No more shuttle buses early in the morning and during the evening.
Early morning shuttles from Concordia’s downtown and Loyola campuses have almost all been cut with this year’s new reduced schedule.
The first buses will leave Loyola at 9:15 a.m. and Sir George Williams at 9:30 a.m. The new schedule forces the many students who have 8:45 a.m. classes to find alternative methods of travel. Students with evening classes will be in the same predicament, as the last shuttles will leave both campuses at 6:30 p.m. from Mondays to Thursdays and 6:15 p.m. on Fridays.
Previously, there were shuttles before 8 a.m. every weekday and past 10 p.m. from Mondays to Thursdays. The university links this decision to financial strains.
“The aim is to continue to provide the service to the Concordia community, even as the university navigates a difficult financial situation,” said Daniel Bartlett, communications advisor for institutional affairs at Concordia, on the university’s website.
Concordia’s approved deficit in its 2024-25 operating budget is $34.5 million, and as La Presse reported, the university plans to cut spending by $36 million to meet this target. This comes as the university sees a drop in enrollment following tuition hikes for out-of-province and international students.
It’s not all bad news for students traveling between campuses: shuttle frequencies this year will increase during the day. There are plans for departures from each campus almost every 15 minutes. In comparison, last year’s schedule had one bus leaving each campus every thirty minutes during the day.
The full schedule is available on the Concordia website and the Concordia app, as well as live-tracking of the shuttles using the Concordia app.
The shuttle bus stops are located in front of the Vanier Library at the Loyola campus and in front of the main entrance of the Hall building at the Sir George Williams campus. The shuttle is free to use for all Concordia students, faculty, and staff. All you need to do is present your ID card to the driver when getting on the bus.
If you need to travel between both campuses and there are no shuttles available, your best solution is the STM’s public transportation network. From the Sir George Williams campus, you can take the metro to Vendôme, where you can take the 105 bus line to Loyola, and vice versa if going the other way. This route takes about 45 minutes, compared to the shuttle’s 30 minutes.
