How the STM increased safety for passengers and employees
There are perhaps no places on the island of Montreal where it’s harder to respect a two-metre distance than in a métro station or bus. But even during the pandemic, Montrealers still need to commute, and they depend on public transport to get to their destination.
It’s a daily challenge for the STM’S 11,000 workers to keep Montrealers moving and safe at the same time.
“We’re not doctors, we’re public transport,” said STM general manager Luc Tremblay. “So we’re sticking to public health guidelines. We’re Scotch Taping, but not improvising.”
Tremblay said the STM has been in “alert mode” since March 12, with meetings held daily to pour over updates and determine how to best implement any new recommendations. The first and most important change was increasing the cleaning frequency of their buses, métro cars and stations.
The STM doubled the number of times they clean their métro stations, and they now clean the métro cars daily. Buses used to be washed from top to bottom every 42 days, and now they’re done every day and a half. This meant hiring additional people to work on cleaning, but Tremblay said STM workers have been able to adapt: an agreement was reached with the union representing office workers and professionals where they would help with cleaning.
“It required a major effort to clean all our facilities, so we needed a hand from everybody, including 2,000 workers who telecommute,” said Tremblay. “There have been a host of measures that have been put in place the last two months, and it wasn’t all done at once — it’s been about gradual adjustments as the science evolves.”
Pre-pandemic, ridership in the métro would hit one million on a regular day, with people often sandwiched together during high volume times. At the lowest point during the pandemic, the STM was seeing only about 10 per cent of their usual passengers, but they still ran into moments of congestion during rush hour.
Simply put, it’s impossible to maintain a distance of two metres at all times in the métro.
“We established that you can’t have more than 150 people in a train to respect two metres, and on a usual day with our full ridership, its 1,100 people,” Tremblay said. “If our ridership returns to normal levels, we’d need to multiply our trains by eight and our buses by four to respect two metres. We can’t do that, so what do we do?”
Because of this, Tremblay said the STM has been emphatically beating the drum regarding wearing masks in public. Riders are now being given reusable, washable masks upon entrance to the métro.
“They’re reusable because sustainability remains a major priority for us,” Tremblay said. “We’ve been advocating to the government about masks for a month, so we’re happy that they’re on board. Even if the government didn’t announce it, we would’ve distributed masks anyway.”
Additional workers have been hired to keep circulation running smoothly in the métro and riders are encouraged to not crowd around the métro car entrances.
Employees in métro stations will receive masks as well. Other measures that have been put in place to protect workers include taking away the option to pay cash directly at the ticket booths (they can still pay cash at the automatic tellers), and installing disinfectant dispensers at métro station entrances. Adapted transport has also been affected: taxis can only pick up one user at a time, instead of the usual three or four.
For bus drivers, passengers have been entering from the back entrance of buses and the seat directly behind the driver has been cordoned off. Over time, the STM will be reinstating the front entrance, but will create a barrier to protect the driver.
Tremblay also said around 1,000 client-facing workers are being kept at home because they’re considered high-risk — for example, if they’re immunocompromised or suffer from an existing condition. They’ll return when it’s deemed safe, he added.
Even with the decline of riders, the STM continued operating buses and métros as close to 100 per cent frequency as possible, even if it meant some sparsely attended routes. It was the only way to prevent situations where people wait and bunch together.
Tremblay said the STM is preparing for a gradual return to normalcy, but that it won’t happen all at once. The company envisions increased vigilance from riders being something of a new normal. They’re even working on an app that will tell users how many people are on an arriving bus or métro, so they can decide whether entering is safe or if they’re better off waiting for the next one.
“For one thing, summer is approaching and that’s always a quieter time for us. Also, schools and students are major transit users and if they’re studying from home come September, we’ll see less riders,” he said.
“I don’t think there will be a longterm impact, but it will take many months for the regular ridership to come back. And while we’re not out of the woods yet, we do see a light at the end of the tunnel.”