Historic decline in travel in Greater Montreal

The pandemic has disrupted transit in Greater Montreal, which saw trip numbers drop to a historic five-year low.

It emerged from the Perspective Mobility 2023 survey that travel across the metropolitan area fell by 4% from 2018, despite an extra 117,000 households in the territory.

According to a survey conducted by the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM), this reduction in journeys is the most significant in 35 years.

Formerly known as the Origin-Destination Survey, the survey has been conducted every five years since 1970 to understand the realities of travel and to develop public transport and sustainable mobility strategies.

The rise of teleworking

This historic decrease in the number of trips can be explained by the increase in teleworking. In 2023, just over half of full-time employees in the region have a job that works for them, and more than a quarter are teleworking on the day of the survey.

According to the survey, people are more inclined towards cocktails that have multiple routes.

While the share of journeys by car has remained stable, despite a recovery in ridership, the share of journeys by public transport has declined by 4% since 2018,

The survey also noted a 4% increase in the share allocated to active transport such as walking and cycling.

Not at the same time

It is clear that they continue to travel for work and studies, but not at the same time.

The number of trips to work during the morning rush hour decreased by 29%. Compared to 2018, travel between 9 am and 3:28 pm has increased by 6%.

The survey represents an average fall weekday commute of about 4.6 million people across all modes of transportation combined.

By the end of 2023, nearly 900,000 households had received an invitation to participate, with 110,000 agreeing to describe a typical day of their travels.