Drivers worried about late-night buses

Edmonton transit operators are raising safety concerns about new late night bus service along Whyte Avenue that starts early Saturday morning.

Over the next three months, buses will pick up bar patrons along Whyte at 12-minute intervals from 1:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. and drop them at the University of Alberta and Southgate Transit Centre.

But Stu Litwinowich, the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union local 569, thinks putting bar patrons on a bus could create a dangerous situation for drivers.

"The cabs in this city are not picking these people up on Whyte Avenue as it is. Why should transit pick them up?" he asked.

"Why should my operators be placed out there, putting themselves in what I believe could be jeopardy, to pick someone up who's been partying all night, bringing that activity back onto a bus?

"Who's looking after them? Who's on that bus with them? There's no one but themselves."

Litwinowich doesn't want a repeat of what happened on Dec. 3, 2009, when bus driver Tom Bregg suffered permanent, disabling injuries when he was viciously beaten by a passenger during the morning rush hour.

A city official says the union's concerns should be addressed by extra police and transit security in the area.

"We would never do anything to put our staff in harm's way and that's why we brought in extra resources to deal with this matter," said Ron Gabruck, director of safety and security for Edmonton Transit.

Extra transit security officers and radio dispatch staff have been scheduled to handle potential problems.

But Gabruck says regular service runs until 1:30 a.m. and he doesn't expect ETS will see anything different on a later route. 

Council will evaluate the pilot project once it ends on April 14.