Montreal transit agency reports increased ridership in 2018

Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) logged ridership growth last year, including 3.5 percent more riders using electronic ticketing and nearly 5 percent more riders using traditional paper ticketing, agency officials said in a press release announcing STM's 2018 annual report. 

STM credited the ridership increase to the city’s economic vitality, sustained employment growth, tourism, the expansion of reduced fares to full-time students, and measures to encourage motorists to use public transit.

The ridership growth occurred particularly at western stations on the Green and Orange lines.

Meanwhile, more than 5,600 minutes of service disruptions in 2018 were caused by avoidable customer behavior affecting the trips of more than four million passengers.

STM has developed strategies to improve that issue, including ways to better identify staff on train platforms and by launching a campaign aimed at preventing service disruptions caused by passengers.

Initiatives completed in 2018 include:

• a 3 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per passenger kilometer;
• retirement of the last MR-63 car, with 87 percent of the materials from 333 cars being reused or recycled;
• the Honore-Beaugrand and du College metro stations becoming accessible by elevator, bringing the total number of accessible stations to 14;
• development of an inclusive mobility strategy and a training program on using the regular bus and metro networks for customers with functional limitations; and 
• introduction of electronic ticketing, which makes it possible to more accurately characterize network use.