Moncton - Transportation

Transportation

Air

Moncton is served by the Greater Moncton International Airport (YQM). A new airport terminal with an international arrivals area was opened in 2002 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The GMIA handles nearly 575,000 passengers per year, making it the second busiest airport in the Maritime provinces in terms of passenger volume,. The GMIA is also the 10th busiest airport in Canada in terms of aircraft movements. Regular scheduled destinations include Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton and New York City. Scheduled service providers include Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz, Westjet, Porter Airlines and Continental Express. Seasonal direct air service is provided to destinations in Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Florida, with operators including, Canjet, Sunwing Airlines, Sunquest and Air Transat. FedEx and Purolator have their Atlantic Canadian air cargo bases at the facility. UPS will also be opening a facility at the GMIA in 2012. The GMIA is the home of the Moncton Flight College; the largest pilot training institution in Canada, and is also the base for the regional RCMP air service, the New Brunswick Air Ambulance Service and the regional Transport Canada hangar and depot.

There is a second smaller aerodrome near Elmwood Drive. McEwen Airfield (CCG4) is a private airstrip used for general aviation. Skydive Moncton operates the province's only nationally certified sports parachute club out of this facility.

The Moncton Area Control Centre is one of only seven regional air traffic control centres in Canada. This centre monitors over 430,000 flights a year, 80% of which are either entering or leaving North American airspace.

Railways

Freight rail transportation in Moncton is provided by Canadian National Railway. Although the presence of the CNR in Moncton has diminished greatly since the 1970s, the railway still maintains a large classification yard and intermodal facility in the west end of the city, and the regional headquarters for Atlantic Canada is still located here as well. Passenger rail transportation is provided by Via Rail Canada, with their train the Ocean serving the Moncton railway station six days per week to Halifax and to Montreal. The downtown Via station has been recently refurbished.

Highways

Moncton lies on Route 2 of the Trans-Canada Highway, which leads to Nova Scotia in the east and to Fredericton and Quebec in the west. Route 15 intersects Route 2 at the eastern outskirts of Moncton, heads northeast leading to Shediac and northern New Brunswick, Route 16 connects to route 15 at Shediac and leads to Port Elgin and Prince Edward Island. Route 1 intersects Route 2 approximately 15 kilometres (9 mi) west of the city and leads to Saint John and the U.S. border. Wheeler Boulevard (Route 15) serves as an internal ring road, extending from the Petitcodiac River Causeway to Dieppe before exiting the city and heading for Shediac. Inside the city it is an expressway bounded at either end by traffic circles.

Urban transit

The Metro Moncton Area is served by Codiac Transit, which is operated by the City of Moncton. It operates 40 buses on 26 routes throughout Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview. The city is currently working to increase its annual ridership from 1.8 million to 2.8 million. To assist with this, the bus fleet will increase to 54 vehicles within the next two years. Service frequency will increase with old routes reconfigured and new express routes added, including regular service to the international airport.

Intercity Bus

Moncton is the headquarters of the Acadian Lines interprovincial bus service. All other major centres in New Brunswick, as well as Charlottetown, Halifax and Truro are served out of the Moncton terminal.