STM
For the Quebec government’s 2025–2026 pre-budget consultations, STM submits prioritized pre-budget recommendations focused on local investment through the maintenance of the Montreal metro infrastructure, vital to economic security.
According to STM, the investment deficit for metro asset maintenance has climbed past $6 billion in the past few years alone. Yet under the current Quebec Infrastructure Plan (QIP), the proportion of funds made available for this purpose is at its lowest since 2013. Asset maintenance accounts for only 18% of the government’s total investments in public transit under the QIP, compared to 82% for roads and 62% for the entire plan.
“Unfortunately, a lack of infrastructure maintenance is the number one challenge facing public transit today—a challenge that puts the STM’s ability to keep delivering reliable quality public transit at risk, as well as security,” the agency said.
“These figures show that more needs to be done,” said STM Board of Directors Chair Éric Alan Caldwell. “The metro will soon be 60 years old, and putting off maintenance work only leads to higher operating and maintenance costs and a subpar customer experience.”
Therefore, STM is recommending the following:
- Additional funding in the 2025–2035 QIP of $585 million over three years for metro asset maintenance programs.
- An increase in the amounts set aside for asset maintenance in the QIP, gradually moving towards recurring, indexed funding of $560 million annually.
This funding, STM says, would allow the agency to maintain its métro infrastructure, such as tunnels, stations, waterproofing membranes, train garages, and maintenance shops, as well as built-in equipment, such as escalators, ventilation systems, electrical equipment, and telecommunications systems.
In this way, the local economy will also be stimulated, as 97% of STM’s expenditures are made with more than 1,500 Quebec suppliers; “a fact to consider in the context of a trade war with the U.S.,” the agency noted.
Asset maintenance also specifically includes rolling stock and related infrastructure.
The STM’s MR-73 trains will be 60 years old in 2036 and are already only one-tenth as reliable as their AZUR counterparts, according to the agency. “As we all learned from the AZUR project, replacing trains is a complex and time-consuming endeavor that goes well beyond the mere acquisition of rolling stock. It took about 15 years from the start of the project for the AZUR trains to be delivered-a project completed within the required timeline and budget,” STM said.
The Green and Yellow lines will also need to be modernized, according to STM. Given the scale, impact and timeframe of the project, the STM says it “urgently needs to begin the project studies, especially since acquiring new trains and replacing the train control system on the Green line could increase its capacity by 37%.”
Therefore, STM is recommending the following:
- Immediate funding of $40 million for the studies needed to modernize the Green and Yellow lines, including the replacement of the MR-73 trains.
“The Montréal métro is the number one way of moving people around in the Greater Montréal area with nearly 800,000 trips per day,” said Caldwell. “Service interruptions can cause severe economic damage and push more customers into cars over the medium term, which makes traffic congestion even worse and increases its already staggering costs. Clearly, maintaining metro assets is crucial for the city’s economic security and prosperity.”
PANYNJ/PATH
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) on Feb. 4 announced that PATH has achieved strong growth in 2024, climbing to 70% of pre-pandemic ridership levels and nearly matching pre-pandemic activity on weekends.
According to PANYNJ, PATH welcomed 57.2 million passengers over the year. This was 13% higher than 2023’s total and was 70% of the total from pre-pandemic 2019.
Weekend ridership in 2024 was especially robust, according to the agency. Saturday and Sunday ridership was 96% and 99%, respectively, of 2019 pre-pandemic levels. Average weekday ridership in 2024 was 186,120. This was a jump of 13% from 2023 and was 65% of 2019’s figure.
In November, PATH welcomed 4.8 million passengers, an 11% increase compared to November 2023 and 74% of November 2019. December saw 4.8 million passengers, which was 15% above December 2023 and 74% of December 2019.
BART
The BART Police Department’s continued focus on boosting its visible presence in the system appears to be having an impact for both rider and front-line safety, the agency recently reported. The end-of-the-year Chief’s Report (download below) shows overall crime on BART in 2024 was down 17% from the previous year and violent crime was down 11% over that same period. The substantial drop in crime happened even as BART served 2.6 million more trips than it carried in 2023.
Additional highlights from the latest Chief’s Report include:
- The total number of property crimes on BART fell by 536 incidents compared with 2023.
- There were 229 fewer auto thefts, a 34% drop.
- BART PD’s response time to Tier 1 emergencies in December was 3 minutes and 56 seconds, among the fastest for any law enforcement agency in the Bay Area.
BART PD is using both sworn officers, as well as non-sworn, unarmed Crisis Intervention Specialists, Transit Ambassadors, Fare Inspectors, and Community Service Officers to maximize its visible presence in the system. Their efforts, the agency says, are being bolstered by the installation of Next Generation Fare Gates, which are already in place at 16 stations across the system. The taller and more resilient gates are improving the station environment and deterring fare evasion. BART plans to install new gates at all 50 of its stations by the end of this year.
Last year was also BART PD’s strongest recruitment year since the pandemic, according to the agency. The officer vacancy total has fallen to 16 and the department is continuing its “aggressive recruitment campaign” by highlighting its $15,000 hiring bonus for officers and dispatchers, as well as the unique career opportunities only BART PD can offer.
SEPTA
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is seeking more money for public transit in his budget proposal unveiled Feb. 4, according to an Associated Press (AP) report.
According to the report, Shapiro is proposing to send nearly $300 million, or about 20% more, to public transit agencies as he works to “stave off cutbacks by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the Philadelphia region’s public transit agency struggling to regain ridership lost during the pandemic.”
