*Editor's note: Last week, we ran a letter from a resident who was angry with Sudbury transit. She then got a call from the city telling her not to despair, and that changes are coming.
Following my public rant at being once again abandoned on the side of the road by city transit, I was contacted by a Transit Manager.
He was professional, polite and good humoured, and I was very grateful for his call. He asked for details of these incidences and explained the process they take when they get a complaint. Sadly, as I didn't have specific dates and times for all my incidences, he will be unable to investigate them all.
He also said there are positive changes and increases to the routes coming in the new year.
My take away was this: there seems to be an earnest attempt to make improvements.
Any complaints made through the direct transit line 705-675-3333 or 311 will be recorded and investigated via whatever methods are available, including GPS and video footage, as all buses are now equipped with both.
So continue making the calls when you experience an issue and make sure to note the route, date and time, as this is what they will need to investigate.
Whether it's a missed route, poor driving or any other issue, if we make a complaint, they will investigate each one. As this particular complaints system is relatively new at about a year and a half old, those of us who haven't taken the bus in this time may not have been familiar with it.
We also talked briefly about the improvements I have already seen and the good and even great drivers out there.
I suggested at minimum, there should be an alert online for routes that are going to be missed.
Trip Planner may not be fully accurate, you also need to check your route maps.
Big changes are coming.
Making our complaints official, every time, will improve our service. I know a fair number of people who also complain about missed routes or other shenanigans, but I also know they don't always make official complaints.
Now that we know our complaints won't just get lost in a shuffle of paper, maybe we can make a difference.
Gina Theresa Conroy
Sudbury