The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) says it is in a “critical financial situation”. It proposes to maintain service reductions in 2022 and to postpone the maintenance of its new Azur trains in order to absorb its deficit.
Posted at 11:04 a.m.
Despite these efforts, the organization’s budget shows a hole of 43 million, which it will try to fill during the year.
At the center of the problem: “a drastic, dramatic drop” in network traffic, a direct consequence of the pandemic, described Eric Alan Caldwell, chairman of its board of directors. Users gradually returned throughout 2021, but Omicron derailed the recovery at the end of the year.
This drop in attendance has enabled the STM to reduce its service on the metro by 5% and by 3.5% on the buses in 2021 without, in its opinion, having too much impact on customers. The STM intends to extend these service reductions in 2022, in order to save 25 million.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Éric Alan Caldwell, Chairman of the STM Board of Directors.
The STM has also chosen to postpone to 2023 the first major maintenance operations of its new Azur trains, while some of them have been running for six years. This postponement will save the organization $12 million.
“There will be no safety issue, but there could be reliability issues, however,” said Luc Tremblay, general manager of the STM.
Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Tremblay testified before the Finance Commission of the City of Montreal, which reviews the various municipal services.
Éric Alan Caldwell pointed out that the STM’s funding model was not viable. “The solution is really new revenue streams,” he said.
The STM has a budget of 1.6 billion.