The City of Montreal is providing free access to seven downtown metro stations this summer.

Commuters will be able to enter Saint-Laurent, Place-des-Arts, McGill, Peel, Champ-de-Mars, Place-d'Armes and Berri-UQAM for free on Saturdays and Sundays all summer long, until September 5. This initiative started on June 24.

But was this the best use of providing free transit? Taylor C. Noakes, journalist and public historian says the City of Montreal is prioritizing downtown interest, as he says our politicians are more downtown focused. Noakes said they should have given more focus to non-downtown stations, as there are other neighbourhoods that are booming for their nightlife, including Verdun and the Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhoods.

Noakes says over the last two decades, there's been important growth in areas that are not downtown and this should be given more focus.

While some stations are being offered for free, fares are increasing for some. Off-island riders in Laval and the South Shore looking to commute on the island, will now be paying $5.25 instead of $3.50, as of July 1. Monthly passes have also increased. The monthly pass was once $90.50 a month but now stands at $94. Students still have a cheaper fare, but what was once $212 is now $220 for four months.

Noakes said that we would think politicians would want to reward citizens with something such as free transit. But he said they don't because they're locked into neoliberal thinking in the sense that anything for free isn't worth it. 

Noakes believes transit should be free. He said the City of Montreal should get rid of STM police to save money and instead put in regular cops in metro stations to keep an eye on things, but not give them power to card people in the metro to make sure they've paid their fare. Noakes also recommended removing an STM worker from manning turn styles. He says that free public transit guarantees that more people will use transit.