Digital transition | Slow down spending, carriers ask ARTM

The major digital transition that is set to culminate in 2027 and that the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) is preparing must “slow down” and be done in stages to avoid any slippage, implore several Montreal carriers. The Authority, for its part, retorts that its plan has precisely been recalibrated to prioritize the most urgent.

“There is concern about the scale and the risk of IT slippage in the project. It would be better to carry out the project in stages, and to realize customer benefits first,” says bluntly one of the administrators of the Greater Montreal transit companies to whom we spoke. All prefer to remain anonymous for fear of professional reprisals.

For several months, the ARTM has been under strong political pressure regarding the deployment of its vast Concerto project, its digital transformation expected to cost more than 160 million, including the budget for contingencies. Until now, however, transport companies have remained cautious about this transition.

The OPUS mobile recharge delivered in April is part of it, but the wish is to add payment by card and by telephone in the coming years, to culminate in 2027 in a multi-mode payment system that would bring together the metro, bus, REM, car sharing, bike sharing, taxi, carpooling and scooter.

But in reality, for many carriers, the Concerto project is synonymous with “unnecessary expenses.” “The message we receive is that money is not an issue in this project […]but in the context where hundreds of millions are missing, it would be in our interest to reduce the scale, to slow down certain things,” illustrates another manager.

Losing sight of the essential

Data governance framework, behavioral research tool, digital design analyses: the impression of the transporters is that too many components of the project move away from its central objective, that of making users’ lives easier.

“Great Concerto masses,” bringing together up to 200 people specialized in information technology, are also organized on a recurring basis, the most recent of which took place last June, before the start of summer. “For us, these meetings are a bureaucratic disaster. And it is very difficult to justify in the financial context that we know,” maintains another administrator.

“We would have liked to have been consulted more so that this project would be truly connected to the needs of users. We are the ones who interact with customers on a daily basis, not the ARTM. The need is the credit card, the card on mobile, direct technology, that’s what customers want,” he adds.

Concerto was originally supposed to cost $57 million, according to documents we obtained, but since then the project has suffered several cost overruns. In the end, the bill – which totals $162 million precisely – has almost tripled.

“It’s big money and not so much quick customer benefits. The goal is for the customer to have it easier, but right now, they’re making life so complicated for themselves,” adds another source from the public transport sector. “We want to do Concerto, but we think there’s room for quick deliveries for the customer rather than aiming for the big dream of having everything at once,” she adds, referring to “major government pressure for quick results.”

Several carriers also fear that the Concerto project, given its complexity, “will end up being the next IT scandal,” after that of SAAQclic. “We look closely at the expenses of transport companies, but we don’t look much at the ARTM yet,” adds another source from a transport company, who hopes that the performance audits of the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, “will change the situation a little in this regard.”

The plan is balanced, responds ARTM

At the ARTM, spokesperson Simon Charbonneau responds to these criticisms that “claiming that offering modern payment and validation solutions to public transit users is a luxury is being disconnected from users and their expectations.” “They have waited long enough,” he insists.

“Concerto’s business plan was revised in 2023 to prioritize the delivery of concrete solutions to users and this is how it is being deployed. […] The Concerto project is being carried out in stages and, at each stage, an assessment is carried out based on the user’s needs,” adds Mr. Charbonneau.

The latter believes that his group’s approach is, on the contrary, “very responsible.” “By working on these elements, we improve the attractiveness, performance and, ultimately, the choice, ridership and revenues of public transportation.”

As for the major information technology meetings, the spokesperson retorts that “Concerto leverages the existing expertise in the OPTCs.” “This contribution from operators increases productivity and cost control. However, progress must be coordinated. This is what a planning meeting ensures.”

“The ticketing system is at the end of its useful life, it needs to be changed. The sooner we do it, the more we save by avoiding working on expected solutions on a platform that will have to be changed anyway, requiring reworking these same functionalities,” he concludes.