There were rumours that the fares would go up again (not exactly going out on a limb), but the STM last night made it official. The new rates (PDF) are as follows:
| Regular | Reduced | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly CAM | $68.50 ($66.25 + 3.4%) | $37 ($36 + 2.8% |
| Weekly CAM | $20 ($19.25 + 3.9%) | $11.25 ($11 + 2.3%) |
| Three-day tourist pass | $17 (no change) | N/A |
| One-day tourist pass | $9 (no change) | N/A |
| 10 trips (Opus card only) | $20 ($2/trip) | $10.75 ($1.08/trip) |
| Six trips | $12.75 ($2.13/trip, $12 + 6.3%) | $6.75 ($1.13/trip, $6.50 + 3.8%) |
| Single fare | $2.75 (no change) | $1.75 (no change) |
Transit agencies have to give 30 days notice for fare changes, which means they have until 11:59pm on Dec. 1 to announce any changes to take effect for Jan. 1, 2009.
Since when can you buy ten trips on an Opus card? The only option I’ve ever seen has been the six trips. In fact, if you want to buy twelve trips, you need to conduct two separate transactions (i.e., buy six, remove the OPUS card, buy six more). Weird. Presumably the e-commerce feature is coming eventually, right? Not that it matters; since I’m joining Communauto on the weekend they’ll be providing my CAM, though, naturally, it can’t be done on an Opus card, at least not for the time being.
Also, the increase to the six-trip fare is the outlier, eh? I guess the STM expects casual ridership to increase, and has decided to milk that for all it’s worth. Tourists catch a break, eh? Though it would make sense to adjust those for inflation, I guess the STM wants to keep the fare to a round number, which is sort of understandable.
More transit blogging!
What’s infuriating is that although they claim the new fare system will reduce fraud (which is on the order of $16 million), they still raise the fares.
Nice blog! So my question is (I can’t find the answer anywhere on the STM or OPUS site) if you still have single fares on your opus card can you charge it with a monthly pass and if so what happens to the singles? Do they get saved until the monthly pass runs out?
A small fare hike (2-3%) is reasonable given that the agency is not immune from inflation. That said, there’s a compelling case to be made for free or at least cheaper public transit. The STM does an excellent job of doublespeak about expansion. It will do a press tour touting new lines, increased frequency of service and “new” technology (new to Quebec, I guess) and then it will reduce service and roll out innovation as slowly as possible. Of course if we had a political system that didn’t put the needs of Montreal in opposition to those of the ruling provincial government (regardless of its political affiliation) we would probably already have a kickass transit system.
Needle, I think there’s only one way to find out. Buy a December pass and let us know if you have any fares left on January 1st, heh heh.
I’ve noticed a steady decrease in the amount of service since King Tremblay came into power. I wonder how much they spent on their recent “On va se voir + souvent !” campaign? Service on some bus routes (103, 190, to name a few) is simply unacceptable. The buses barely finish half the route and it’s already a sardine can. And we keep hearing Tremblay (and his embarrassing brother) saying “take public transit!!!!” Even the metro is getting bad. It is not normal in a city like ours on a busy Friday night to be waiting 13 minutes for a train on the orange line. Train intervals, at least on the orange and green lines, should NEVER be more than 6 minutes.
And on the OPUS card, I’m an occasional transit user, so I bought one. The idea is great to not have to fumble for tickets and being paperless. But why does it have to be 6 tickets at a time? You’d think with all this highfalutin new hi-tech stuff you could purchase tickets in whatever number you want? Why must it be for the convenience of the MTC and not the convenience of, oh, the transit user?
With each fare increase, there seems to be a service decrease. Who is truly running the show over there?
@Beeg: The ten trips on an OPUS card is brand new in 2009. It will be cheaper (per ticket) then the 6-ticket option. One of the many advantages of OPUS.
@Jean Naimard: The increase is just a bit more than the cost of inflation and increased gas prices (the STM made the decision before the price of gas went down).
@Needle: From what I heard, they remain dormant on your card in case you forget to refill your pass, so you’re not stranded at the beginning of the month.
Actually, it was Géranium Pommier* who has gutted public transit. He cut back something like 25000 hours of bus service and removed the Pie-IX bus lane, and the Tremblay administration has since (slowly) started to get the service back to better levels (but still not as it was before the cutbacks).
* Bourque, eh…
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where can i buy the opus card? i’ve looked all over the website of the stm and opus and seem to find where to buy it
You can buy the Opus card at any metro station or at the usual points of sale. Check this page on their website to see where Opus cards are available.
Hey this helped me do my taxes, thanks Mr. Fagstein.