The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has more than 10 percent of the total number of hybrid buses expected to arrive in 2020. STM has received 32 of the 300 hybrid buses and an average of 30 vehicles will be delivered per month.
STM says riders traveling on routes in the south-western part of the island may have already climbed aboard one of these buses, identifiable by their serial number starting with “40-…,” as the LaSalle bus garage is the first to receive them.
The new buses have two places for wheelchairs and USB chargers, in addition to air conditioning and what STM calls a sizeable fuel savings.
STM plans to invest C$48.6 million (US$36.542 million) in 2020 to directly increase the level of service as part of its 2020 budget. The new buses will allow STM to increase its fleet by a record 15 percent, as well as implement a five percent increase in service, which is the agency’s largest since 2012.
STM explains that starting in September, close to three percent of this increase will be devoted to improving service for new employment and development hubs, reducing crowding on certain lines and bolstering the measures deployed as part of “Movement orange.” The remainder of the increase will go towards mitigation measures further to the closure of the tunnel under Mount Royal as of March 31, 2020, as part of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) project.
