Bus service upsets riders, even as city enters Stage 2
Bus riders are frustrated, drivers remain leery about safety, while Transit Windsor executives scramble to keep providing service in the face on the COVID-19 pandemic and millions of dollars being lost.
Despite Windsor being granted permission last week by the Ontario government to enter Stage 2 of reopening the economy, don’t expect any immediate changes to the limited transit service being offered, said Pat Delmore, executive director for Transit Windsor.
“We continue to monitor numbers (of riders) closely, watching to see where to redeploy additional buses,” he said.
“We are still providing services only for essential trips. We will continue limited use of transit until we can increase the numbers (of riders) on the bus and get back to using the front door.”
Local buses currently are operating on a holiday/weekend schedule. They remain limited to 10 riders each with no fares being charged. Entry and exits are conducted at the back door only to aid driver safety.
On any given day, there are 10 to 15 additional buses on roving duty in Windsor to move quickly into any route that shows high demand, so passengers are not kept waiting for too long, Delmore said.
But the numbers of riders has started to rise since Stage 2 was announced last week when both Devonshire Mall and Tecumseh Mall reopened, he said.
Those ridership numbers were not yet known on Monday, but figures from the previous weeks show there was an average of 28,000 riders — far below the weekly average of 140,000 before the pandemic.
Increasing customer demand has led to escalating tempers of many after constantly being passed by at their stop because buses have reached their 10-passenger limit.
“I’m bus-dependent,” said Joelle Pecz, who has relied on Transit Windsor the past six years. “I don’t drive. I use it to get to work, get my groceries — everything.
“The service was horrible before (the pandemic), but it has got a lot worse since — which I didn’t believe was possible.”
The downtown resident most often uses major routes, including the Crosstown 2 and IC. Her anger was triggered Friday as she attempted to go grocery shopping.
She initially waited 25 minutes for a bus, only to have it pass her by because it already had 10 riders, so then waited another 30 minutes for the next one.
On her return trip, she waited 40 minutes for the first bus, only to see it pass her by again because it was full. She waited another 30 minutes for the next one to arrive to get her back home.
Since pandemic restrictions have eased, Pecz wants a more normal transit schedule and extended hours, which now end daily at 7 p.m.
Without buses, she has been forced to take cabs, which can cost $10 in each direction just to get groceries, making it difficult with her limited income, she said.
“There are a lot of people who rely on the bus,” Pecz said. “They are usually your most vulnerable. I can’t drive because of medical reasons, so I need the bus for everything. It shouldn’t take an hour and half for me just to get to the grocery store.”
Kathy Mckay, who lives in the city’s east end, has relied on Transit Windsor since the early 1990s to get to her job at the Windsor Assembly Plant. She is unable to drive because of her limited vision.
She has returned to work, but has been forced to use cabs because there is no reliable bus service — the limited hours don’t fit her shifts.
Mckay can afford cabs, but is upset for local low-wage employees who are being called back to work in Stage 2, then left without an affordable means of transportation.
“There are a lot of people who work at these places reopening who rely on the bus,” Mckay said.
“They go to Stage 2, but there are no buses for these people to get to work or get anywhere. You can’t have this both ways.”
She wants Transit Windsor to get more safety measures in place quickly for drivers and riders — such as shields and masks.
“Windsor always comes up short for anybody who doesn’t have a car,” Mckay said. “Being a bus rider excludes me from stuff my peers can do. I am not able to see well enough and this is like an extra dig because of the lack of transit. Not everybody knows somebody for a ride or can afford a cab.”
With no fares charged, financial losses have been significant for Transit Windsor, Delmore said.
An updated cost figure will be released at the next city council meeting July 13 as part of an overall COVID-19 municipal financial update.
From mid-march until early May, Transit Windsor’s budget was already down $1.6 million.
Roughly 50 of Transit Windsor’s 185 drivers remain on layoff, along with nearly 10 customer service representatives.
Safety discussions continue with union leaders, Delmore said. There is also input from transit services across Ontario regarding best pandemic practices and the eventual return to regular service, he said.
“We are part of a working committee,” he said. “There are a whole gamut of things being discussed.”
Delmore said protective shields on buses and mandatory masks for riders may be future measures.
“We are limited in the services we can provide until we can find a way back to more than 10 people on a bus and having people come through the front door (and pay fares),” he said. “We are trying the best we can with the challenges we’ve got.
“We appreciate people’s patience in the community. We recognize this has been very challenging for everyone.”
The service was horrible before, but it has got a lot worse since.