People like me are. Today was a rude realization. A little background. I give English courses and this session, I have several classes out near St Martin and Industrial in Laval. Before the new Metro stations, I had two choices to get to my classes. The fastest was the AMT train to Gare St Martin. The longer took me to Henri Bourassa and then a Laval bus. Each month I calculate the cost to decide if I needed to buy the Tram 3 pass (which costs $38 more than the regular STM pass). Since a round trip bus fare in Laval from Henri Bourassa costs $5.25, I had to go out there 8 times in a month for it to be worthwhile to buy the Tram 3 pass.

But now everything has changed. First of all, I no longer have choices. I must travel to de la Concorde station and take the bus. The AMT has closed the Gare St Martin. And the real rub is this. The round trip bus fare is still $5.25, but to reaccess the Metro in Laval now costs $2.75 extra.

So now it costs $8.00 to go to Laval instead of $5.25. That’s over a 50% increase! Since I was only scheduled to travel to Laval 5 times this month, I only purchased the regular STM pass and a packet of tickets in Laval. Imagine my shock to find today that I have to pay $2.75 extra to make the exact same trip I made Friday. And with fewer choices! I feel like I’ve been had. (It’s still slower than taking the ATM train from Parc too.) I’m sure I’m not alone.