City acquires three new transit buses, public voices concerns of unreliability

“These three buses have been provided as a result of the warranty claim. We have been told that more will be provided. These are a more typical type of municipal transit bus with low floor access and more suitable for full-day operation,” said Mayor Greg Dionne in a media release. “We expect to see less disruptions in the route schedules with these buses on the road.”

After the claim was made, independent engineering inspections were made to confirm the cause of the cracked frames. Since then, the City received confirmation from VinCity Motor Corp. that they’re exploring a repair plan as part of the warranty claim.

“A repair schedule was expected in December, and more replacement buses were to be provided to us. Now we are nearing the end of February,” said Dionne. “Conversations are ongoing but it’s disappointing that warranty commitments are being stalled or forgotten. We are determined to take necessary action to protect the City’s interests, and we will very soon have more to say on that.”

Resident frustrations

Meanwhile, longtime Prince Albert resident John Emo, who has a senior’s monthly transit pass, voiced his concerns with the City’s transit system saying it’s not reliable and that the blame lies in city hall.

“They might as well cancel the whole bus service as far as I’m concerned,” Emo said.

He spoke to his experiences with transit saying had recently booked a doctor’s appointment downtown months in advance just to find out that day there were no buses running in the area.

This led him to take a $40 cab ride and said had he known in advance he would have booked the seniors transportation, which he said is cheaper. He then sent the bill from the cab ride to Mayor Greg Dionne, which Emo said he did not pay.

He explained the transit service has been unreliable since the City pulled its fleet off the road last April and believes whoever inspected them at city hall should be held accountable.

“They’re the ones that bought the buses when they should have been buying or leasing quality buses instead,” he said.

He said the constant route cancellations have been an inconvenience to many people and explained his displeasure with many of the bus stops around the city saying the snow removal has been unsatisfactory.

Director of Public Works with the City of Prince Albert, Wes Hicks, said they have also been disappointed with the service they provided.

“We apologize to our residents for that,” Hicks told paNOW. “As you can imagine we’re in a difficult situation where the buses we had purchased brand new had cracked frames and had to be removed from the roads leaving us not a lot of options in a small city with limited resources. Also, during two years of COVID-19 made the supply chain very difficult and finding replacement buses has not been easy.”

He went on to say they are doing whatever they can to secure more of these buses and improve their service.

He added the ice and snow removal around the bus stops is a difficult situation as the Prince Albert area is having a record snowfall this year. They have been doing their utmost to remove snow from all places including the bus stops throughout the winter.

“It’s a formidable task and we’ve had severe weather where you have a big snowfall and then you have a melt or a rain causing all kinds of icing conditions,” he said. “It’s been very difficult for our staff, but we do make bus routes a priority too including the bus stops and whenever there’s an issue If they wish to call it in, we will attend to it.”

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Ian.Gustafson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @IanGustafson12

by Ian Gustafson

City acquires three new transit buses, public voices concerns of unreliability

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