Marie-Claude Léonard appointed CEO | The STM wants to prove that it is a “good investment”

To regain all of its ridership after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) intends to “reinvent itself”, but above all to demonstrate to the various governments that it is a “good investment”. .

Henri Ouellette-Vezina
The Press

“We are very aware that if we cut the service, we will not win them back, these users. We have to regain our share of goodwill, and therefore restructure the financing. For us, that means solid relationships with our partners, including Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, and the others,” explains the chairman of the organization’s board of directors, Éric Alan Caldwell, in an interview with The Press.

He affirms that the transport company will have a lot to do in the coming months to “convince its partners” and “demonstrate the effectiveness of the investment that we will ensure”. “Apart from the services, we have a lot of work to do in terms of persuasion, identification of solutions, and reflection on the mechanisms of public transport. Saying that we lack money is easy, but finding it and structuring it is more difficult,” argues the president of the STM.

This all comes as the STM’s board of directors approved the appointment of Marie-Claude Léonard as general manager on Friday. The former director of operations for the metro and bus network has been acting since the departure of her predecessor, Luc Tremblay, in April. M^me Léonard, who has been employed by the STM for 30 years, 20 of which as a manager, has climbed several levels throughout his career, having notably started as a cashier during his studies.

In a statement, the principal concerned said on Friday that she wanted to “highlight the full potential of the company’s employees who will contribute to modernizing the organization and making it even more efficient to meet the expectations of our customers and future generations, as a leader sustainable mobility”.

“The post-pandemic challenges are great for the STM, but I am convinced that you will be able to meet them brilliantly. Our administration is enthusiastic to work with you to promote public transit, ”responded Friday the mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante.

Solutions to be found

With the new realities imposed by hybrid work, the financing of public transit remains, according to him, “a huge challenge for which the solutions have not yet all been found”. “We cannot say that everything is clear, that everything is still unblocked, but I certainly feel a mobilization to move on to another stage”, indicates Mr. Caldwell.

At this time, approximately 62% of overall pre-pandemic ridership is back in Montreal’s public transit. Some 59% of metro users have returned, and in the buses, we reach 65%. Over time, since the start of the pandemic, several traffic forecasts have proven to be inaccurate, given the new waves of contamination.

“It is clear that all these forecasts must be recycled,” says Éric Alan Caldwell. For me, the key is above all agility, so collecting data to really understand people’s needs. You have to bet on it. By wanting too much to make forecasts, we miss the target. »

As for the new DG, Mr. Caldwell affirms that several “very high level applications” have been received, but that the profile of Mr.^me Leonard still distinguished himself. “It was a front race, with a whole process behind it. But it was she who stood out. His experience will be very relevant to us. She managed the STM crisis unit during the pandemic. And she never favored the status quo. We agree on one point: we can no longer continue like this at the STM,” he recalls.

On leaving his position, Luc Tremblay – who had been with the company for 28 years – lamented that two fundamental elements were missing to unlock the full potential of the STM: “an overhaul of the financing of public transport and a governance efficient metropolitan.

“The financing structure, which dates from the 90s, is totally disconnected from the new needs for our sector,” he added, in a thinly veiled attack against the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM). He had clearly denounced that its governance is “dysfunctional in several respects and is slow to deliver the benefits that should be associated with it, which has the effect of hampering the development of public transit in the region”.