Issues of cleanliness, drug consumption, but also punctuality: if residents of the Montreal region are back on the metropolis’ metros and buses, more of them will have complained in 2023 compared to 2022.
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More than 288 million trips took place in the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) network in 2023, which represents an increase of 21% compared to the 2022 results.
“This increase is explained, among other things, by the return of teleworkers to face-to-face work, by the resumption of tourism and by Free Access for 65s and over,” explained the STM when unveiling its activity report.
This last criterion actually played a role in traffic since 47% of Montrealers over 65 purchased the new pass as of December 31, 2023, which allowed an increase of almost 20% in trips by this clientele in the metro and buses.
Increase in paratransit complaints
Complaints from Montreal public transit users also increased by 10% between 2022 and 2023.
A jump was particularly observed in paratransit with a 36% increase in complaints between the two years.
According to the STM, the criticisms concern certain behaviors of minibus or taxi drivers for errors in the customer’s journey, problems when securing the customer upon boarding or even crowding in the vehicle due to the customer matching.
On the bus side, crowding, punctuality and diversion of routes due to construction sites were mainly noted in customer complaints.
Drug or alcohol consumption, threatening behavior, loitering and cleanliness problems are other issues criticized by metro users.
“We observe the same social issues which are proving increasingly complex as everywhere else in the metropolis,” underlined the STM.
Service interruptions on the four metro lines also affected the travel of customers, whose number of complaints on this subject jumped by 22% from one year to the next.
