as for the bus service, léonard was far less specific, but said some bus routes with fewer passengers will have cuts, while others could have increases. roughly 10 per cent of bus routes will see some kind of reduction, she said.
the stm also disclosed that it will be running only 1,343 buses per day, which is more than the 1,320 deployed this fall, but well short of its pre-pandemic level of 1,425. since that time, the stm’s fleet has actually increased to 2,031 buses. so that means only roughly one third of the transit agency’s buses are kept parked in the garage every day.
“we adjusted the service with little impact for users,” stm board of directors chairperson éric alan caldwell said in an interview. “but we have to keep it at that level (cutting) more would make us less attractive, and we don’t want to do that.”
the service cuts will come into effect at the beginning of the year, and if the stm doesn’t receive more funding, or find a new source of revenue during the year, it may have to cut again.
caldwell admitted the stm has a problem with getting its buses to their stop on time, and said failure for buses to arrive on time will spur people to find alternate means to get to their destination.