Montreal’s transit authority gave top executives salary increases of up to 6.5 per cent in 2013.

The news comes as the Société de transport de Montréal cuts bus service, reduces cleaning of métro stations and leaves some subway kiosks unstaffed so it can shave $65 million from its 2014 budget.

The STM raised fares by 2 per cent in 2013 and by 3.2 per cent in 2014.

In 2013, the average salary hike among the 12 members of the STM’s executive committee was 5.3 per cent, according to figures in the STM’s 2013 annual report, made public Friday.

The hikes started at 4.5 per cent. Two executives saw their salaries increase by six per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively.

Director-general Carl Desrosiers, the STM’s highest paid employee, received a salary of $313,212 in 2013, a 5.5-per-cent jump from 2012.

The STM spent just under $2.7 million on salaries for the 12 management committee members. That’s 5.3 per cent more than in 2012.

The STM also publishes a list of expenses incurred by the dozen highest ranking employees on “research and development missions.”

In 2013, they spent $60,000 on such trips, with François Chamberland, executive director of technical services, registering the biggest tally. His four overseas trips cost $22,629.

The overall amount spent on trips in 2013 was lower than the 2012 total ($68,300).

A board of directors made up of elected officials and members of the public oversees the STM’s operations.

In 2013, members of the board were paid $330,300 in salaries and extra fees for taking part in committee meetings. That’s down from the 2012 total of $338,800.

STM spokesperson Amélie Régis said the executives can see their salaries increase based on their performance, with contracts stipulating they can go up by an average of between two per cent and five per cent. In 2013, they also benefited from a 2.5-per-cent cost-of-living boost.

Régis said the salaries, which are reviewed by outside experts, “correspond to the median” salary of employees with similar jobs in other organizations.

Asked how the STM can justify such salary hikes when it’s cutting service, Régis noted that “in 2013, the STM maintained its overall service offering.” Buses and the métro rolled 167.7 million kilometres, a slight increase over 2012.

The $65 million in cuts were announced in January 2014.

Defending the salary increases, Régis also pointed to ridership, which hit a record in 2013 (416.5 trips) and has grown by 15 per cent compared with 2006.

The 2013 annual report also showed that:

Métro delays decreased. There were 895 delays of five minutes or more, 13 per cent fewer than in 2012. There were 11.5 such delays per million kilometres travelled in 2013, compared to 13.2 in 2012.

Customer satisfaction dropped. Seventy-seven per cent of métro riders were satisfied, a seven-percentage-point drop. As for bus riders, 79 per cent were satisfied, a three-point drop.

Last year, The Gazette obtained the salaries of a longer list of STM managers — members of the organization’s extended executive committee.

The figures showed that the salaries of a dozen top STM managers jumped by more than 10 per cent in 2012.

ariga@montrealgazette.com



Twitter: andyriga



