The end of the “10-minute MAX” bus service of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) will result in an 11.2% drop in service on the 31 lines that were part of this network, two consumer advocacy organizations.
A few dozen people gathered Thursday morning at the corner of Jeanne-Mance and de Maisonneuve streets, where this high-frequency network was born 13 years ago, in 2010. They commemorated the end of a service there. essential” during a “mortuary ceremony”, in what looked like a funeral.
According to Trajectoire Québec and the Montreal Regional Council for the Environment (CRE-MTL), which organized the event, the abandonment of the “10 minutes MAX” network will result in a drop in service of 11.2% on these 31 lines compared to the initial promise that was made in 2010.
Before the pandemic, 31 bus lines were part of this high-frequency STM network. Then, this number dropped to only eight, i.e. lines 18 (Beaubien), 24 (Sherbrooke), 33 (Langelier), 64 (Grenet), 103 (Monkland), 106 (Newman), 141 (Jean-Talon Est) and 406 Express (Newman). These eight lines were in turn withdrawn from the network at the beginning of January.
An “unacceptable” decline
For the two organizations, it is a “general weakening of the 31 most important lines of the STM bus network, especially outside peak periods”. They maintain that off-peak periods will be the most affected “with declines of 16.6% during the day and 19.8% in the evening”. “In addition, the end of the 10-minute MAX network represents a 7.1% drop in service in the morning,” they add.
“Transit companies like the STM do not have the means to offer a service that meets the needs of Quebecers,” said the director general of Trajectoire Québec, Sarah V. Doyon, on the sidelines of the rally on Thursday.
She calls on Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault, who has already opened the door to a review of the funding model for transport companies, to “indicate concretely how the government plans to deal with it in the next Quebec budget”. The elected official is also called upon to provide answers on February 6, during the Trajectoire Québec benefit luncheon, which she should in principle participate in.
“A decline in public transport is unacceptable. The City of Montreal and the Government of Quebec must act proactively to build a solid public transit system if we wish to achieve our GHG reduction targets. In this climate race against time, Quebecers deserve that their political decision-makers act in a concrete way,” pleaded the transport manager at CRE-MTL, Blaise Rémillard.
At the STM, it was indicated a few weeks ago that the decision to end the “10 minutes MAX” service was made due to the upheaval in the transport habits of users since the start of the pandemic. “People don’t necessarily go as much to the city center at rush hour anymore, so it varies and we adapt to travel habits by optimizing the service”, explained in particular the spokesperson for the company, Justine Lord. -From the oven.