Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Back to school is tough on the wallet of Annie Tremblay, who lives in the northern suburbs of Montreal: her teenage daughter’s public transit bill has almost doubled to $110 per month, with the new fee schedule implemented by the Authority regional transport authority (ARTM).
“It’s an increase of 80% compared to last year, it’s absurd! “, protests Mme Tremblay.
Her 13-year-old daughter Vicky lives in Saint-Colomban and attends high school in Sainte-Thérèse, where she is enrolled in a sports-study program in freestyle skiing.
After taking a collective taxi from her home at 6:10 in the morning, Vicky takes the train from Saint-Jérôme to Sainte-Thérèse, then a bus to school.
According to the new tariff zones that came into force on 1er July, the teenager remains in zone C throughout her journey by bus and train. However, she is required to buy a pass for zones A, B and C, even if she does not go to Montreal or Laval.
A monthly pass for “all modes” ABC zones costs $110 for students. Previously, for $61.50, it was possible to buy an “all modes” zone C student pass, but this possibility no longer exists since last July. A pass for Zone C that allows you to take the bus only costs $63 at a reduced fare.
IMAGE FROM THE ARTM WEBSITE
New fare zones of the Regional Metropolitan Transport Agency
Additionally, M.me Tremblay discovered that it was impossible to obtain a student-rate OPUS card for the ABC zones for his daughter at the Saint-Jérôme station.
“I have to drive to Sainte-Thérèse station to have my daughter’s card made,” she laments. I find it ridiculous to have to take my car to be able to take public transport. The ARTM will lose customers with this tariff overhaul and encourage solo driving. »
Three OPUS cards to get around
Following a report published on Tuesday on the ARTM tariff overhaul, The Press has received numerous testimonials from public transit users who are sorry for the complexity of the new system, which requires some passengers to hold several OPUS cards.
This is the case of Carole Lorange, from Longueuil.
“I am over 65 years old. So I need a photo card, she writes to us. As I occasionally use public transit from Longueuil to Montreal, I have an AB card with the appropriate titles. Also sometimes having to travel only in zone A, I had to have another card made for A transport tickets. And if I also need to travel only to Longueuil, I will have to have a third B card. Not to mention the complexity to use my remaining titles on my old card, some allowing to return from Montreal but not to go there…”
At the ARTM, we reply that the problems reported by our two readers come from “the technological limitations of the OPUS platform”.
“The title “all modes C”, unfortunately, had to be withdrawn last July, because of the limitations of the technological platform”, explains Anne-Marie Roux, director of quality of service to users of the ARTM, on the subject of the case of Annie Tremblay.
This decision was taken with regret, but it affected a very small number of users. Most internal travel in Zone C is by bus. Very few users combine train and bus without leaving zone C.
Anne-Marie Roux, director of quality of service to users of the ARTM
As for the situation of Carole Lorange, in which many public transport users will find themselves traveling within several zones, Ms.me Roux describes it as a “fairly atypical situation”.
“This person uses, depending on the circumstances, unit tickets A, AB and Bus, and does not use a monthly ticket, she summarizes. Indeed, these three types of passes cannot cohabit on the same OPUS card, three separate ones are required. Once again, this constraint stems from the technological limitations of the OPUS platform, which is not able to determine the final destination of the user at the time of validation. »
An “inconsistent” system
Jean-Philippe Meloche, a specialist in urban economy and transportation at the faculty of planning at the Université de Montréal, was surprised to learn that some users now need three different OPUS cards.
“Obviously, someone somewhere hasn’t thought about the new system well,” he comments. It is taken for granted that everyone goes downtown, but there are more and more trips that are made from suburb to suburb. »
According to him, the best way to reform fares would have been to implement a system that records the entry of a traveler, but also his exit, in order to adjust the fees according to the distance travelled.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
ARTM counter at Saint-Jérôme station
“The current system is not consistent with people’s movements, observes Mr. Meloche. It’s inconsistent to have to pay more just because I’m crossing the river, while someone who travels 10 stations on the island of Montreal will pay less. »
Should we have a fixed rate for the entire network, like Germany, which experimented during the summer with a monthly ticket at 9 euros allowing you to use all public transport?
It is certainly a solution of great simplicity, answers Jean-Philippe Meloche, but it is a subsidy for remoteness, which promotes urban sprawl, he says.