Shuttle buses have been brought in as temporary replacements. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Transit trouble

P.A. pulls transit buses because of cracked frames

Apr 15, 2021 | 12:18 PM

The City of Prince Albert has pulled its fleet of Vicinity transit buses off the road after it was discovered several had cracked frames.

The city purchased the seven fully accessible buses in 2018 for $3.34 million.

“We’ve brought all the buses in to review all of them to make sure they are in appropriate condition that will be safe for our customers,” City manager Jim Toye told paNOW Wednesday afternoon.

He said it appears there’s been “a bit of a lack of maintaining the buses” on the part of FirstBus Canada, the company the city contracts to operate them.

While the vehicles undergo an “intense inspection” and repairs, Toye explained FirstBus Canada has brought in temporary replacements from other parts of the province.

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“We want the public to know that the buses that are on the road are safe,” he said.

There have been some disruptions to service, with one of the city’s six routes not running on Wednesday or Thursday.

Toye said the issue with the cracked frames was first discovered when one of the buses went in for maintenance.

“Underneath there was mud and ice and everything. When they did clear that off, they could see that there were some issues there,” he said. “Then they started to bring the buses in individually and saw that there was a common thread. We would have trusted the people who we employ to do the inspections, to do them right, and obviously that didn’t happen this time.”

Toye said the buses have a 12-year warranty and city staff are in discussions with the company they purchased them from. It appears they’re also having some stern words with FirstBus Canada.

“We need to hold their feet to the fire and make sure that what they’ve signed up…that they should be doing those works,” Toye said. “And I’m pretty sure that they heard that loud and clear over the day today.”

FirstBus Canada declined comment, deferring all communication on the matter to the City of P.A.

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alison.sandstrom@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @alisandstrom