Société de transport de Sherbrooke: millions to increase ridership

Shanny Hallé

Thursday, 24 August 2017 20:39

UPDATE
Thursday, 24 August 2017 20:39

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SHERBROOKE | Québec and Ottawa will unlock $ 7.4 million to improve the services of the Société de transport de Sherbrooke (STS) in the course of a dozen projects with the objective of increasing ridership on the buses of the STS.

In the control room of the STS, all bus routes are monitored in real time.

“All the buses that are green, these are buses that are on time. All the buses are red, buses that have more than three minutes late,” said Luc Roy, chief of section at the STS.

“It is here that one meets all the demands of the drivers and of the customer in real time”, he added.

Since 2012, the STS collect these data. Accurate information, which will soon be available for users. From his cell, the user will know exactly where their bus is, and if it lags or not.

“It’s going to give a bunch of alternatives, especially at the level of perturbations. If there is an accident, is that I have to change course”, if is requested, as would a user’s Bruno Vachon, president of the STS.

The STS wants to become more attractive to its young clients.

A technological shift has been undertaken with the new mobile application of Vermilion.

“It’s about 70 % of our clientele which are the students”, explained Mr. Roy.

“For students, it allows to know the hours and plan its movements,” said a student of the University of Sherbrooke interviewed by TVA News.

The STS is also going green to encourage drivers to make the jump to public transport. Six hybrid buses will be added to its fleet.

Projects

In total, a dozen development projects are underway at the STS.

They can be made with the help of $ 7.4 million from the federal and provincial governments from the Funds for the transit infrastructure. The STS will complete the funding.

“This is really a very nice news for Sherbrooke today”, welcomed the minister Marie-Claude Bibeau.

Some work is already started. This is the case at the University of Sherbrooke, where the resurfacing of the bus lane is well advanced.

“In the spring of 2018, all of these 10 projects should be completed,” added Mr. Vachon.