Budget woes complicate plans to improve bus service on Montreal's South Shore

Champlain College student Anne-Sophie Lachapelle takes the bus from her home in Brossard to school every day.

Despite a school parking lot that fills up with cars quickly in the morning, many students like Lachapelle opt for public transport. She enjoys the service, but says the frequency of buses can be an issue for her and her classmates.

"I do hear that a lot, that people are like: 'Oh, I have to wait for my bus — I have two hours to kill,'" Lachapelle said. "And I know that some people just prefer to take their bike, even though it takes more time, because they don't want to wait."

With a new bus network in the works for the South Shore, those wait times may soon become shorter.

"The new generations understand the importance of having alternatives to solo-car usage," said Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL) CEO Michel Veilleux.

He said the RTL is trying to find a way to meet that demand.

"The bus is one of the great solutions to increase mobility, and have a positive impact on the global warming situation that we're living throughout the world," he said.

Better frequency, more connections

After a series of public consultations, the RTL is expected to unveil its new plan next spring.

In a document posted online, it lists several priorities for improving bus service on the territory, which includes Boucherville, Brossard, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Longueuil and Saint-Lambert.

They include connecting with the three future Réseau express métropolitain (REM) stations in Brossard, boosting the frequency of bus service during both peak and off-peak hours and better linking municipalities on the South Shore.

Bus lines that connect to Montreal over the Samuel De Champlain Bridge will also be removed and rerouted once the REM starts operating next year, because of a non-competition agreement.

"What we're asking the RTL is to take probably 35 per cent of the buses that are on the Champlain Bridge, and bring that back for local services," said Daniel Bergeron, chief planning officer for the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), which oversees public transit in the greater Montreal region.

In a statement, the ARTM told CBC News that taking buses off the Champlain Bridge makes it possible to provide a five-per-cent overall boost to local transport services from the RTL.

Concerns over funding

The head of the RTL says a major issue right now is funding the new bus service, after the pandemic wiped out much of the revenue it normally receives from fares and passes.

A 15-per-cent budget cut last year resulted in the loss of more than 100 jobs.

"It was a hard time for cuts, because we had a drop in ridership — a 70 per cent drop," said Veilleux.

With about half of those lost riders still not back, Veilleux says more cuts might be coming — though he's counting on provincial and federal aid to help make up for the shortfall.

Bergeron says the ARTM is working to fund the loss of revenue suffered during the pandemic, but he's also requesting that public transit corporations like the RTL take a measured approach to any new spending as it plans out its 2022 budget.

"We ask public transport to reduce their increase in costs. Not to reduce their budget, but to be respectful of the availability of public money," he said.

That budget is expected to be unveiled in December.