The Official Opposition at City Hall is calling for the leaders of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) to be summoned to a special meeting of the city council, to explain the “uncertainty” around the budget hole of 77 .8 million and potential service reductions.
“On the one hand, the administration of Projet Montréal insists that everything must be done to reduce the use of solo cars and that there are too many vehicles on the Montreal road network. But on the other, we learn that it is putting an end to the bus network 10 minutes max on the sly, and this, at a time when ridership in the STM network is reaching a peak in three years, ”laments the councilor of town in Louis-Riel and transport critic, Alba Zuniga Ramos.
His party summons the Plante administration to “put the cards on the table” by inviting the management of the company to a “special municipal council”. A similar request had been presented this fall by the opposition, in the case of Ricova and the management of sorting centers.
At the end of November, the STM unveiled a shortfall of 77.8 million, compared to 43 million the previous year, reluctantly admitting that this could lead to service cuts this year on certain bus lines and in the metro, where the placement and frequency of trains could be “reviewed” as needed.
Then, at the beginning of January, a first blow occurred: the STM announced that it had to readjust its offer and put an end to its promise of a bus every 10 minutes maximum on the eight lines which still offered this rush hour service. According to the organization Trajectoire Québec, the end of this service will result in a drop in service of 11.2% on the 31 lines that were once part of this network. Off-peak periods will be the most affected “with drops of 16.6% during the day and 19.8% in the evening”, we were then worried.
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The opposition also demands that “the specific requests that the public carrier has sent to the Autorité́ régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) and to the Government of Quebec in anticipation of the 2023-2024 budget be made public”, as well as the recovery plan of the STM’s finances.
Mme Ramos also asks the City “to inform the population of all future service cut scenarios for the year 2023 in the event of the Quebec government’s refusal to increase funding for the STM”. She will table a motion to this effect at the next city council on February 20.
In the office of Mayor Valérie Plante, the opposition is told that “the financial contribution of the ARTM to the 2023 budget of the STM is still under discussion and will be decisive in presenting the state of the STM’s finances for 2023”.
“Transport companies can no longer depend on piecemeal emergency measures, a global transformation of the financing model is needed. Moreover, this is a message that we convey to the Minister [Geneviève] Guilbault, and which was heard. Service cuts are the last thing we want, ”says press officer Catherine Cadotte.