The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) may have “saved the furniture” by preserving service in the metro and its buses, but it now fears finding itself “facing a wall” next year in terms of financing.
“Basically, this year to maintain supply, we are selling cutlery to pay for bills. That being said, we really find ourselves facing a wall for next year,” said the president of the STM, Éric Alan Caldwell, before the Commission on Finance of the City of Montreal on Friday.
He was thus reacting to the budgetary framework of the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM) released on Thursday, which confirmed that the anticipated cuts in the metro and buses of Greater Montreal would not take place in the short term. To achieve this, however, the organization will have to give up a sum of 165 million which was planned to develop and maintain assets in the region, a good part of which was to go to the metro.
To balance its budgetary framework, the ARTM is asking transport companies to reduce their spending by 15.6 million on average. In total, the reduction in corporate spending will reach 80 million in 2024.
“The ARTM managed to save the furniture […]but there is a price that we had to pay to get there,” reacted Mr. Caldwell, according to whom a drop in service would have sent a “disastrous message” to users.
Mr. Caldwell did not hide his disappointment that no investment will be made in development in 2024, as Mayor Valérie Plante did on Thursday. “This 165 million will no longer be there next year and the year after that. It disappears, even though these are funds that we normally put into operations. »
“We are essentially passing the bill on to the cities. We seriously need to put in place new sources of structuring financing,” said Mr. Caldwell, who did not fail to denounce that the consultations led by the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, did not make it possible to identify any possible solutions in this regard.
An uncertainty that doesn’t help
According to the boss of the STM, the challenges are immense in changing the financial model. “We are far from having all the income we need. […] As long as there is not a major change in the equation, we will face the same problem,” he illustrated, nevertheless welcoming the increase in the tax on registration in Greater Montreal, which will bring nearly 122 million on public transport in 2024.
Ultimately, “if we want more ridership, we need an offer of services and if we want an offer of services, that requires a commitment from the State, otherwise we will not succeed,” added insisted Eric Alan Caldwell.
The mayor of Outremont and commissioner, Laurent Desbois, argued that “the certainty of having an offer can also influence demand”. “There are perhaps cars being bought at the moment because we are not sure of the supply,” illustrated the opposition representative.
In the short term, government aid next year for public transportation will be 265 million, including 238 million for Greater Montreal and 218 million for the ARTM.
However, other negotiations must take place for 2025 and so on, with Minister Guilbault still wanting to set up a recurring financing plan over five years. His office also said it was ready to “optimize investments to offer Quebecers better public transportation services.”