Luc Tremblay, who has spent 28 years with Société de transport de Montréal (STM), will step down as CEO and leave the agency effective April 2, 2022.
In 2019, Tremblay’s contract was extended through December 2022 with the STM Board saying Tremblay had “transformed the STM and put it on the path to excellence.” With his notification that he would not seek to extend his time past the December 2022 date and with the transit agency preparing for the 2030 Strategic Organizational Plan that will outline the next decade of STM operations, both the STM Board and Tremblay agreed on the early April departure date.
“Having spent 28 years at the STM, over seven of which as CEO, Mr. Tremblay can hold his head high knowing all that he has accomplished here,” said STM Board Chair Éric Alan Caldwell. “He has worked tirelessly to guide the STM through many significant transitions and challenges, not least of which being the pandemic.”
Tremblay joined the STM in 1994 and has held positions at all levels of management within the finance department. He was also the company treasurer from 2007 to 2014, after which he became interim director general and then CEO. At the time he took the top position in the agency, he outlined four goals: creating a more rider-focused agency, working with partners to make STM’s governance successful, improving STM’s finances and engaging employees and succession planning.
Under Tremblay’s leadership, STM started its battery-electric bus program, grew the bus fleet by 15 percent with final delivery of 300 new buses and integrated new AZUR trains. Caldwell also notes STM achieved “unprecedented operational capacity,” infrastructure improvements and customer satisfaction levels that climbed 12 pointes in five years.
“His deep commitment to the company, infectious enthusiasm and constant attention to improving the customer experience have made him an inspiring leader widely known for his qualities as a manager. His many achievements will secure the future of public transit for years to come,” added Caldwell.
Tremblay thanked the “dedicated, passionate and highly skilled employees” of STM and noted he was proud to be part of STM. He also offered some parting advice for how the agency could unlock its full potential.
“We are facing not only a health crisis but also the ongoing environmental crisis, for which there is no vaccine. The STM must play a leading role in the fight against greenhouse gases, and it now has many tools at its disposal to spearhead that fight. However, it also needs two key elements to unlock its full potential: an overhaul of public transit funding and more effective metropolitan governance. The current funding structure dates back to the 1990s and is entirely disconnected from our industry’s present-day needs. The ambitions for public transit are simply no longer consistent with the available resources.
“Furthermore, metropolitan governance is currently dysfunctional on multiple levels and too slow to deliver the benefits that are expected of it, which has hampered the progress of public transit in the region. These issues will be the major challenges of the coming years. If the STM can meet them successfully, it will be able to rise even higher and do what it has done best for the last 160 years: transport and transform Montréal,” said Tremblay.
The STM Board of Directors will soon begin the process of hiring Tremblay’s successor.
Mischa Wanek-Libman | Group Editorial Director
Mischa Wanek-Libman is director of communications with Transdev North America. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the transportation industry covering construction projects, engineering challenges, transit and rail operations and best practices.
Wanek-Libman has held top editorial positions at freight rail and public transportation business-to-business publications including as editor-in-chief and editorial director of Mass Transit from 2018-2024. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.
She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and served 14 years as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.
She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
