The fare revenues of public transit companies in the greater Montreal area will remain marked by the pandemic at the end of it, resulting in an annual shortfall of several hundred million dollars that Quebec will not be able to continue to fill “eternally”. , warns the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM).
The organization responsible, among other things, for the financing and planning of public transit throughout the metropolitan area released its director general, Benoît Gendron, on Thursday for a rare series of individual interviews with representatives of some media, including The duty.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which celebrated its second candle earlier this month, not only caused ridership on the metro network, bus lines and commuter train to drop during successive episodes of confinement that have marked the last two years. It has also permanently changed the habits of many workers, who have taken a liking to teleworking, at least in a hybrid formula, and who have also developed the habit of buying online rather than traveling to downtown Montreal to do their shopping.
” The duration [de la pandémie] has accelerated changes in user habits,” summarizes Mr. Gendron, seated in the ARTM offices downtown.
The organization thus predicts that the “new normal” in terms of public transit ridership at the end of the pandemic should be 85% of the 2019 level, compared to 64% currently in the region. Eventually, ridership will start to rise again and exceed the pre-pandemic level thanks to demographic growth and that of the “service offer”, in particular with the arrival of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) and the extension of the blue line. metro, believes Mr. Gendron. However, it will be necessary to wait several years before the repercussions of the health crisis on the number of empty seats in public transport fade.
Obsolete funding
In the meantime, transport companies in the region will have to deal with a shortfall of at least 15% in their fare revenue, which could represent “several hundred million dollars” in losses each year for the ARTM, which reports a 38% drop in ticket sales monthly since the start of the pandemic. Until now, the organization has received emergency support from the Government of Quebec, whose latest budget will also completely offset its deficit of approximately 300 million for the year 2022, confirmed Mr. Gendron. , who however wishes to see further.
“The government is compensating so far, but we don’t expect it to compensate for this loss forever. It is in this sense that we must find new sources of financing at the end of the pandemic”, insists the director general, who wishes that these be “sustainable and predictable”. Asked about the measures that could be taken in this regard – such as the creation of road tolls or the improvement of the gas tax – Mr. Gendron preferred not to come forward.
“The shortfall cannot be paid by any of the three main pillars” of public transit funding, he mentioned, in reference to users, the Government of Quebec and municipalities, which share approximately 95% of the invoice for the operation of the entire network in the region. Motorists pay the rest through gas tax and registration fees.
“We have to stop short-term management and take a longer-term perspective,” added Mr. Gendron.
A “solution” for the STM
As for the amount of $43 million currently lacking to balance the budget of the Société de transport de Montréal this year, Mr. Gendron assures us that a solution will be found to fill it. However, he did not want to specify Thursday if the ARTM will use the money from Quebec to reimburse the entirety of this bill or if the STM will not rather be called upon to tighten its belt more.
“I don’t have the precise terms yet, we are waiting for them from the government, but we are confident that we can find a solution for the STM”, assures the director general.
As for the users of the transport companies in the region, who will know the details of the next rate increases at the end of April, they should not have any unpleasant surprises, despite the current inflationary context. “Now is not the time to make users pay […]. We want to bring them back into public transit,” explains Mr. Gendron. Last year, tickets increased by an average of 2%.