Free for seniors, a “false good idea”?

The budget of the Société des transports de Montréal (STM) for 2023 will be announced Monday morning, and many citizens are concerned that it will include reductions in the frequency of metros and buses, due to a lack of ridership, and therefore of income, in due to the pandemic. This is why the new measure of the administration of Valérie Plante, which aims to make public transit free for seniors as of July 2023, at an annual cost of 40 million dollars, is far from unanimous.

“If I had to choose, it is certain that I would not want to touch the frequency of buses and services, supports Christian Savard general manager of Vivre en ville. If we maintain the usual service, it can be interesting. Mr. Savard believes that the City’s measure suffers above all from “difficult timing”.

It was a report by Radio-Canada, published last Thursday, which set the powder on fire. We learned that the STM considered including in its budget reductions in the service offer “of 3.7% [pour les] buses and 4.8% [pour le] metro compared to 2022”, to achieve savings of $18 million. The measure of the City of Montreal had been unveiled the day before.

“The STM is still in discussions with its donors. The Radio-Canada article mentions documents that reflect avenues and working hypotheses that are not, at present, the budgetary guidelines that will be tabled next week,” said the STM by email, contacted by The duty. The transit company, however, did not specify whether further service frequency cuts could be ratified on Monday.

For its part, the City of Montreal defends its measure of free access for seniors: “We have to invest in the development and maintenance of the network, that’s clear. But we also have to invest in incentives and in the fight against inflation, to help seniors. We made a commitment to deliver this measure by 2023, right now, because inflation does not wait, ”explains Catherine Cadotte, press secretary to the mayor.

The City will also increase “its contribution to the ARTM by 4% in 2023, as requested by the Government of Quebec”, indicates Ms.^me Cadotte, to finance transportation, including those managed by the STM.

It should also be remembered that free admission for seniors was an election promise of Mr.^me Plant in 2017 and 2021, but had to wait and “adapt”, because of the pandemic.

What do users think?

The citizens met by The duty in the Montreal metro all seemed satisfied with this measure. “It’s true that prices are rising a lot at the moment, I can feel it. It will really do you good, ”says Danielle Provost, retired, who still takes the metro “every week”.

On Twitter, the Fédération de l’Âge d’Or du Québec (FADOQ) also welcomed the City’s investment: “We hope that other cities will follow suit and that the public transport offer will develop, particularly in the region. »

“Among seniors, inflation has a greater impact,” said Florence Paulhiac, professor of urban studies at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM). Those who take public transit have more unfavorable economic situations than others. Some groups have more needs. It is a social project. »

Even the STM, in its email response, praised the City’s investment: “We believe this is a relevant incentive to encourage more people to use public transit and which could have a lever to increase public transit ridership, without increasing the pressure during rush hour. »

M^me Paulhiac adds “that we have just cut a resource which itself did not represent such a significant expense”. Seniors already benefited from “social pricing”, she says. They currently pay $28.25 per month for unlimited access to public transit in the “Montreal agglomeration”, that is to say zone A of the new fare schedule of the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain.

To avoid the “negative spiral”

“The problem is the context of financing public transport in times of a pandemic”, nuances the professor. Like Mr. Savard, she fears the impact of cuts in the transport networks. “From the perspective of ecological transition,” she adds, we must “continue to ensure recurring funding.

Mr. Savard therefore hopes that the STM’s funders “avoid at all costs a negative spiral” where “people take the bus less because the frequency decreases, and a drop in ridership still causes cuts in the service “.

He also proposes that the government of Quebec adopt a “Quebec social pricing policy” and directly finance measures such as free admission for seniors, “because cities already have a lot on their shoulders”.

M^me Provost hopes “that there won’t be too many cuts” in the frequency of services, even outside of rush hour, since she regularly takes the metro on weekends.

“This is also the case for more and more workers,” explains Ms.^me Paulhiac. We will have to be careful. It’s a bit like Pandora’s box.

To see in video