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The city’s transit agency needs to be upfront with Montrealers and divulge the plans to manage its bus fleet between now and the year 2030, says opposition Ensemble Montréal.
The party intends to introduce a motion at this month’s council meeting calling for the Société de Montréal to publicly unveil the number of buses it intends to keep in its fleet during a time of reduced ridership and strained public finances. The motion calls on the STM to submit a report by September.
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“Right now, we’re very concerned because the STM has reduced its bus fleet,” said Christine Black, the opposition councillor who speaks about transit issues. “We’re asking for a full report, and we need to see the game plan for the coming years.”
In its April council meeting, the STM board elected to put 155 buses out of commission by the end of the year and not to replace them. That will reduce the total number of buses to 1,855, which is far short of the 2,044 buses the STM had in its fleet just two years ago. It also means that the Plante administration’s promise to augment the city’s bus fleet by 300 buses will not be fulfilled.
The STM has blamed the cuts on inadequate ridership, still 20 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels, and a need to save money as the city and province are currently re-evaluating the best ways to finance public transit.
Black, however, said if there is a long-term plan, the public is not aware of it. The STM did not inform the public ahead of time when it reduced its bus fleet last month, and she doesn’t want there to be any more surprises.
“If the bus fleet reductions again happens, it means we could fall into a death spiral,” Black said. “There is a climate crisis now, and we can’t afford for this to happen.”
She added that the STM also has to begin making plans to phase in a fully electric bus fleet, as all buses in the fleet will be electric as of 2040. To do that, the STM will have to keep 15 per cent more buses in its fleet than the number of buses it has on the road in order to allow them to charge in the middle of the day.
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