Montreal city buses being targeted in road safety pressure tactic

Commuters in Montreal and the surrounding areas are stuck in the middle of a labour dispute.

Safety patrols for Quebec’s automobile Insurance board (SAAQ) are taking city buses off the road for being over their weight limit.

The safety patrol workers are currently in negotiations.

Every year during the Spring thaw between March and May, city buses in Quebec don’t pass the weight test.

The limit is 8,000 kilograms and buses weigh 9,200 kilograms.

Officials have looked the other way since the mid-1990s, saying the increased weight is not a safety issue for commuters.

The president of the RTL transit line is asking Quebec’s Transport minister to review the regulation.

Michel Veuilleux is also frustrated that SAAQ safety workers are using the issue as a bargaining tool.

“At the time that it makes problems for transit users, I have a problem with that,” Veilleux told Global News on Thursday.

Veilleux says 100,000 commuters use the RTL system daily and that so far, 30 buses have been stopped and fined.

Inspectors were not pulling buses off the roads with commuters on them, but the tactic still caused delays for those who waited for a bus that just didn’t show up.

At the National Assembly on Thursday, Transport Minister André Fortin said he is working on solving the problem.

He also admonished the safety patrols for calling it “unacceptable” that they “hold users hostage.”