STM's bus on-time rates plummeted in February

Montreal Gazette

08-05-2025

By
Montrealers were waiting longer than usual for their buses in February, as only seven out of every 10 STM buses arrived within five minutes of their posted schedules.
Statistics unveiled by the transit authority show bus punctuality rates plummeted to historic lows last February. In a monthly performance review the STM submitted to its board of directors last month, the on-time rate of buses fell to just 70 per cent in February from 80 per cent during the month of January. In February 2024, however, 82.3 per cent of buses arrived on time, and the punctuality rate for buses hovered between 75 per cent and 80 per cent for much of the calendar year 2024.
The same report also showed a dip in the overall satisfaction rate of STM users. That fell to just 54 per cent, from 56 per cent.
Reached this week, the STM said record snowfalls in February were to blame for the situation.
STM spokesperson Isabelle Tremblay explained that if you exclude the days affected by snowstorms, including back-to-back record-setting ones (Feb. 6 and Feb. 14-21), the STM's overall on-time rate for buses was around 78 per cent.
'The decrease in the on-time rate of buses to 70 per cent is essentially due to the storms that occurred during the month,' Tremblay said. 'Buses were also affected by the collateral damage of the storms and snow removal operations, which caused congestion throughout the road network after the Feb. 13 storm.'
She pointed out that it took roughly 10 days for city crews to remove all the snow that fell during that period.
Speaking for opposition Ensemble Montréal, Christine Black said public transit needs to be reliable, and both the STM and the Plante administration should have taken measures to ensure buses continue to run smoothly.
'When major climate events occur, we can see that little has been done to limit the impact on the service, and that's what these figures show,' Black said in a statement.
She added that buses have been chronically late for several years now, and it's unacceptable.
'Despite the implementation of numerous reserved lanes over the last few years, which were supposed to improve the situation, the punctuality of buses still leaves much to be desired,' she added.
Black said with fares going up another three per cent in July, users expect more for their money, rather than a degrading service.
This isn't the first time the opposition has highlighted the problem of late buses. Ensemble Montréal's Chantal Rossi denounced the situation back in November 2022, when the bus on-time rate dropped to 76.8 per cent. The STM's punctuality rate for buses in 2024 was 80.8 per cent, up slightly from 79.4 per cent in 2023. The STM's target for 2025 is for 81 per cent of buses to be on time. For the first two months of the year, that rate sits at 75 per cent.
Montrealers also reported feeling less safe taking transit in February, with only 45 per cent of users saying they feel safe taking transit, down from 50 per cent.
A year ago, 59 per cent said they felt safe taking transit, while that figure was at 64 per cent for the year 2023.