City's bus troubles grind on with no end in sight
The city is not talking. The union has doubts. Bus riders are fighting back
Transit riders in Saskatoon have now been struggling with reduced service and full buses for more than two weeks, as the city works to get transit back on track.
There is a reluctance to pinpoint a day- Spokesperson, city hall
But what city officials are not doing, is talking to the media. A spokesperson at city hall says top transit officials cannot be made available to individual media outlets, and instead referred CBC to the city’s webpage for the latest information. It suggests a number of services remain suspended.
The daily updates, however, offer no hint of when riders can expect full bus service, and officials at city hall aren’t talking about that either.
In an e-mail to CBC, a spokesperson suggested “there is a reluctance to pinpoint a day or even offer a rough guideline because there are always circumstances that will frustrate that, and then the public is disappointed.”
At the same time, the city is dealing with contract talks that, like some of the buses, have stalled. Its web-based transit updates suggest daily that the lack of progress in talks with the Amalgamated Transit Union, or ATU, create anxiety and uncertainty in the workplace, and that it’s possible bus riders will not enjoy full service until a deal is reached.
Union agrees this could go on for some time
The ATU, however, is talking about service. The local’s president Jim Yakubowski said that there is some buzz around the bus barns of a goal to have everything back on track by the end of this week. He has serious doubts.
We are quite a distance away- Jim Yakubowski, ATU local president
"We are quite a distance away from being able to provide regular service to the citizens of Saskatoon."
Yakubowski, who is also a driver, could not say how many of the used buses purchased by the city have been deployed to help ease service disruptions. He is aware that some of the buses have required body work, and at least one needed a complete brake job.
Riders rally to fight for rights
Tracey Mitchell is now in the process of bringing people together under the banner “Bus Riders of Saskatoon” so that they can fight for their rights.
Mitchell says long time riders are upset with, not only this current service disruption, but with recent changes to the bus routes in the city. She’s worried about what sort of message this sends to people who are new to the city, in particular, students at the University of Saskatchewan.
"Their introduction is to hear that the bus system is not good and won't help them out and I think that is unfortunate."
When Mitchell’s group gets rolling, she said that one of the first orders of business will be to try and disrupt what she sees as systemic racism toward bus riders in the city. It persists, she believes because many of the people who rely on the bus have little influence at city hall.
“When city councillors hear from their constituents, the chances that they are hearing from bus riders are probably less,” Mitchell said, and that “people who are in difficult positions and are just trying to get by day to day might be less likely to speak up and to know how to speak up.”
That will change, she promised, if riders are able to speak in a collective voice.
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