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Montrealers shouldn’t believe the city’s transit agency when it says it will improve bus service next year, say opposition councillors.

They say Montrealers deserve answers, not excuses about thecrisis in the city’s bus fleetthat has resulted in hundreds of buses parked for maintenance and repairs.

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“When you haven’t met 2019 service levels, how can you even dream of improving them in 2020,” asked city hall opposition leader Lionel Perez.

The Société de transport de Montréal unveiled its annual budget Thursday amid what its director general, Luc Tremblay, called a crisis in its bus fleet: more than 30 per cent of all buses are parked in garages awaiting repairs and maintenance, and for weeks, the agency has not been able to send out enough working buses to meet its posted schedules.

Last week, maintenance union president Gleason Frenette sounded the alarm bells about the crisis. However, the STM declined to comment about the situation until Thursday.