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Good news for public transportation Montreal, November 29, 2007 - The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Claude Trudel, today announced the establishment of an STM service improvement programme that will be carried out thanks to support by the ministère des Transports du Québec and the City of Montréal who will share its funding equally. Estimated at nearly $300 M, the five-year plan subscribes to Québec Public Transit Policy, which aims at increasing the offer of public transit service by 16% to generate an 8% increase in ridership within the next five years. métro service increase of 26% Thus, beginning January 7, 2008, the STM will provide an average of 26% more service than in 2006 on the métro’s 1, 2 and 5 lines, mainly during off-peak periods. A measure that will be quite noticeable to transit clients, as waiting times will be shorter and overall comfort will be better. “This is an historic moment, because this increase will bring the number of km/car to 76 million, a level never reached before! Indeed, the most the STM ever achieved was 66 million km/car back in 1992,” pointed out Mr. Trudel. So there will be more service at the start and end of both morning and afternoon peak periods, more during the weekday lunch hour, more in the afternoon on weekends, and more service every evening of the week. More service on some thirty bus routes The STM will also boost service on some thirty of its busiest bus routes, which should result in faster travel times and improved comfort aboard buses. These improvements will take effect on January 7, 2008, on the 18 – Beaubien, 24 – Sherbrooke and 121 – Sauvé/Côte-Vertu bus routes. Other initiatives will include upgraded service levels in the downtown area, as well as in some residential, industrial and tourist sectors currently being developed. Tangible benefits for clients
Other substantial
and noteworthy measures have already been introduced in 2007 to enhance
service. Indeed, public taxis were added in Senneville and Lachine, the 12
– Île-des-Sœurs now runs on Sundays, and both the 12 – Île-des-Sœurs and
168 – Cité du Havre bus routes were extended to reach the southern tip of
Nuns’ Island. Express service by métrobus 194 – Rivière-des-Prairies and
Express 470 – Pierrefonds bus routes has been expanded to daytime on
weekdays since October, and initial results are quite promising. Finally,
the STM enhanced service on the métro’s 5 line for the benefit of transit
users, by running six-car trains at all All these service improvement initiatives will also lead to the creation of many jobs in several skilled trades. Starting in 2008, the STM plans on hiring about 25 métro operators, some thirty maintenance workers and more than 150 bus drivers. By the end of the programme in 2012, the STM will have hired about 450 additional bus drivers, as well as some one hundred more maintenance workers. “We are confident that these initiatives, as a whole, will enable the STM to better meet the needs of its clients, particularly with respect to faster travel times, higher frequency of service and more comfortable rides,” concluded Mr. Trudel. “We want to create an unprecedented buzz around the use of public transit, because its benefits in terms of sustainable development will also have a positive impact on the quality of life of citizens in the Greater Montréal area.” - 30 -
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