THUNDER BAY — A Thunder Bay woman is avoiding Thunder Bay Transit after an unpleasant ride on a congested bus this week.
"Every seat was full, two people to a seat, and all the way to the back as well. There was only standing room, and that was crowded," says Karen Millington.
Millington was upset because the driver kept picking up passengers, even though the transit department's COVID-19 protocol includes keeping passenger loads to a maximum of 15 at any one time whenever possible.
On its website, however, Thunder Bay Transit notes that "some routes may experience full buses on occasion due to fluctuating customer demands."
Millington has a health condition that requires her to physical distance to protect herself.
"I got off early. I just couldn't handle being on the bus anymore," she said.
Up until now, Millington said, she's felt reasonably safe riding the bus.
"Every driver has been great...Even on the Main Line bus, every time I've been able to sit away from the other passengers. That's why I was so disturbed when I got on this bus, because when it stopped there wasn't even room for me to get in. There were two people blocking the door."
On busier routes during higher-traffic periods, transit operates two buses closely together to keep passenger loads down, but in this instance the "shadow bus" was very late, she said.
Millington said that up to this point, she had observed that if a bus was getting full the driver would usually drive past a stop because there wasn't enough room.
In this case, she said, "the driver just kept stopping and getting more people."
To make things worse, none of the passengers she could see was wearing a facemask, a precaution the transit department "strongly" recommends – along with physical distancing – for every rider.
After disembarking, Millington phoned the transit office to complain, and was told the matter would be referred to a person in charge.
Thunder Bay Transit manager Brad Loroff was out of the office Wednesday and unavailable for comment, and another member of management said he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
However, he stated that transit monitors traffic closely and has agents at each terminal to encourage social distancing, adding that there are "very few" instances of buses with more than 15 passengers.
A spokesperson for the bus driver's union said that under the protocol, drivers may still continue to pick up passengers beyond the target of 15, but are required to notify a controller so that another bus can be added to the route as soon as possible.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 966 vice-president Todd Little agreed that it's rare for buses to carry more than 15 passengers, but said the system is "not perfect."
"You rely on the public, right? We've got a lot of people riding for free now, and this just encourages more people to get on the bus when they're not really needing it," Little said.
He noted that although transit wants people to wear masks "this is Canada and you can't force people to."
Thunder Bay Transit's website cautions riders that physical distancing "may be challenging or not possible" at times.
For now, Millington is either relying on friends to help her get to her workplace, or walking to appointments when she can.
"I just can't take the chance" of riding the bus," she said.
