Service improvement measures for bus network More than 1000 new rush hour departures per week beginning in January 2009

Press release


 

Service improvement measures for bus network
More than 1000 new rush hour departures per week beginning in January 2009

Montréal, December 15, 2008 – Claude Trudel, Chairman of the Board of Directors for Société de transport de Montréal (STM), today announced improvements to rush hour bus service beginning Monday, January 5, 2009.

Thanks to investments by Transports Québec and Ville de Montréal who are jointly funding the service improvements programme, public transit is doing increasingly well in Montréal and the STM is undergoing an unprecedented period of growth,” declared Mr. Trudel. “Buoyed by an exceptional 4% growth in ridership in 2008 which, it should be emphasized, represents 50% of the goal set by the government’s Politique québécoise du transport collectif, the STM is determined to continue with its efforts to ensure this trend is maintained by offering more than 1000 new rush hour departures on weekdays right from the start in 2009.”

Morning and afternoon rush hour service improvements to the bus network
Starting next January 5, the STM will be in a position to improve its offer of service by about 10% during morning and afternoon rush hour periods on 26 of the busiest bus routes. Additional departures are planned for the following bus routes:
18 – Beaubien
24 – Sherbrooke
32 – Lacordaire
33 – Langelier
44 – Armand-Bombardier
45 – Papineau
48 – Perras
49 – Léger
51 – Édouard-Montpetit
64 – Grenet
67 – Saint-Michel
69 – Gouin
89 – Perras
97 – Mont-Royal
103 – Monkland
105 – Sherbrooke
106 – Newman
121 – Sauvé/Côte-Vertu
129 – Côte-Sainte-Catherine
139 – Pie-IX
141 – Jean-Talon Est
161 – Van Horne
171 – Henri-Bourassa
197 – Rosemont
506 – Voie réservée Newman
535 – Voie réservée Du Parc/Côte-des-Neiges

“These bus routes, among the network’s most important routes, serve 55% of clients who use the bus network. This new series of measures will provide greater comfort for our clients and represents some 70 000 additional hours of service out of a total of about 350 000 hours planned for 2009,” indicated Mr. Trudel.

Final assessment for 2008
Results for the measures that were introduced for off-peak periods this year are very encouraging. Indeed, the STM anticipates that by the end of 2008, some 15 million more rides will have been taken than in 2007, a 4% increase in ridership.

The 17% increase in service on the métro’s 1, 2 and 5 lines, implemented in January 2008 mostly during off-peak periods, continues to produce excellent results.

And, for its part, the 2.5% increase in midday service on 47 bus routes, representing more than 100 000 hours on an annual basis, translated into an average increase in ridership of some 12.5% on those bus routes, and the level of satisfaction among surveyed clients during that period remains high.

The STM will continue to adapt its bus network to the specific needs of individual sectors, while improving services in the downtown core, as well as in developing residential, industrial and tourist areas.

“With the delivery of new conventional buses and the arrival of articulated bus by the end of 2009, we are in a strong position to reach our ambitious goals and to continue growing,” concluded Mr. Trudel.

The Powerpoint presentation and individual results for each improved bus route are available from the STM website by clicking here.

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