ARTM budgetary framework | Service cuts avoided in the short term

The anticipated cuts to the metro and buses in Greater Montreal will not take place, at least in the short term, confirms the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM). In its budgetary framework published Thursday, the organization however spends 165 million to develop and maintain assets, warning that the industry is based on a balance that is “precarious” to say the least.

“It’s a bit like a bandage for the year 2024,” summarizes the Director General of the Authority, Benoit Gendron. According to him, “the good news is that we are avoiding the dreaded service cuts.” “It was a priority for all of us,” he insists.

Next year, the ARTM will have to increase some 165.5 million in non-recurring sums for the development of services and the maintenance of assets. To balance its budgetary framework, it will also ask transport companies to reduce their spending by 15.6 million on average. In total, the reduction in corporate spending is expected to reach around 80 million in 2024.

Meanwhile, contributions from municipalities in the metropolitan region will have to increase by $36.4 million to complete the fiscal year. The Authority says it will also reduce its budget by nearly 20 million in 2024 to achieve this.

In short, if all goes well, the service will therefore be maintained in the short term, since these “optimizations” will ensure that the operating remuneration of operators – in other words, the income of transport companies – will increase on average by 3.2% next year.

It is still unknown how much precisely the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) will receive. Last year, the increase in his remuneration was 7.1%; its revenues had increased from 1.49 to 1.58 billion.

Towards other negotiations

In a press release, the ARTM reiterates that a work table must be set up “quickly” with the Ministry of Transport and the Metropolitan Community of Montreal (CMM) to “identify sustainable and predictable sources of funding for the period 2025 -2029”. “No one wants to relive a situation like the one we faced this fall,” says Mr. Gendron.

He thus refers to the tough negotiations which were held between Quebec and Montreal, often in the public arena, and which ended abruptly at the beginning of November.

Ultimately, the government will pay 238 million to public transit in Greater Montreal in 2024, including 218 million to the ARTM. However, the mayors had said they feared significant cuts short of aid of 300 million, including the closure of the metro after 11 p.m.

“It was following arduous negotiations that a financial framework was narrowly finalized, on the eve of the adoption of the municipal and OPTC budgets. These budgetary planning methods are unsustainable,” concludes Mr. Gendron, who deplores the fact that the ARTM is still forced “to mortgage the future by reallocating non-recurring sums.”

Last week, in its 2024 budget, the City of Montreal increased its total contribution to the ARTM by 48.4 million in 2024, going from 667.2 million to 715.6 million, an increase of 7%. This is also the largest increase in the budget: public transport now represents 10.2% of the municipality’s expenditure, compared to 9.9% in 2023.

Shortly before, the STM had announced that it would have to eliminate more than 120 positions and reduce its expenses by 50 million to balance its next budget. It is this effort that should allow it not to reduce service in the metro and the bus network for the moment, the company argued.