The Montreal Metro Etiquette Everyone Should Respect
- Thousands of Montrealers ride the metro every day, and it seems some people just don’t know how to act while doing so.
- If you put your feet up on the metro, give your bag its own chair, or forget to cover your mouth whenever you cough, this article is for you.
- Read MTL Blog’s version of a guide to metro etiquette below!
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On any given day, the metro can be a hotbed of germs, delays and crowded, overly hot commutes. But there is one pesky annoyance that is even worse: the rider who doesn’t quite understand public transit protocol. And we’ve all shared a car with that person.
Maybe, just maybe, we can make our daily commute a little less unbearable by all following a few simple etiquette rules while on the metro.
Most of us don’t need lessons in how to behave in public, we instinctively know that rush hour may not be the best time to whip out that piece of Limburger cheese we’ve been saving.
Taking public transit can be a lesson in patience. Much like a sign of “You must be this tall to ride” at a theme park, there should be a class taught or a basic “You must be this considerate to ride” test before being allowed the luxury of being packed on sweltering cars with hundreds of overworked, stressed-out people eager to get wherever they need to get.
The STM has launched a few ad campaigns in the past that focus on poor metro behaviours, like the humourous #prehistorics campaign and the #ConseilsDeMichele campaign, which aimed at decreasing the number of service disruptions.
So, maybe it’s that time of year to revisit some of the basic rules of protocol when sharing a space with others.
The metro’s here. What to do?
Put down the phone. For just a second. Trying to get on a car behind someone who has their face in their phone is like trying to get past a drunk.
Allow others to get off first. Really, it makes everything easier. When you do get on a car, don’t just stop a foot from the doorway, move to the back so others have space to navigate.