Public transportation | Quebec expects “significant efforts” from the ARTM

Minister Geneviève Guilbault outlined her priorities on Monday to the new leader of the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM), a list that includes a reduction in public transportation spending and regular reporting.

Review projects

The Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, made her intentions known in a letter sent Monday to the new president of the Authority, Ginette Sylvain. In the document obtained by The Pressthe minister wants the ARTM to better prioritize its projects. According to M^me Guilbault, the next Strategic Development Plan (PSD) “must take into account the financial capacities of partners” and “include a rigorous prioritization process for all projects”. M^me Guilbault calls more precisely for “clear and measurable objectives as well as a realistic financial framework”. “I expect the ARTM to present me with reports and follow-ups on the progress of the objectives set, as well as on the measures to achieve them,” insists M.^me Guilbault.

Reduce expenses

The minister argues that “significant efforts must be made” to “reduce ARTM expenses” and reduce the weight of salaries on total expenses “to adjust to the new realities of transport”, by adjusting “the provision of services based on real needs. According to Quebec performance audits, made public at the beginning of November, transport companies could reduce their expenses by 350 million, by subcontracting the driver service externally or by reducing the number of vehicles in maintenance, this which is already seriously worrying the unions. “This will involve reviewing […] the service agreements signed” with the carriers, reiterates M^me Guilbault. In return, she recalls, her ministry now allows transporters to do real estate development with developers to generate more income. This was a long-standing request from the industry.

Ask less of crowns

Quebec is asking the ARTM to revise its bill for underserved cities, which should, in principle, be done this fall. All with the objective of “achieving better fairness towards the crowns” of Montreal. The request echoes that of several municipalities in Greater Montreal, which pay a contribution to the Authority without however benefiting from services. In total, there are nine municipalities; and many are calling for rebalancing. For transport planning expert Pierre Barrieau, the ideal for these cities would be to “develop a contribution model based on the service offered”. “We must find a gradation, without however coming to the point of further isolating these municipalities as was the case with Rigaud and the commuter train in 2010,” he recalls.

Potential candidate

According to our information, Quebec is currently trying to recruit the former general director of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) Carl Desrosiers to join the ARTM board of directors as an independent member. In government, we praise Mr. Desrosiers’ skills in terms of productivity. In an interview given to The Press in 2015, his last at the head of the STM, Mr. Desrosiers was pleased to have managed to achieve savings of more than 40 million and to bring his transport company into the top 10 worldwide in terms of maintenance costs. At the start of his mandate, he stressed that the productivity of maintenance employees was an Achilles heel, arguing that the maintenance cost per kilometer of buses and the metro exceeded the international average.

The ARTM explains

At the ARTM, we assure that “M^me Sylvain prioritized the adoption of a game plan for the development of public transportation.” “The PSD will be adopted in the coming weeks and ratified in spring 2025. It is a rigorous plan that respects the financial capacities of municipalities and the government. This winter, energy will be devoted to doing more for users with current resources and several projects can be deployed,” notes the spokesperson, Simon Charbonneau. He adds that “rallying municipalities behind cost sharing […] equitable for all, particularly the crowns and smaller municipalities, is a priority.” For his part, M^me Guilbault recalls that the ARTM’s relations with other stakeholders must generally “be maintained and strengthened”.