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

By Alison Sandstrom

Cracked frames

P.A. transit troubles expected to continue into next week

Apr 16, 2021 | 1:33 PM

Shuttle buses will continue to cover Prince Albert’s transit routes for at least the next week as the city’s bus fleet undergoes inspection and repairs to fix cracked frames.

The Rush Hour Route, which hasn’t run since Tuesday, continues to be temporarily suspended while the bus operator tries to bring in a sixth shuttle bus from another part of the province, the city’s director of public works, Wes Hicks told paNOW.

“We apologize to the residents of Prince Albert for the disruption,” Hicks said. “We’re working towards a solution and we do have bus service although it’s not at the level of service we would like to be able to deliver to our residents.”

The City of Prince Albert pulled its fleet of seven buses off the road earlier this week after it was discovered several had cracked frames.

On Wednesday, City Manager Jim Toye told paNOW it appeared there’d been “a bit of a lack of maintaining the buses” on the part of the operator, First Bus Canada.

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In 2019, a year after the city purchased them, First Bus Canada described the city’s new Vicinity buses as “lemons.”

Hicks said an official inspection of the vehicles will take place on Tuesday.

“We’re bringing in the manufacturer from Vancouver. The operator’s regional manager from Calgary, an SGI inspector and our fleet manager will be all present,” Hicks said.

As for when the Vicinity buses will be back on the road, Hicks said he won’t be able to provide an estimated timeframe until after the inspections take place.

“I can say this though,” he continued. “In speaking with the manufacturer, based on what we’ve seen so far, these items would be covered under warranty. So they would not cause the city any expenses.”

Updates on bus service can be found on the city’s website. The TransitLive GPS tracking system is currently not working as it has not been installed on the shuttle buses.

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alison.sandstrom@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @alisandstrom