Quebec’s provincewide curfew will not affect public transportation, according to Montreal transit authorities.
Deemed an essential service, buses, metro and trains will remain operational during the curfew period between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Both STM and Exo officials say the service will continue to run as it has for the last 10 months during the ongoing pandemic.
“Since our service has already adapted to the pandemic, for the moment we do not anticipate any major changes, ” Exo spokesperson Catherine Maurice said.
STM officials will “take note of the new measures announced” by the government and will “analyze the service offered to be put in place in the coming days,” STM spokesperson Philippe Déry said in a statement to Global News.
They did add that essential workers will be able to continue to rely on their transportation, even during curfew hours.
However, while both Exo and STM said public transportation will be available to users, Maurice stressed that drivers will not be responsible for making sure people are allowed to use the service.
“Staff will not have the responsibility to check the reason of every person using our services,” Maurice said.
“We strongly suggest that they have the necessary authorization on them.”
The STM said stopping all riders and demanding a proper reason to use the service would put too much strain on the network.
“The complexity of our network and its scope, our employees will not be able to exercise a supervisory control over all customers, every time,” Déry said.
Quebec has instructed local police to enforce the guidelines.
Those disobeying the curfew could face fines ranging between $1,000 and $6,000.