It appears that the new hybrid buses the Plante administration is planning to add to the STM's fleet will cost a lot more than the mayor had said they would during last fall's election campaign.
Minutes from the June meeting of the STM's board of directors suggests the new buses would cost $1.14 million each. During the campaign, Valérie Plante said the 300 hybrid buses would cost a total of $225 million — or roughly $750,000 each.
Back in February, Plante announced the city would go ahead with the purchase. A call for tenders went out, and the bid from St. Eustache-based Nova Bus was approved by the STM's board of directors. Nova Bus, meantime, had said the buses would cost about $1.14 million each.
For Lionel Perez, the leader of the opposition Ensemble Montreal party, there are still many unaswered questions, including who will help pay for the extra costs.
“Everybody is in favour of more services, more buses,” said opposition leader Lionel Perez. “The question is how are we going to pay for it? And what is the model that is going to be used? And to date, they still have not answered these questions.”
The city, meanwhile, referred to a plan approved in March to borrow money for an extensive public transit project — a project which included the 300 new buses.
The first of those new buses should be rolling by 2020.