STM launches new campaign to show the metro’s role in society

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) launched a new ad campaign in an effort the agency says will show the role of the métro in society and the need to maintain it for safety and reliability.

The campaign will be featured across STM’s digital communication channels, online, through signage in the métro network, on bus shelters and on roadside billboards.

The campaign was designed in-house and advertising costs will be covered under STM partnerships, except for printing costs.

“The Montreal métro represents more in daily trips than any other transportation infrastructure in the country—even more than all five South Shore bridges combined. As long as it’s functional and operating well, we don’t realize how important it is to each and every one of us. It’s taken for granted,” said STM Board Chair Éric Alan Caldwell. “However, if we don’t maintain it, it won’t be able to continue to play that role and deliver all the expected services and benefits. Without it, mobility in Greater Montréal is affected.”

Without the métro, thousands of daily trips would be impossible. STM says the métro is essential for:

• Continuing to provide service for 1.1 million daily trips on the STM network.
• 215,000 workers who use it every day to commute.
• 175,000 students who take it daily to and from school.
• 1,500 Quebec suppliers with whom the STM collaborates.
• Reducing traffic congestion, which costs the Montreal economy more than $6 billion.
• Combating climate change by using electricity and generating no greenhouse gas emissions.

The agency says the investment deficit for asset maintenance is C$6.6 billion (US$4.8 billion) and continues to increase each year. The average age of métro assets is 48 years. This aging has very real consequences:

• 40% of metro assets are in poor condition.
• 267% increase in service interruptions caused by equipment breakdowns over 10 years.
• 300% increase in critical equipment reports between 2018 and 2022.
• The MR-73 trains, which are almost 50 years old, are about 11 times less reliable than the AZUR trains and are among the oldest in the world.
• An increase in unexpected closures, such as the shutdown of Saint-Michel station last fall.

“The métro, which will turn 60 in 2026, is still safe, but this data reminds us that it mustn’t be taken for granted. It must be maintained so that it continues to deliver all the benefits expected of it. This inevitably requires additional funding for asset maintenance, which we are still waiting on from the Quebec government. We urge them to step up and deliver,” said STM Executive Director Marie-Claude Léonard.