For months, the association had no director. He officially left last May, but has already been on sick leave since January 2021. In addition, there are currently three vacancies, including one from nearly two years ago.
Added to this is the departure of the chairman of the board, Marc Saint Laurent, last April.
The new buses, which were due to arrive in September, have not yet been delivered due to a lack of spare parts. The STR You don’t know when you will receive these vehicles. Thus, there will be a service interruption in the 11th district on Thursday and Friday.
Meanwhile, the tab on the company’s website Search for Citebus Not working at this time. Finally, the new districts that were to be determined after the popular consultations that took place several months ago will not be implemented for one year, that is, before the fall of 2022.
Despite everything, the management STR Ensures that direct user services are not affected.
The board of directors is the one who comes to make up for the shortage of employees
, says the chief STR and Municipal Advisor for the Sacré-Cœur District, Sebastien Bolduc.
However, we will relaunch the recruitment process in the coming weeks. This is clearly a situation that is adding a lot of work to the board at the moment.
We organize ourselves as best we can. For circles, it is the advisors who help us. There are cases that may progress less quickly than if we had a full team
Boldock admits.
Michel Dube sees that there are indeed shortcomings in the services offered by STR.
Photo: Radio Canada/Simon Turcot
Shortcomings of the services
If there is STR Thought that user services were not affected, not everyone agrees.
Michel Dube, known for his work with Action Populaire Rimouski-Neigette, was the commissioner of the last public consultation on public transportation in Rimouski. According to him, several violations of the services have been reported. However, he does not want to criticize the company or the city.
The pandemic has placed a heavy burden on all organizations and the priority remains to improve services
, says Mr. Dobby.
I don’t want to throw stones at anyone. I think it’s a structural problem. But yes, I have reported violations.
Mr. Dube believes that fundamental changes to the company are necessary. It’s nice new roads, but there’s a problem with the Quebec government. I demand a review of the entire system of public transport subsidies
, Cuts.
With the current policy, since we are a city of less than 100,000 inhabitants, we will not be able to provide a quality service that meets everyone’s expectations.
Mr. Dobby adds.
Mr. Dube also notes that the monthly pass, at $105, is among the highest in Quebec. It remains a problem because it is a question of accessibility for everyone
Concludes.