Use your bikes or walk during transit strike, STM chief urges Montrealers

Montreal Gazette

6 days ago

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The head of the city's transit agency said transit users should opt for a bike or be prepared to walk during the nine-day strike of its maintenance workers.
'We invite customers to turn to active transportation: biking or walking, if they can, as traffic is likely to be difficult,' STM CEO Marie-Claude Léonard said in a news conference early Wednesday.
The maintenance union has voted in favour of a strike that will start on June 9, and more job action could follow if there isn't an agreement with STM management. The two sides have met 70 times in the last year, and there are more negotiation sessions scheduled, right up to the strike deadline. If the strike goes ahead, it would be the first time transit workers went off the job since 2007.
However, because transit is considered to be an essential service, some transit will continue to be offered.
Adapted transit service isn't expected to be affected by the strike.
Service levels will be normal during the June 13-15 Grand Prix weekend, Léonard said, so people can get to and from Jean-Drapeau Park. Having regular métro service is a public safety issue in case the island park has to be evacuated when hundreds of thousands of people are attending Grand Prix activities, Léonard said.
Outside of the race, the STM intends to maintain regular service during peak hours and a modified schedule outside those hours.
Léonard said users should double their normal travel time and expect buses and métros to be more crowded. She didn't say what the STM would do if overcrowding became a chronic problem during the strike, but said planners could make adjustments to certain routes and service levels when necessary.
Here's what the schedule will look like
June 9-11
Bus service 6:15 to 9:15 a.m., 3 to 6 p.m., and 11:15 p.m. to 1:15 a.m.
Métro service 6:30 to 9:38 a.m., 2:45 to 5:48 p.m., and 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
No service outside these times.
June 12
Bus service 6:15 to 10:15 a.m., 3 to 7 p.m., and 11:15 p.m. to 1:15 a.m.
Métro service 6:30 to 10:38 a.m., 2:45 to 6:48 p.m., and 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Service at up to 50 per cent outside these times.
June 13-15
Normal bus and métro service
June 16-17
Bus service 6:15 to 9:15 a.m., 3 to 6 p.m., and 11:15 p.m. to 1:15 a.m.
Métro service 6:30 to 9:38 a.m., 2:45 to 5:48 p.m., and 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Service at up to 50 per cent outside these times.
During these times, all school lines and special shuttles will be maintained. The bus service for the closure of the REM will only be in place between 11:15 p.m. and 1:15 a.m.
Léonard conceded it could be a difficult summer for transit users, as the STM is in negotiations with four unions, and the other unions could also call a strike in the coming weeks.
At issue is the STM's wish to change the working conditions of its employees in order to assure that it can have the correct employees working at the right installations and at all times of the day and night in order to assure the agency delivers the appropriate service.
The STM also wants more flexibility to resort to subcontracting work that she says isn't part of the STM's core business, like collecting garbage.
Moren information is available on the STM's website.