The budget hole continues to grow at the Société de transport de Montréal (STM). Starting from 43 million last year, it has now reached almost 78 million. The level of service will once again be down on some bus and metro lines in 2023, even if the operator says it “aims to maintain” the pace.
“We are facing a difficult economic context. We have a slower return of traffic than expected. It is certain that there is immense pressure on the finances of the STM and on our financial backers”, moreover recognized from the outset the director general of the company, Marie-Claude Léonard, in a press conference. .
In his view, the marked increase in the shortfall, which is 77.8 million precisely, is explained by the indexation of remuneration and services in a context of inflation, the increase in costs per trip and the arrival of “essential” expenses, such as the maintenance of the AZUR trains.
“In other words, we pay more money to pay our employees […] and more money to pay for our projects,” summarized Mr.me Leonardo. She says she expects 75 to 80% of pre-pandemic ridership to be back by 2023. Currently, barely seven out of ten Montrealers are back on public transit during the week, but this proportion rises to about 79% during the weekend.
Increase and decrease at the same time
Despite everything, the STM says it has the “objective” of maintaining a “similar” service offer in 2023, compared to 2022. But it seems that nothing is yet guaranteed on this subject. In its budget, the STM clearly admits that “constructive discussions are currently underway with financial partners to identify solutions”.
Customer habits are changing. We will have to optimize service in places where there is growth, but reduce in sectors where there is less traffic.
Marie-Claude Léonard, Director General of the STM
Certain high-frequency bus lines and services to the city center could in particular see their frequency decrease. The organization aims to maintain its service offer on 80% of lines. Routes such as lines 427, 405, 11 or 141 should therefore see their service decrease.
In the metro, the offer will remain intact on the blue line and the yellow line, where we even added a car during rush hour in the wake of the work in the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel. On the orange and green lines, “readjustments” could however occur: the rush hour, when passages are most frequent, could in particular be reduced. Paratransit will not be affected, while it is projected to increase by 15.6% in 2023, for a total of 3.4 million trips.
“Instead of proposing service cuts to citizens, we are offering our financial partners to find a solution,” explained the president of the company, Éric Alan Caldwell. “We are uncomfortable and stressed, but I cannot believe that we will not find a solution”, he also insisted, pleading to have a “substantive discussion” on the revenues associated with public transport.
Earlier this week, heated debates took place following the broadcast of an internal notice obtained by Radio-Canada, according to which a reduction in service of 3.7% for buses and 4.8% for the metro is envisaged. to absorb financial losses. The STM maintains that these figures are not real, but that they are mere “working hypotheses”.
1.7 billion in current expenditure
In total, the STM’s 2023 budget reports spending of $1.7 billion, compared to $1.6 billion in 2022. The 2023-2032 capital expenditure program will reach $20.4 billion, an increase of $4.4 billion compared to last year. It is a “recent update” of the Government Assistance Program for Public Transit (PAGTCP) that has enabled the STM to increase its long-term financial capacity.
Of this sum, 10 billion will go to the maintenance and development of assets. “We have to give ourselves a second life cycle for the metro. It takes massive investments. And we have no choice, ”said Éric Alan Caldwell.
Around 873 million are planned over the next 10 years to make even more stations universally accessible on the metro. By 2025, we aim for 30 of them to be; currently, there are 23. After 2032, more than 400 million are also planned to continue the work in this direction.
Learn more
-
- 4.4 billion
- A major part of the cake will finally go to the purchase of additional electric buses, the STM still aiming to electrify its entire network by 2040. It plans to spend 4.4 billion over the next ten years. In 2023 alone, 147 long-range electric buses are to be purchased.