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With new projects on the way, and existing networks aging, several local city councillors are concerned Montreal could soon run out of cash to run its public transit services.

Two opposition councillors tabled a resolution Friday afternoon calling on all of the federal parties to pledge in the upcoming election to provide funds to pay for the operations of transit networks on a recurrent basis.

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Marvin Rotrand and Aref Salem co-sponsored the motion, which will be presented at the Aug. 19 city council meeting. They say without a new source of funding, Montrealers will have to shell out more money, either in the form of tax increases or fare hikes, just to maintain the current level of service.

Rotrand said the federal government has committed billions to help pay for the $6.3 billion REM light-rail project, and the extension of the métro’s Blue Line, and other transit projects are also underway: the SRB Pie IX — a bus rapid transit network along Pie-IX Blvd., and the order of 300 new hybrid buses. All those projects mean a greater bill at the end of the day to operate the networks, which will fall on the city’s transit agencies to pay.