2019 Budget and 2019-2028 Capital Expenditures Program: the STM in action mode

Press release

The Société de transport de Montréal has released its 2019 Budget and its 2019-2028 Capital Expenditures Program.

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM), in the presence of Montréal Mayor Valérie Plante, has released its 2019 Budget, valued at almost $1.5 billion, and its 2019-2028 Capital Expenditures Program, including investments of $15.6 billion. Both the budget and the program demonstrate the very favourable context for public transit and confirm the accelerated implementation of the 2025 Strategic Organizational Plan (SOP).

“It is clear to our administration that mobility requires a better offer of public transit service. I am proud to see that the STM is answering the call and working in a concrete way to improve its services. The City of Montréal is happy to count on a partner of choice to develop our public transit network,” says Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montréal.

2019 Budget

“The STM has a clear vision: excellence in mobility. We’re realizing this vision through improved customer experience, such as the addition of extra buses and new AZUR trains. All this while continuing to make major investments to maintain the network in good shape,” says Philippe Schnobb, Chairman of the STM Board of Directors.

This year, improving customer experience is once again a key focus in the budget, with service increases and other measures to achieve this.

Service increases

  • Métro: a new record in the offer of métro service thanks to a 2.2% increase compared to last year
    • From March 2019, the STM will provide a maximum off-peak service frequency  of 5 minutes during the week on the Orange and Green lines and reduce the intervals between morning peak-period trains on the same lines.  
    • The total offer of métro service will be 90.1 million kilometres, up 1.9 million kilometres.
  • Bus: a 1.6% increase in the offer of bus service
    • The bus service is enhanced in certain targeted sectors, and travel time is increased by  83,000 hours of extra service, bringing the total number of service hours to 5.3 million.
  • Transport adapté: 244,000 extra trips to reach a total of 4.4 million trips, a 5.9% increase compared to the 2018 Budget.

Other customer experience improvement measures

  • Delivery of 125 air-conditioned hybrid buses in 2019 to replace buses at the end of their service life
  • Elevators operational in Jean-Drapeau and Jean-Talon (Blue line) stations
  • Installation of 264 bus shelters, bringing the total of new bus shelters to 1,595 (including 120 digital ones)
  • Continued roll-out of the mobile telephone network, with nine newly connected stations on the Green line (eastwards), bringing the total number of connected stations to 59.

2019-2028 Capital Expenditures Program

“More than ever, the STM is in action mode, and we are accelerating the implementation of the 2025 SOP,” says M. Luc Tremblay, Chief Executive Officer of the STM. “We are investing $1 billion in 2019 and close to $16 billion over ten years to maintain our assets in good condition, which presents a significant operational challenge as we must continue to provide service to our customers. This has enabled us to reduce the deficit in asset maintenance by $500 million over the last three years to $3.8 billion.” 

With all the government and municipal partners on board, several major projects were confirmed in the STM’s portfolio of initiatives.

Some of the 58 projects authorized in the Capital Expenditures Program are:

  • The extension of the Blue line to continue the completion of the case file and additional studies and begin the land acquisition process
  • The acquisition of 17 AZUR trains for the métro’s Green line, with the first due to arrive in spring 2020
  • The addition of 300 buses by 2020 to improve service
  • The deployment of the strategy for receiving the 300 buses, including the construction of two new bus garages and the expansion of three others
  • The ongoing construction of the Côte-Vertu garage to support the increase in the offer of service and meet the expected increase in ridership
  • The deployment of EXTRA Connecte for paratransit services to enhance the offer of service and customers’ quality of life
  • The ongoing accessibility program for métro stations, which plans to have operational elevators in 41 stations by 2025


 

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Information:

Amélie Régis
Public Affairs, STM
514-350-0800, ext. 85508
amelie.regis@stm.info or medias@stm.info