The main point of our project is to demonstrate the importance of the public transportation system in Montreal by demonstrating its many improvements since it was first created. Public transportation is used by most Montrealers on a daily basis, and as a result we believe it is important to know how we came to acquire such an advanced transportation system. We are addressing the four oldest forms of transportation tram, bus, metro, and train in order to narrow the scope of our project. We have focused on the history and development of these four methods of transportation to demonstrate the progression in Montreal’s transit system since the late nineteenth century. Furthermore, we demonstrate how transportation systems developed according to technological advancement as well as demand for more services to meet the needs of the rising population. These are important because it also shows how the demographics of Montreal changed. Through our discussion of transit history we touch on the effects of the war and the depression on the city and transport.
The sources we used depended on the section we were working on. For the section on busing we used the STM website’s history section as wells as a journal article on the history of Montreal transit. The STM website was an extremely useful primary and secondary source. It had a an abundance of pictures of some of the first buses in Montreal as well as detailed history of the bus system. This section was also useful for the history of the tram, however for this section we have also used the Bibliothèque des Archives de Québec's website. This was extremely useful as it is full of primary sources with explanations about the images it shows. We have relied on youtube videos showing the old tram routes as well as a website which documents the different tram cars used. As for secondary sources we have used the journal article on Montreal transit history as well.There are also some books that we used such as two books written by Fred Angus that were a great resource. As for our section on the metro there was another useful website which we encountered. This website was a translated article from La Presse (The Montreal French Newspaper) that discussed the history of the metro and its various stages of development. On this website, there was also a section about metro art, which we included as it is an integral aspect of the Montreal metro. For the section on the commuter trains in Montreal we found large collections of photographs and made use of several books . Details on the ridership were found on a dedicated website that is listed in our bibliography. Furthermore, on our Brief History page we have included links to an article in the Montreal Gazette concerning the train petition, as well as a link to a site where you can sign that petition. Finally, in this section we also used the Montreal Archives website, which served as a secondary as well as primary source. It contains pictures of Montreal from the past as well as summaries of it's history.
References:
History of the Montreal Metro, Benoît Clairoux translated: Matthew McLauchlin, http://www.metrodemontreal.com/history/toc.html , accessed November 23, 2010.
STM, History of the Bus in Montreal, http://www.stm.info/english/en-bref/a-autobus.htm , accessed November 18, 2010
DavesRailPix: Montreal Tramways, a World Wide Web gallery of photos at the URL: http://davesrailpix.com/mtc/mtc.htm,
Angus, Fred F., Remember Montreal’s Streetcars!, Canadian Railroad Historical Association, Montreal (Québec), 1971.
Angus, Fred F. and Olive Irwin Wilson, Streetcars of Montreal Tramways de Montréal, Canadian Railroad Historical Association, St.-Constant (Québec), 1990.
References:
History of the Montreal Metro, Benoît Clairoux translated: Matthew McLauchlin, http://www.metrodemontreal.com/history/toc.html , accessed November 23, 2010.
STM, History of the Bus in Montreal, http://www.stm.info/english/en-bref/a-autobus.htm , accessed November 18, 2010
DavesRailPix: Montreal Tramways, a World Wide Web gallery of photos at the URL: http://davesrailpix.com/mtc/mtc.htm,
Angus, Fred F., Remember Montreal’s Streetcars!, Canadian Railroad Historical Association, Montreal (Québec), 1971.
Angus, Fred F. and Olive Irwin Wilson, Streetcars of Montreal Tramways de Montréal, Canadian Railroad Historical Association, St.-Constant (Québec), 1990.
Binns, Richard M., Montreal's Electric Streetcars: An Illustrated History of the Tramway Era: 1892 to 1959, Railfare Enterprises Limited, Montreal (Québec), 1973.
Binns, Richard M., "The Montreal Park and Island Railway Co. and Its Rolling Stock," Canadian Rail, No. 433, March-April 1993, Canadian Railroad Historical Association, St.-Constant (Québec), pp. 39-70.
Sancton, Andrew. University of California, Berkeley. Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Institute of International Studies, Title Governing the Island of Montreal: language differences and metropolitan politics, 1985
Veilleux, Denis. "Buses, Tramways, and Monopolies: The Introduction of Motor Vehicles into Montreal's Public Transit Network" Michigan Historical Review vol. 22, No. 2 (1996): 103-126
