It has not yet been completed, but the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) is already eating into revenues from other modes of transport, forcing carriers to reduce their service offering. On the municipal scene, we see that it will be necessary to “put things in order” in the sharing of responsibilities.
What there is to know
- According to calculations by the City of Montreal, the REM will monopolize more than 10% of transportation revenues in 2027.
- On the South Shore, for example, Longueuil bus fare revenue only represents 66% of the pre-COVID level.
- Municipalities are demanding a review of revenue and cost sharing.
Montreal notes in fact that the REM will soon monopolize a significant portion of fare revenue. In documents published this week, the City indicates “that in 2027, the REM bill will be financed to the tune of 120 million by fare revenue from users previously using other modes of public transport, creating an equivalent shortfall. for the financing of other modes”.
“These revenues therefore do not constitute a net addition of resources, but a shift in fare revenues from other modes of transport,” adds Montreal. The City anticipates that public transport revenues will then be almost as high as in 2019, at 965 million. This therefore means that the REM will monopolize 12% of fare revenues, in total.
“The gradual commissioning of the REM will reduce fare revenues already strongly affected by the reduction in ridership,” persists the Montreal administration.
Moreover, the arrival of the REM is already being felt on the South Shore, where the first section was inaugurated at the end of July. To date, the fare revenues of the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL) only represent 66% of the pre-pandemic level.
With the arrival of light rail, the carrier carried out “the reorganization of the (bus) network following the commissioning of the South Shore branch of the REM”. The supply represents 88% of the pre-pandemic level, according to data from the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM).
Ultimately, it will be necessary to plan for the “transfer of part of the fare revenue from buses from the South Shore to the REM”, admits the ARTM. Despite the new tax on registration, the train also receives “less general revenue due to greater sharing between the REM and the metro,” says the organization.
The rest of the southern suburbs are also turned upside down. In 2023, revenues from bus services decreased by 38% compared to the pre-pandemic period, compared to a decrease of 5% in the northern crown where the service is not yet in effect.
On the island, even the Montreal metro will see a significant part of its revenues, approximately $35 million, transferred to the REM each year, after the new segments come into service. This represents approximately 8% of the metro’s 436 million revenues in 2024. Montrealers should represent half of REM users when it is fully operational, around 2027.
A system to review
At the Société de transport de Montréal, president Éric Alan Caldwell believes that we will need to have a “mature debate” on this issue. “Projects like the REM are there to improve the offer, not alter the one we have. Income and subsidies must not play against each other,” he judges.
“In the financial model that we know from the ARTM, the REM captures revenues that were previously found in other modes. But the reality is that we all need each other. The REM, if it doesn’t have a bus to fall back on the network, it doesn’t work. And vice versa,” Mr. Caldwell continues.
He believes that the public transport ecosystem will have to sit down and “bring order” to this imbalance.
The arrival of the REM should not mean a reduction in sources of revenue for public transportation, especially not in the current context. This is not the social contract we gave ourselves.
Éric Alan Caldwell, president of the Société de transport de Montréal
At Trajectoire Québec, director Sarah V. Doyon does not hide the fact that “the impact of the REM on other modes of transport is a concern”. “That we cannibalize users, in itself, is not so serious. If we offer more options, that’s a good thing, our networks are redundant. Where it doesn’t work with the REM is that the method of remuneration is not the same,” she says.
“When a user takes the REM rather than the metro or the bus, it is the other transport companies who see their revenues decrease. If we had a fair method of remuneration for everyone, it wouldn’t work that way,” persists M.me Doyon, who sees an “inequity” in the system.
All this comes as CDPQ Infra announced Wednesday that the Deux-Montagnes and Anse-à-l’Orme antennas of the REM, which were to be delivered at the end of 2024, will be postponed until 2025 due to the “highly complex” work in course in the Mont-Royal tunnel. Dynamic tests will nevertheless be launched on these sections within a few weeks.
reference: www.lapresse.ca