STM calls for more buses and trains, Blue Line extension
A service interruption on the STM’s Green Line and ongoing construction near Rosemont métro set the stage for the STM’s announcement of a revised 2025 strategic organizational plan Tuesday afternoon.
STM’s chief executive officer Luc Tremblay said the revised plan places greater emphasis on mobility and customer satisfaction.
Some of the plan’s highlights include extending the Blue Line to Anjou, purchasing 1,230 hybrid buses, adding 14 new Azur trains and renovating and building métro garages, like the one announced last week in Ville St-Laurent, by 2025. The revised plan also aims to make public transit more accessible for customers with reduced mobility by adding 21 métro elevators by 2022 to bring the total to 31. By 2025, 41 elevators are expected to be available.
The STM is legally required to revise their organizational plan every five years, according to the Act Respecting Public Transit Authorities. The previous strategic plan for 2020 was drafted in 2012.
Tremblay said a year-long consultation was held with about 7,000 STM employees to evaluate the strategic plan outlined in 2020, adding that 80 per cent of employees are in contact with STM customers, making them knowledgeable about customers’ experiences.
Tremblay said that aside from the law, a revision of the strategic plan was necessary because the STM has been governed by the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) since June 1.
In accordance with one of ARTM’s goals, the revised plan aims to create a transit system that integrates different modes of transportation such as bus, métro, bixi and car rentals.
Tremblay, who was flanked by STM chairman Philippe Schnobb and Mayor Denis Coderre and some of his colleagues, said the STM has received $8 billion over 10 years to renovate and build infrastructure such as new escalators, métros and the Crémazie complexe, among other things.
The revised plan also aims to provide better public transit in areas affected by construction.
While many of the goals outlined in this revised plan are similar to those proposed in the plan outlined in 2012, Schnobb explained that such plans provide a theoretical framework that, in practice, needs to be revised and updated throughout time to adapt to changes. Projet Montréal said in a news release the revision and extension of the plan into 2025 shows that Coderre will be unable to achieve any of his goals outlined in the plan for 2020.
But Coderre said he was unfazed by such remarks, adding that many of the goals outlined in the revised plan are backed up by significant financial resources.
“There are some people who choose (to play) the blaming game (and) everything is always negative. Their opinion is always negative,” he said. “I’m working for the Montrealers. I’m there to make sure we are enhancing the quality of life.”
Coderre cited Wi-Fi and airconditioning installations in buses and métros as examples of how certain goals outlined in the 2020 strategic organizational plan were achieved.
When asked about Bill 62, a draft legislation on religious neutrality that would require individuals to provide and receive services with their faces uncovered,
Coderre said he does not believe STM employees should be held responsible for rejecting individuals on the basis of their clothing, adding that he has a hard time seeing how Bill 62 could be applied.