of the cheque. When the virtual subscription, users are no longer required to present a transportation ticket or pass to the driver: drivers are notified that the subscription fees have been paid for the month.
For users who opt for the monthly subscription, OPUS cards are compulsory. To find out the addresses of the points of sales for the OPUS card, users should first contact the RTCR customer service at (450) 470-3860, and then get in touch with the paratransit service to register a card and verify its validity.
Requests for service reservations are made either by visiting or phoning the reservation centre at (450) 470-8726. Office hours are Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Transportation service from Tuesday to Friday should be reserved before 12 p.m. the day before the service, while reservations for Saturday, Sunday and Monday should be made by Thursday 12 p.m. For transportation outside the covered territory, a request must be placed 2 days at the before the planned outing. An agent will phone by 4:30 p.m. the day before the requested service to confirm the reservation.
The RTCR must be notified of cancellations as early as possible. Users may be accompanied by a personal attendant, but the attendant must pay his/her transportation fare according to the applicable fare category. Users must inform customer service each time reservations are made for transportation during which they plan to be accompanied by a guide dog or service dog. Dogs are required to wear their harness at all times.
To benefit from the student fare, users must be between the ages of 18 and 25 and be enrolled as full-time students in an educational institution recognized by MELS as defined in the Act respecting financial assistance for students.
The steps to follow for obtaining an OPUS card are listed below:
- Fill out the OPUS application form;
- Students between the ages of 16 and 25 must ask a director of their educational institution to sign the form and affix the seal of the institution (accredited by MELS);
- Provide proof of age and the application form completed by a director of the attended educational institution to the RTCR administrative centre during the normal office hours of the RTCR administrative centre;
- Pay the fees for the OPUS card.
For more information, please visit:
Service de transport adapté
Centre administratif RTCR
75, Notre-Dame Street
Repentigny
Transport Adapté de la MRC de Montcalm
Paratransit service in the MRC of Montcalm is provided by the company Transport Adapté de la MRC de Montcalm. Eligibility criteria are, of course, the same as for the other MRC’s. Service is available for two types of transportation: regular and occasional. Whatever the type of transportation, reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance by calling either the toll-free number 1 888-242-2412, or (450)831 2182 If a reservation needs to be cancelled, it must be done at least an hour before the scheduled pick-up time, to avoid applicable penalties. Changes to reservations must be conveyed to Transport Adapté de la MRC de Montcalm at least 24 hours in advance. Reservations for Saturday, Sunday and Monday transportation must be made at the latest by 10 a.m. on the Friday before the transportation.
To find out about transportation fares for paratransit service, please read the pamphlet designed for that purpose available at the following address[2]:
Paratransit for the municipalities of Terrebonne and Mascouche is provided by MRC Les Moulins – Transport adapté. An application form needs to be completed.
It can either be downloaded from their website or it can be ordered by email or by phoning the office of MRC des Moulins at this following address
MRC Les moulins
148, rue Saint-André
Terrebonne (Québec) J6W 3C3
(450) 964-1098
Once admitted into the program (after a review of the applicant’s file following receipt of the application form), users must be informed that they will be assigned a status according to the type of transportation and the type of accompaniment required by the user. Whatever the type of transportation, users can be admitted into the program under one of three different categories: temporary, seasonal (winter), or general. The types of authorized accompaniment are: compulsory, optional, related to parental responsibilities, or related to needs of assistance at the point of destination.
The reservation process takes place in the following manner:
Reservations for transportation service on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday must be made at the latest by 12 p.m. the day before the required transportation. Reservations for transportation service on Saturday, Sunday or Monday must be made at the latest by 4 p.m. on the Thursday preceding the outing. The service is operational from Sunday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and on Saturday, 7 a.m. to 12 a.m.
Reduced fares apply to students aged between 12 and 25 as of October 31st of the current school year, who are enrolled as full-time students in an educational institution recognized by MELS as defined in the Act respecting financial assistance for students.
For users who wish to use a different paratransit service than the one mentioned above, here is a list of other providers in the area:
- Coop Taxi Terrebonne
466, rue des Seigneurs, bureau 201
Terrebonne (Québec) J6W 1T3
(450) 471-4723 - Taxi AA (dessert également la MRC de Montcalm)
Rawdon (Québec)
(450) 834-7823 - Taxi l’Étoile
6265, rue Belherbe, Apt. A
Saint-Léonard (Québec) H1P 1G3
(514) 449-4545
[1] Réseau de Transport Collectif Régional (RTCR) de la MRC de l’Assomption, http://www.gortcr.info/transport_adapte.html consulté le 14 octobre 2010
[2] Canada, Québec, MRC de Montcalm, transport adapté dépliant, http://mrcmontcalm.com/Transport%20adapte%20depliant.pdf