8 secrets of the life of a bus of the STM

Photo 24 hours, Charlotte A. Castilloux
At the STM, the bus to have a life of 16 years.

Charlotte A. Castilloux

Tuesday, 5 September 2017, 00:00

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Tuesday, 5 September 2017, 00:00

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Virtually all Montrealers have already boarded a bus from the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), but how many know what actually is hidden behind the bodywork of these vehicles?

The fleet of the STM is composed of 1828 buses, of which 257 are arranged, which serve the 220 lines to the four corners of the island of Montreal. If the majority of the buses have a diesel, 166 have motors with a hybrid drive, and three are 100% electric. Many of these vehicles whose duration of life is of 16 years require a rigorous maintenance and constant as they carry on a daily basis hundreds of people.

The 24 Hours had access to the backstage of the maintenance of the buses and found 8 interesting facts of these vehicles.

800 000 Kilometers in a life

Each year, buses would travel p up to 50 000 kilometres, or about 1000 times the length of the island of Montreal. If, on average, at the end of a life, a bus has traveled almost 800 000 km, some even reach the million says Christian Langois, superintendent of maintenance at the Centre of transport Legendre of the STM. “I’ve already seen one with 1.5 Million kilometers, but the bus had been completely redone. There was virtually no room of origin,” he says.

500 litres of diesel

By consuming about 90 litres to the 100 kilometres, the diesel buses of the STM are usually filled with gasoline for two days. The tank of this type of vehicle has a capacity of 500 litres.

This weekend in Montreal, a litre of diesel cost about $ 1.00 and it was, therefore, approximately 500 $ to make the full vehicle.

Photo 24 hours, Charlotte A. Castilloux

Among the repairs are the most frequent suffered by the bus of the STM is the maintenance of the engine, the automatic doors and the electronic display.

Inspection every 6 months

All buses are inspected thoroughly every six months. “It transports people, cars should be the safest,” said Mr. Langlois. The brakes, themselves, are checked approximately with 7500 miles and the oil is changed every 10,000.

In addition to these regular talks, before taking to the road, the driver shall make a through inspection of their vehicle. “They have a list, if there is anything that is not optimal, it is repaired before they leave the premises,” added Mr. Langlois.

22.5 inches

The buses are fitted with six tyres of 22.5 inches. New, the tires used by the STM were 570 $. Put on a bus to new tires can rise to more than 3400 $.

According to Mr. Langlois, it is difficult to judge how much change a tire undergoes a bus. “This is very different from one vehicle to the other. It depends on which row it flows, road conditions, flat tires, and many other factors,” he explains.

Photo 24 hours, Charlotte A. Castilloux

Christian Langlois, superintendent – maintenance at the Centre de transport Legendre of the STM .

More than 400 flats per year

Despite the impressive size of the tires, most punctures are caused by small hard objects, such as screws or nails, which lodge in the walls of rubber. Mr. Langlois is estimated that more than 400 punctures can take place in a year.

Less breakage caused by the passengers

The majority of the problems faced by the mechanics of the STM are linked to the engine. The doors and the electronic display are also subject to problems. Less breakage is due to the customer. “Today, people have their hands busy with their phone. Before we gratouillait or breaking things around, but it happens less and less”, remarks Mr. Langlois, who is said to notice a decrease in the “vandalism” to the interior of the vehicles.

12 breakdowns per day

Through service units mobile, the buses do not have to return automatically to their center of transport if it encounters a problem on the road. “The change of a flat tire or replacing a rear-view mirror damaged can be performed in less than 15 minutes by the mobile team,” says Mr. Langlois. However, some failures, often caused by engine problems, forcing the vehicle to stop its course. It is estimated that a dozen a day, the number of faults that requires the evacuation of the customer and returning the vehicle to the garage.

More than 400 accidents

Last year, the buses have been involved in more than 400 accidents. “The majority are of small skirmishes, especially in the city centre,” says Mr. Langlois. Regardless of the damage, the STM revise the vehicle in order to put it back on the road as long as possible. “We need to roll for 16 years, so it can be rebuilt in full if necessary,” adds the superintendent, who is said to have seen only one bus does not reach this age. But, it was an exceptional situation where the vehicle has been ravaged by the flames.