The overhaul of bus routes announced in the southwest of Montreal is causing a stir, with many users denouncing longer travel times. The changes aim above all to increase the frequency of trips to the city center, defends the Société de transport de Montréal (STM).
“What a disgusting decision. » On the page of the mayor of Lachine, Maja Vodanovic, many citizens are not kind to the new bus services announced at the beginning of June in the boroughs of Lachine, LaSalle, Sud-Ouest and Verdun.
In total, around thirty lines are affected by the overhaul which will come into force on August 26. Two new local lines will be created to ensure accessibility within the neighborhoods themselves, namely lines 38 De l’Église and 114 Angrignon.
Two dozen other lines will be “modified in terms of route, time slot or frequency”, including three which will become frequent during rush hour, namely the 107 Verdun, the 112 Airlie and the 496 Express Victoria. Finally, seven lines will be abolished, their route having to be taken over by other lines.
Just like the overhaul that was done on Nuns’ Island last summer, with the arrival of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM), the changes are going poorly. “To get to my work in Lachine, a journey that took me 15-20 minutes with a single bus, now the only options are two buses, get out of Lachine, go to LaSalle to return to Lachine. Bravo for efficiency,” says Stéphane Bourdeau ironically on social networks.
He is not the only one. In the community network, we are also concerned about the impacts of the overhaul, particularly for the most vulnerable. “We have a big concern about universal accessibility, because in the current form, we will lose access to the McGill and Lionel-Groulx stations. It worries a lot of people here,” notes Simon Paquette, spokesperson for Action-Gardien, which brings together several community organizations in the Pointe-Saint-Charles neighborhood.
At the STM, network development advisor Fanja Rajesson affirms that the consultations leading to this overhaul, launched in 2018, “clearly showed that people were ready to walk a little further to have more frequency”. “And that’s exactly what we do here,” she says.
“Obviously, that involves removing a little from certain places to add more to others. We estimate that around 5% of our customers will see a certain deterioration and slightly longer journey times, therefore a little more walking, but it will be to get a more frequent line,” adds Ms. Rajesson.
She also maintains that the potential coverage in the broad sense of the user pool served by buses risks jumping with this reform. “We want to give access [to the network] to around 220,000 residents in the area with frequent lines, compared to 80,000 so far. The goal is also to find people who don’t take the bus, but who could try it and find it effective. »
His group is nevertheless committed to adapting if dissatisfaction persists. “Like L’Île-des-Sœurs, we will monitor this closely in the first six months, we will take a good look at what is happening. If there are petitions, requests and we see that there are issues, we will definitely go back. We are ready to adjust things,” concludes the woman nicknamed “the brain” of the STM circuits.