The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) is struggling to regain almost a third of the ridership it recorded before the health crisis while the road network has been back to its pre-pandemic saturation for several months. We must consider taxing cars and rethinking pricing to remedy the situation, experts say.
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“I don’t expect people to come back to public transport in the short term because we don’t have levers and tools,” laments Jean-Philippe Meloche, professor at the School of urban planning and landscape architecture from the University of Montreal.
STM ridership has stagnated for several weeks at around 70% compared to its pre-pandemic popularity.
Telework is the first hypothesis to explain this deficit, since a large proportion of users used it to go to downtown Montreal every day.
“The most accessible place to public transport [le centre-ville]it is also the place most likely to contain employees working from home,” explains Mr. Meloche.
No impact on the roads
Meanwhile, the Ministère des Transports du Québec maintains that the road network of the metropolis has since last March regained its pre-COVID-19 traffic, based on the number of car passages on different major axes.
How to explain then that telework has practically no impact on the number of vehicles on our roads? According to Professor Meloche, “it is very likely” that many public transit users have also turned to solo driving.
“What people have in mind is that as there is teleworking, there is more space for cars,” he explains.
Another part of the problem is that our public transit is often inefficient for various types of trips.
“The pandemic is a message that says that our network is not suitable for travel other than for work,” explains Catherine Morency, holder of two mobility research chairs at Polytechnique Montréal.
For its part, the STM wants to reach 80% of its pre-pandemic ridership by 2023.
“There are a lot of travel needs that have changed and that’s what we’re going to tackle in the coming months,” explains Marie-Claude Trudeau, Marketing and Communications Director at the STM. It was hard to do it before because it wasn’t stable yet. »
A lasting problem without gestures
The shortfall in ridership that the STM is experiencing and which has plunged it into a budgetary hole of more than $40 million could last “for years” according to Mr. Meloche, for whom the solution to attracting people to it involves a tax on automobile use, a solution whose effectiveness has been demonstrated by scientific studies.
Catherine Morency believes that public transit pricing should be adapted to teleworking. It offers a subscription for those who need to go to the office one day a week. “I think we can be imaginative with the packages we offer,” she explains.
Exit the opus card, hello solo car
Public transport users have decided to put away their opus card and turn to solo driving due to the pandemic due to the lack of efficient public transport options.
“I’m 47 and I just got my driver’s license. I had never had a car,” summarizes Mathieu Malouin, who previously traveled exclusively by bicycle and public transport.
This Montrealer, who also owns two bars in the metropolis, had to close his restaurant Frite So! from the city center, which was practically deserted by customers during the health crisis. He went there by crossing a few subway stations.
To make up for his losses, Mr. Malouin had to find another job. He became general manager of Aliments Merci, whose head office is in Montreal North.
Going to work suddenly became very long because he had to take the subway and the bus.
“One day, it took me 1h30 just for the bus,” he recalls.
No choice to take the car
After several months, Mr. Malouin had to realize that he had to buy a car, even if he finds that the traffic “is hell” and that it costs him much more.
According to experts, many users abandoned public transit during the health crisis because, like Mr. Malouin, trips to the city center were no longer part of their needs (see other text).
For his part, Mr. Malouin pleads for a better public transport offer to more isolated areas of the metropolis, such as Montreal North.
“If there had been a metro station nearby, it would have saved me all this hassle. It takes us more projects like that. You can’t add a million cars to the streets. »
A car to get bored
Maral Markossan, a 29-year-old Lavallois, also gave up public transit and bought a car during the pandemic. Working at a driving school in Montreal, she found it difficult to remain confined to her home while her job was closed for more than four months.
She points out that this allowed her in particular to see relatives more easily during a period that she found difficult to go through.
“The car is more freedom than public transport, I think. »
A problem not right here
Across North America, public transit is struggling to regain ridership comparable to before the health crisis. Montreal is doing better than most cities, but Vancouver has brought in the most users.
Vancouver : 79%
Montreal : 69%
Toronto : 70%
New York (Metro only): 62%
American average : 60%