OC Transpo passengers left stranded downtown
Posted Nov 17, 2011 06:44:22 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Frustrations are mounting from passengers after an incident earlier this week when passengers aboard OC Transpo’s number five route were left stranded downtown.
After waiting for 45 minutes, Henry McCambridge boarded the bus on the Mackenzie King Bridge, but was then left stranded along with 14 others when the bus driver abandoned his bus after being questioned why he was late.
McCambridge who uses Route 5 a few times a week said the problems began back in September when the city announced changes to its scheduling.
“For the first two weeks, everything was fantastic there. Then, for some unknown reason everything started going downhill,” said McCambridge.
On Sept. 4, the city launched “route optimization” which either rerouted, merged or cancelled several bus routes in an attempt to save $13-million before 2012.
Two buses which ran under the Route 5 were merged into the current route.
OC Transpo general manager Alain Mercier said the bus route changes are not to blame for buses being late, since most of the changes were to routes where buses were not used very often.
Mercier said Tuesday that OC Transpo policy is that if there is an incident that causes concern for the passengers or passengers, the control centre is to be contacted. Employees are to wait for instruction by the control centre and never abandon the bus.
McCambridge said he attempted to constructively reach a resolution with the driver, who refused to answer twice. The driver disembarked when McCambridge asked another passenger to complain to the city.
Rideau-Vanier Councillor Mathieu Fleury said part of the reason Route 5 is often delayed is because of the complicated route it needs to follow, looping around areas in the city such as St. Paul University, Billings Bridge and St. Laurent.
He also said that most of the delays only happen during rush hour.
This is the latest situation fueling frustrations between drivers and passengers.
