Rapibus
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This article or section contains information about a planned or expected future road. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the road's construction and/or completion approaches and more information becomes available. |
Rapibus is a planned bus-only roadway for the Société de Transport de l'Outaouais (STO) in the city of Gatineau, Quebec. It is similar to the OC Transpo's version of the Transitway. The initial project expects that the busway will start in the east-end of the city starting in the vicinity of Boulevard Lorrain and Boulevard Saint-Rene and follows the Gatineau-Quebec railroad track (alongside Boulevard Maloney and Boulevard de la Carriere)towards downtown Gatineau. A bridge over the Gatineau River will be built as well as bike trails alongside near Lac Leamy.
Another section of the Rapibus will start at Boulevard Saint-Joseph, near the Freeman Park-and-Ride in the north end of former city of Hull. The two lines will converge near the [Gatineau River] and the railroad track just north of the Casino du Lac Leamy. There could other links towards Buckingham to the east and towards Aylmer to the west.
The main purpose of the Rapibus is to speed up the service for commuters in the growing sub-divisions of the city. Most major routes are clogged with heavy traffic heading towards downtown proving the need for a Rapid Transit Route, despite bus-designated lanes on key arteries served by the STO.
The initial proposed date for the beginning of the Rapibus system in slated for 2007, however it was pushed back for 2010 because the process is going slowly with multiple environmental assessments been made, because the route passes into important greenspace like Lac Leamy park near the Casino and also near Lac Beauchamp Park in east end of the city.
Some members of the Gatineau Council, Mayor Marc Bureau, STO administration staff and Cabinet Ministers of the Quebec provincial government (including Finance Minister Michel Audet, Transport Minister Michel Despres and Treasury Board President Monique Jerome-Forget) met in Quebec City on December 6, 2006 to discuss the issue. Bureau indicated some optimism about a future deal that would guarante a 150 million-dollar funding by the government.
The Rapibus should contain 11 stations, most of those in the Gatineau sector.
When completed, the Rapibus will likely handle all express routes as well as most rush-hour routes. Also, it would likely require at least two or three major routes to serve this road during off-peak hours.
Meanwhile plans for the O-Train to expend to parts of Gatineau alongside the Rapibus seems to be stalled for the moment. Although OC Transpo plan to have a 90-series bus route to run from Orleans to the end of the Rapibus roadway in the downtown area
