Voices are being raised in Repentigny to denounce a “starving” public transport network in this Lanaudière city where many citizens are turning to the car after being confronted with crowded and often late buses. A situation deplored by the mayor, Nicolas Dufour, who is calling for a review of the model governing public transport in the Montreal region.
“There are many challenges because public transportation, here in Repentigny, is starving,” says the elected official in an interview with Duty.
It must be said that the lack of public transport is not new in Repentigny. According to the latest Statistics Canada census, 87.5% of the city’s residents aged 15 and over travel by car most of the time, while 6.9% of them opt for public transit.
Ridership on the buses of the transport organization Exo nevertheless exceeded the level before the pandemic, to stand at 115% of what it was in 2019 in the L’Assomption sector, which includes Repentigny, confirmed the organization Duty. “We are at a pivotal period, at a critical period, and we must not miss the boat at present,” notes transport planning expert and lecturer at the University of Montreal Pierre Barrieau, who pleads for a increasing the service offering to users to meet this growing demand.
Exasperated citizens
However, Exo’s offer is on average 95% of what it was before the health crisis in the municipalities that the transport company serves, in the northern and southern suburbs of the metropolis. The limited funding granted to the transport company by the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM) “does not allow us to increase service for the moment, despite the ridership,” explains spokesperson Jean-Pierre by email. Maxime St-Hilaire.
The number of daily departures of Exo bus lines towards Montreal has increased from 132 in the fall of 2019 to 117 currently. The buses thus find themselves “fuller” than before in Repentigny, recognizes Mr. St-Hilaire.
At the same time, the organization has received 1,131 complaints since the start of the year and 1,584 last year from residents of the L’Assomption sector, we learned. The duty. A significant part of these complaints concerns “the shortage of drivers”, which sometimes leads to “cancellations of departures or delays”, notes Exo. “We have implemented several measures to reduce the impacts of the labor shortage this fall,” assures the spokesperson, however, at a time when the exasperation of the organization’s users is palpable.
Since 2018, teacher Macha Daméus has been traveling five days a week by public transport to get to her workplace in Montreal. In recent months, however, she found that the buses were more crowded than before, to the point where she regularly had to stand for 45 minutes during her commute to work.
“It’s very heavy. I am a teacher with my lunch and my materials and I am piled up standing in a crowded bus,” says Mme Daméus, who has also arrived late for work several times due to the lack of punctuality of Exo buses. “I said to myself: ‘It’s become unbearable, I’m going to buy a car’,” continues the 30-year-old woman, who purchased a car in September.
Jasmine Viau moved to Repentigny last year. She also intends to resign herself to buying a car, her journeys between the city of Lanaudière and Montreal, by commuter train and bus, causing her too many headaches. “On an ecological level, the government is trying to reorient us towards public transport, but here, that is not possible,” sighs Mme Viau, who works in the construction industry.
When I want to go home, I end up arriving late because public transportation is unreliable
“When I want to go home, I end up arriving late because public transportation is not reliable,” also sighs Oldemar Batista, a 17-year-old young man who lives in Repentigny. I think that to live in the suburbs, like in Repentigny, the best solution is to have a car. You are more certain of arriving at work or school on time. »
“A mess”
A sign of citizen discontent regarding the lack of punctuality and frequency of Exo buses, “it is rare that in a municipal council, there are no citizens who come to see us to talk to us about a public transportation problem,” indicates the strategic advisor for public and government affairs at the City of Repentigny, Sofia Benzakour.
“I find it very disappointing to see that we have people who are ready to make the effort to take public transportation because they are very aware of environmental protection, but who are not capable of take it because the structures are blocking us, the financing is blocking us,” sighs the mayor, Nicolas Dufour. The latter thus calls for a reform of the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM), created in 2017, in order to give back to suburban towns the power they have lost to have a certain control over the transport offer in common in their territory.
“Public transportation, since 2016-2017, excuse the expression, but it has become a mess in the Montreal region. There are far too many players and it’s very complex,” says the elected official, who deplores that the City cannot have a real idea of the needs of its residents in terms of public transport.
At the same time, Exo is currently conducting a series of public consultations in anticipation of an expected overhaul of its bus lines in several municipalities in Lanaudière, including Repentigny. However, this revision will only be implemented in 2026.
Meanwhile, in the office of the mayor of Repentigny, there is fear that the transport company will decide to reduce its service offering in the sector due to its precarious financial situation. However, “if we cut, it is certain and certain that [nos résidents] will return to their solo car,” warns Mr. Dufour.
The ARTM recalls for its part that its financial framework for 2024 should make it possible to “ensure the regional financial resources necessary to maintain the level of service which prevailed in 2023” in the greater Montreal region.