After the roads, public transportation in Greater Montreal is also approaching pre-pandemic levels, reaching 90% of the 2019 ridership threshold, on average, since the start of the school year. And more than ever, carriers say they are “optimistic” of finding a long-term financial agreement with Quebec.
“Our buses are more and more crowded. Our metro is crowded. And we have customers who tell us that we have to let a few trains pass before boarding,” testified Friday the CEO of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), Marie-Claude Léonard, before the Montreal Chamber of Commerce. metropolitan.
At his side, the director general of the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM), Benoît Gendron, confirmed that for the first weeks of September, “overall ridership is around 90% compared to 2019” in the region. . The metro alone has been close to 85% since the start of the school year.
On the crowns, at exo, CEO Sylvain Yelle second. “We see the recovery in all services, even if it varies depending on the mode, with the train which is even lower. In the northern crown, we are beyond the traffic of 2019. In short, things are better, but we still have significant challenges to be able to have a long-term vision,” he noted.
So far, the transport companies of Greater Montreal have only obtained 200 million from the Legault government for 2025, while they demanded 421 million in the face of a shortfall of 560 million.
“At the moment, we are optimistic about finding a framework that will give us what people are asking for: predictability,” Mr. Gendron said on Friday, speaking of a future agreement for 2026, 2027 and 2028 “in the next few weeks.” He maintains that the ARTM “will now work more on how to revive public transport”, for good.
But at the dawn of the unveiling of the performance audits of the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, everyone recognizes that we will have to “reinvent ourselves” to reduce costs. Since 2022, the STM claims to have reduced its expenses by 170 million, out of a 1.7 billion budget. The ARTM is working on an “effort” of 156 million for an operating budget of around 2 billion.
More means, more buses
Sylvain Yelle also took advantage of the outing to remind us that exo buses around the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) could be much more frequent “if we had the funds to add service”.
Despite some improvements, frustrations remain strong since the overhaul of exo, which is based in the neighborhoods, but especially in connection with the REM. Users have notably denounced an increase in connections, an increase in travel times and more difficult journeys overall.
“It takes a continuous and sustained frequency so that people can completely leave their cars at home,” agreed Mr. Yelle, adding “that we could do it quickly if we had the funds.” “At the moment, we are being imitated at the budgetary level to add off-peak service,” he says.
According to him, if we double the frequency, we must think about doubling the costs: “Of course we are talking about a lot of money, but by attracting new customers, we will also have new revenues, and that will lower the deficit. »
A resident of the South Shore, Marie-Claude Léonard, of the STM, recognized that “the REM is fine when you go there by car.” “When you want to use exo buses, the frequency is not there,” she noted, also calling for more investments.