Thunder Bay, Ont., transit users call for change amid delays, cancellations, safety concerns

Paul Myllyniemi takes the bus to work in Thunder Bay, Ont., every day — except when it doesn’t show up. 

Then, he sees if a family member can take him, otherwise he’ll be late.

A local Facebook page called “Transit Woes” has amassed more than 500 followers. There, transit users in the northwestern Ontario city share updates on delays, cancellations and safety concerns.

While service changes are communicated with passengers through Next Lift’s website or the transit app, “sometimes the bus just doesn't show up.”

“There's no sign of cancellation and you're stuck just wondering where the bus is,” Myllyniemi said. 

Matthew Furioso, Thunder Bay Transit’s operations and standards supervisor, said the service has 25 drivers. Of these, about 10 are going through some form of training, which takes an average of 15 weeks to complete.

“We lost a lot of people this summer in quick succession,” Furioso said of the driver shortage. “We're making really good progress on it but we are just very slow at the training portion because it's not a job that you can just throw somebody right out there once they're hired.”

Though Furioso said staffing levels should improve in a few months, transit users like Leah Keller say they’re running out of patience.

“The incredible lack of reliability right now, the out-of-service and cancelled buses that are becoming way too normal, people being stranded in the elements for 45-plus minutes at a time, even longer,” Keller said.

“It's not fair to the people who are paying money for monthly or even yearly passes,” she continued. “I don't think we're getting the standard of service that we should be.”

Keller said if her fiancée can’t bring her to work when her bus is delayed or cancelled, she doesn’t have many options.

“Being late to work constantly or having to arrive an hour-plus early if I can get a bus that's running,” she said.

“I luckily have a very understanding boss who understands the issues that transit has, but I know of a lot of people who have either lost their jobs completely or lost access to promotions because they didn't have access to reliable transit.”

There’s also concerns around safety, both at the bus shelters and on board. Keller said she’s witnessed multiple altercations, while Myllyniemi said drivers often have to deal with intoxicated passengers.