STM - Society in motion
You care about public transit… and you are eloquent in showing us so. By the end of this year, 2011, we will exceed the 400 million mark for passenger rides, which means that bus and métro ridership has now reached a level unmatched… since 1947.
This record is all the more significant as it coincides with Montréal public transit’s 150th anniversary. Indeed, the very first horse-drawn vehicles took to the streets of Old Montréal on November 27, 1861 !
Times are changing
In 1947, the public transit network run by the Montréal Tramways Company operated tramways, buses and trolleybuses. At the time, some 80% of Montrealers used public transit to get around the city, and only 29% used a car. The city, with a population slightly above 1.2 million inhabitants, is not as expansive as today in 2011, and people made a habit of riding public transit, as gas was strictly rationed during the second world war (1939-1945).
The 1950s and 60s became the golden age for car use, the establishment of a highway network and the creation of suburbs. The car became king of the road. Nowadays, the majority of people use their car for all their daily transportation needs, even for only buying a quart of milk.
However, hope is not all lost, and we are starting to see a reversal in that trend, particularly on the island of Montréal. Since 2007, we have witnessed an increase in ridership of more than 11%, while the number of car trips has decreased by 6%. More than 60% of all trips toward the downtown core are carried out by bus, metro and bicycle.
Our Society in Motion is gaining in strength. Such growth in ridership is enough for us to expand our services and improve their quality. It more than justifies our request at all levels of government for dedicated, indexed and recurrent sources of funding to further promote public transportation in Québec.
I trust we will continue to increase our ridership by convincing more and more people of adding public transit to their transportation cocktail.
By using public transit, at times, sometimes, more often, all the time…. you are doing your share for the environment and you are contributing to the quality of life of all Montrealers. Thank you !
That is always good, but HOW did you know it would happen, I know that you knew it would happen from reading this document:
Montréal, December 21, 2011 – The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) is on the verge of breaking its own ridership record by topping the historic level of 398 349 773 annual passenger rides it had set back in 1947.
During this symbolic day, established at December 22, 2011, the STM will express its appreciation for customers by having a promotional squad hand out protective cases for OPUS cards. The team will spend the morning at Pie-IX, Square-Victoria and McGill métro stations, before moving on to Place-des-Arts, Berri-UQAM and Mont-Royal métro stations in the afternoon.
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Don’t be so proud. There’s three main reasons that more people are using public transportation:
1- Growing population in general.
2- Growing immigrant and refuge population who usually poorer and don’t have a car for the first few years.
3- A growing senor population who are more dependent on public transportation.
I know it’s not because of how good the STM is because the service is pure garbage. A good example is tonight.
I left the Loyola Campus in NDG at 8pm. I’m only now getting home at 9:15 or 75mins later. Had I used a car I would have been home around 8:30pm instead of waiting 15mins in -17c weather for the 105 bus, having the metro leave 30secs before I got there at Vendome forcing me to waste another 8mins and than having to waste another 8mins at Lionel Greuix metro because the moron took off on the Green Line as my train was pulling in on the Orange Line.
With this kind of poor service do you think I am:
a) more likely to continue using the STM
b) save my money and buy a second hand car.
The answer should be obvious.
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Ça serais bien si la hausse de service pouvait se faire au niveau du métro, particulièrement au niveau de la ligne orange en provenance de Laval. Parce que le train en provenance de Saint-Jérome remplis les wagons dès la station concorde et que plusieurs personne on pris habitude de descendre à Henri-Bourassa pour attendre la prochaine rame, alors ce que je suggère c’est tout simplement de faire partir tout les métros de Montmorency pour que le flot de circulation soit réparti de façon plus naturelle. Merci, en espérant que vous écouterez ma recommandation.
Alexandre
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