Free entry to some metro stations on weekends, announced last summer to attract more visitors to the city center, will not return this year, the Plante administration confirmed, which paid 2.3 million for this extraordinary move.
In a statement sent to the media, the Montreal mayor’s office indicated on Thursday that “the recovery of the free metro from the city center on weekends and some holidays is not planned this summer”.
To justify itself, the city affirms that “the context has changed a lot since last summer, when we were in a post-pandemic situation where traffic in the city center was greatly slowed.”
“Today, Sainte-Catherine Street is once again busy, much of the city center regains its normal vibrancy and we can be happy to see that metro traffic quickly returns to normal on weekends” , supports Press Attache, Marikim Gaudreault.
She affirms that Montreal will henceforth “focus on more constructive and inclusive incentive measures, such as free public transportation for seniors, which will take effect from 1er Next July.” The move would cost about $40 million a year, but since it doesn’t take effect until mid-2023, the city will pay $24 million for the first year.
In mid-April, Mayor Valérie Plante said she hoped other cities or governments would be inspired by Montreal to offer free public transportation to seniors, “in the long term and even in the medium term.
In the executive committee on Wednesday, the city also approved the payment to the Autorité́ Régionale de Transport Metropolitane (ARTM) of an “additional contribution” of 2.3 million for a free pilot project carried out last summer. The platforms of Saint-Laurent, Place-des-Arts, McGill, Peel, Champ-de-Mars, Place-d’Armes and Berri-UQAM stations are open to all without tickets on weekends during the summer.
From July 2021, children aged 11 and below can already take the Metro for free in Metropolis. They must be accompanied by a person aged 14 and above to ride the metro or bus.
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