Editor's Note: The temporary bus schedule is now available here.
Bus services are being further reduced to allow drivers time off for the summer.
Timmins council has given the green light to temporarily reduce the frequency of some routes from June to August. The changes take effect Monday, June 13. The city expects to post the revised schedules by Thursday morning.
The changes primarily affect longer routes, including 16 that services out to Porcupine, as well as 37 and 38 that run to the Timmins Square.
Timmins Transit has not run at a full service level since the early stages of the pandemic. It's currently offering a Saturday schedule Monday to Saturday and regular Sunday schedule.
"We’ve been struggling with a driver shortage since the pandemic started. We’re having problems recruiting new drivers and we haven’t been very successful. In the past couple of summers we’ve actually had to cancel vacation to staff and this has caused some issues with drivers. We’re trying to eliminate driver fatigue, stress and increase the well-being for our drivers," Ken Krcel, director of public works and environmental services, told council.
Historical data shows ridership drops in the summer, he said.
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Some council members expressed a reluctance to reduce the service levels, however, they acknowledged the importance of the short-term change.
“This is trying to accommodate our staff to have time and so they continue to work. Because we lose any more drivers, we’ll be shutting routes down nevermind just delaying the service that we’re providing today,” said Coun. John Curley.
The time people may be waiting for a connecting bus if they're travelling from one end of town to the other was also raised.
“My concern is, I used to take the bus from South End to the Square and there was no half hour wait at the transit terminal. I could just hop on one bus to the other, I just want to make sure that that still occurs,” said Coun, Cory Robin.
Transit manager Marcel Coté said there will be a 15-minute wait for some transfers, "but that’s the nature of having this type of system for the next three months."
Coun. Mickey Auger said he's received calls from senior citizens who rely on the bus and may have to change appointments due to the scheduling change.
“To me, we’re there to accommodate the seniors and the people. We start changing times, seniors - that just throws a curve into the whole thing for them and a lot of them don’t understand,” said Auger.
The South Porcupine route is one of the longer routes, which gives the city flexibility to change the time and spread out how often it runs. Krcel said in-town routes are shorter and easier for drivers to maintain.
