CUPE 5910, representing Société de transport de l’Outaouais, STO, bus drivers, is sending a message on their behalf: bus drivers have never been more worried about the future of public transit in Gatineau. Members are referring to the announced cuts of $205 million over five years, which threaten the Rapibus airport extension, the tramway to Ottawa and the acquisition of 20 electric buses. Other signs also point to stagnating and even deteriorating service, while the region’s workers are being called back to office, causing an increase in demand.
“Users should know that the usual and desirable dialogue between drivers and the STO’s customer experience department has basically come to a standstill,” said Benoît Pichette-Sarault, president of CUPE 5910. “Bus drivers are the STO’s eyes in the field. They are the ones who see all kinds of problems and issues, and they have suggestions for improvements. As a trade union, we play an essential role in the improvement process. Unfortunately, for some time now, our solutions have gone without any response. We are therefore calling on the STO to restore normal communication. The quality of service to users depends on it.”
“Then there’s the unbridled expansion of transit on demand through contracts that the STO awards to taxi companies,” Pichette-Sarault explained. “We agree that this service has its rightful place, but it should be used to shuttle riders from areas too remote for bus service to the bus lines. But what’s happening instead is a chaotic development for all kinds of new routes. This is not viable on a large scale and, especially, it interferes with bus routes, which continue to be users’ most affordable and efficient solution. By choosing to develop private transportation, the STO is forfeiting subsidies that would enable it to create new bus routes.”
As contestants run to become the new Coalition avenir Québec leader and with the provincial elections in November, CUPE intends to use pressure tactics to defend the Outaouais region’s best interests regarding public services, particularly public transit. Local unions at the STO (the bus drivers’ union and CUPE 5440, the maintenance employees’ union) also intend to more closely monitor the STO’s contracting out.