With public transit numbers reaching record-setting heights in recent months, some users have been left waiting for the next bus due to passengers being packed like sardines.
The city is reportedly working to address the issue, with service levels increasing to allocate more buses to affected routes during peak times and other options being investigated this year.
Late last year, Sudbury.com published a letter to this effect by user Anne Cropper, in which she noted that she’d had buses pass her by on three occasions due to them being at capacity.
“This always happens after I’ve finished work and just want to get home safely,” she wrote. “Luckily, I had the means for a cab, but most of the others waiting were students and I doubt they have money to spare.”
Although city Transit Services director Brendan Adair told Sudbury.com they don’t keep track of how many times buses turn people away as a result of being at capacity, it has only been reported to have happened on Route 1 and Route 2.
Route 1 travels from the New Sudbury Walmart to the South End Walmart, travelling along Lasalle Boulevard, Notre Dame Avenue, Paris Street and Long Lake Road, with a stop at the Downtown Transit Hub.
Route 2 travels from Downtown Sudbury to Cambrian College using mainly The Kingsway and Barrydowne Road.
Both routes use six buses to maintain 15-minute service during peak times, Adair said.
Despite this frequency, both routes have hit the passenger limit of approximately 65 people, sitting and standing, which pushes passengers up to the yellow line at the front of the bus and prompts the driver to determine the vehicle to be at capacity.
An “out of service” message appears on the bus’s exterior and prospective passengers at bus stops are left waiting for the next-available vehicle.
“We see it mostly during the Monday to Friday period, and through that peak time of 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.” Adair said. “There’s a combination of student riders that use it, as well as getting from one side of the city to the other.”
The city has a bus available for standby service during peak times which they will occasionally send out, but in most cases, riders are left waiting for the next bus.
During 2024-25 budget deliberations last month, city council approved boosting GOVA Transit service by 11,000 hours annually by the end of 2025, which Adair said the city is in the process of hashing out the implications of.
With public transit use changing all the time, he said they’re doing “some good analysis to make sure the changes we are bringing forward align with ridership and allow us to bring additional service where needed.”
The tentative plan for Routes 1 and 2 is to boost service by two buses each during peak times.
This, among other things outlined in the business plan for the service-level boost (see Pages 292-295 of the city’s proposed budget document), such as improving service to Garson.
Meanwhile, the city is also working to implement more of the Transit Action Plan’s long-term vision, which Adair said could include such things as designated bus lanes and the introduction of longer articulated buses, plus a review of their three main GOVA Transit hubs.
“We’re looking into probably later parts of this year and into next year to do the necessary work to determine what opportunities are there to make changes to support our ridership,” Adair said.
For now, he said public transit users should continue sending feedback to the city through their 311 services (phone number and online reporting system).
“It helps us outside of the data we’re seeing,” he said. “It really helps us see what’s going on as it impacts the customer.”
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
