Luc Tremblay, new STM director, focused on boosting user experience

Montreal's public transit authority has found a new director general in longtime employee Luc Tremblay.

"I love the STM. I'm a big fan," Tremblay said on CBC Daybreak Friday morning.

The 21-year veteran of the STM has served as treasurer and financial director, and replaced ousted president Carl Desrosiers as the interim director in December.

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Among his first orders of business: Finally coming through with the STM's long-promised plan to allow riders to recharge their Opus cards at home. He said it's part of his goal of improving the experience of using public transit, and should be online in a few weeks.

"It's a good example of what we can do to have a better customer experience, instead of only focusing on growing ridership," Tremblay said.

Times have been tough on the STM, financially speaking. The transit authority has had a multi-million-dollar deficit for years, and it's not getting any cheaper to run the service's buses and Metro system.

Expenses the STM faces include retrofitting stations built in the 1960s and 1970s to be able to accommodate people with mobility issues. He also wants to make sure all buses have front ramps by 2020.

150 candidates

STM board president Philippe Schnobb said there's nothing political about Tremblay's promotion. Former director Desrosiers simply wasn't the best man for the job, he said.

Tremblay won the title over 150 other candidates interviewed during a hiring process that began last January.

"His abilities and knowledge demonstrated during his interim term made us comfortable with our choice," Schnobb said.