Mes alertes 
The Société de transport de Montréal (STM), in the presence of Montréal Mayor Valérie Plante, has released its 2020 Budget, valued at almost $1.6 billion, and its 2020-2029 Capital Expenditure Program, featuring investments of $17.8 billion. Both the Budget and Capital Expenditure Program are indicative of the STM’s context of growth and focus on improving customer experience.
According to Mayor Plante, “The STM’s 2020 Budget and 2020-2029 Capital Expenditure Program are a vivid declaration of love for public transit. Our administration firmly believes in the relevance of public transit and, since our arrival at the helm of the City of Montréal, we haven’t hesitated to invest massively in the STM to ensure its growth and improve its service offering. The results are there to see, and we are confident that the deployment of the 300 new hybrid buses we ordered when we came to power will allow the STM to post record results. Montrealers want efficient public transit, and we’re proud to continue to answer the call.”
2020 Budget
Philippe Schnobb, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the STM, had the following to say: “The STM is growing, and the context is highly favourable for public transit. The clientele is there, and the coming year and years following point to significant progress in terms of asset maintenance, improved service and network development.”
Service increases
The STM will invest $48.6 million in 2020 to directly increase the level of service for its customers.
Métro: A 2.6% increase in service compared with last year, for a total of 92.4 million kilometres
- Proud of the success of its “5 minutes max” service launched in 2019, the STM is expanding this service in 2020. The five-minute frequency will be in effect throughout the year, including the summer period.
- The STM will gradually welcome 17 new Azur trains. That means that the Green line will be served 80% by the new rolling stock.
Buses: A 5% increase in service — the biggest since 2012
- Close to 3% of this increase will be devoted to improving service for new employment and development hubs, reducing crowding on certain lines and bolstering the measures deployed as part of “Mouvement orange.”
- The remainder of the increase will go towards mitigation measures further to the closure of the tunnel under Mount Royal as of January 2020 as part of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) project.
- This increase in service is possible thanks to the addition of 300 buses to the vehicle fleet — a record increase of 15%. With the planned acquisitions to replace current buses, the STM will have close to 400 additional new hybrid buses to serve its clientele.
Transport adapté: 207,000 additional trips, for a total of 4.6 million — a 4.7% increase compared with the 2019 Budget.
Other customer experience improvement measures
- Deployment of “Service +” in 53 stations, providing easy access to after-sale service, in addition to the 16 existing “Espaces client”
- Full deployment of the cell phone network, with the connection of the eight remaining métro stations
- Additional transit support personnel in busy stations during rush hours, to ensure smooth passenger flow and reduce incidents
- Full deployment of EXTRA Connecte, allowing Transport adapté customers to receive an automated text message or phone call informing them that their vehicle will soon be there
2020-2029 Capital Expenditure Program
Luc Tremblay, STM Chief Executive Officer, gave the following explanations: “The STM is experiencing a historic period in terms of volume of investments. Over the next 10 years, close to $17.8 billion will be invested in asset maintenance and development, and that is excellent news for our customers. In addition, as of 2020, we expect to have reduced by more than $1 billion the asset maintenance deficit over the past six years. By developing our offering and ensuring the reliability of our infrastructure, we ensure that public transit plays a leading role in the fight against climate change, by providing a growing array of alternatives to single-occupant car use.
With all the government and municipal partners on board, several major projects have been confirmed in the STM’s portfolio of initiatives. Of the 61 projects authorized under the Capital Expenditure Program, 30 major projects, including the following, account for 97% of investments:
- Extension of the métro’s Blue line (completion of the case file and acquisition of land and buildings)
- Acquisition of 17 AZUR trains for the Green line
- Work on making métro stations accessible, under phases 1 and 2 of the Accessibility Program, aimed at equipping 41 stations with elevators by 2025
- Deployment of the strategy for receiving 300 buses, including the construction of two new bus garages (Bellechasse and east end of Montréal) and the expansion of three others
- Purchase between now and 2024 of 963 hybrid buses, including 465 for additional service
- Deployment of bus rapid transit service between Côte-Vertu and Sauvé
- Adapting of infrastructure at the Stinson bus garage for electric buses
- Addition of validators at the rear doors of articulated buses and replacement of card readers aboard buses for better performance
- In addition to full deployment of EXTRA Connecte, acquisition of 84 Transport adapté minibuses by 2023, including 72 replacement buses and 12 additional buses
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