“A brusque management style and organizational opacity” which pose “real obstacles” for the progress of public transport in the Montreal region. This is the harsh observation that the Ministry of Transport posts to the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM) in a report tabled Wednesday in the National Assembly. The young organization assures in return that it will give a boost to get back on the right track.
The ARTM was created in 2017 to “plan, organize and finance” public transit in the Montreal region. However, since its commissioning, the companies that operate public transport have observed “a lack of transparency”, “a loss of proximity and follow-up carried out with the municipalities” and “a sometimes difficult collaboration” with “the Authority”. .
This observation emerges from consultations with the management of the transport services concerned, the mayors of Laval, Longueuil, Montreal, Repentigny and Varennes, as well as with 82 municipalities surrounding the island of Montreal.
Above all, the ARTM is overstepping its mandate and has begun to operate certain services itself, the report suggests.
River shuttles are a good example, points out Michel Veilleux, general manager of the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL). “I don’t understand why the ARTM came to get involved in this. You could say it’s a pilot project, but the human being being what it is, we tend to seek out skills and then keep them,” he said in an interview with the To have to.
Not doubting the “good faith” of the administrators, he was nevertheless of the opinion that the transport companies should “operate” the buses, trains and ferries, while the planning body should content itself with planning.
“We immediately saw the weight that [l’ARTM] was able to take in the REM file. He was absent from the planning, but when the government appointed him, there was really a questioning. On the major issues of public transport, they have a really important dominance”.
“However, many stakeholders have also come to the defense of the ARTM with regard to the vagueness regarding its role vis-à-vis the Ministry of Transport and CDPQ Infra,” the report also underlines.
The Minister of Transport, François Bonnardel, insisted on this point, when invited by The duty to comment on the report. “I expect changes to be made in the way things are done. […] The ARTM needs to refocus on its strategic planning role. »
“That said, the ARTM is a young organization necessary for the strategic planning of public transit. We do not question the existence of the organization,” he said.
Redundancy that leads nowhere
Public transport companies have also denounced “an accountability process deemed cumbersome”. They must not only go through the control mechanism of their board of directors, but also with the ARTM.
The report therefore concludes that [le] leadership [de l’ARTM] rather seems to lead to demobilization and disengagement”.
In a written statement to To have toBenoît Gendron, the director general of the ARTM, claims to have “delivered the goods” and that he intends to collaborate with Quebec “for the rest of things”.
“Rallying mobility stakeholders from the municipal world, elected officials, public transit organizations, the Montreal Metropolitan Community, CDPQ-Infra, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the civil society is a daily challenge, he says. We acknowledge the report’s recommendations and will act accordingly. It will also be necessary to ensure a common understanding of everyone’s roles and responsibilities. »
The “stars aligned” for a change of course
A new president will take office on the ARTM board of directors in a few days. Patrick Savard will take office on May 31 after having spent 8 years as general manager of the city of Longueuil.
“There is like an alignment of the stars so that the filing of the report and the arrival of the new president can give new impetus to the Authority”, hopes Michel Veilleux.
Same hope for the director of the Société de Transport de Laval, Guy Picard. “The STL is confident that the new chairman of the ARTM board of directors, Mr. Patrick Savard, will take note of the recommendations of the minister’s report and will put in place the necessary measures to ensure the success of the new public transit governance. . We assure him of our full and entire collaboration to bring about this refocusing of the ARTM’s mandate,” he shared in a press release.