More buses on Winnipeg roads as Manitoba begin to reopen

WINNIPEG -- The City of Winnipeg announced on Wednesday that Winnipeg Transit has been utilizing more buses now that the province has begun to reopen.

“Additional buses are being put into schedule as necessary to deal and assist with passenger loads,” said Jay Shaw, assistant chief of emergency management for the City of Winnipeg.

He noted that on Monday an additional 47 buses were put on the roads to help with passenger loads, and on Tuesday there were 39.

Mayor Brian Bowman has previously said that during the pandemic Winnipeg saw a 70 per cent decrease in its ridership, so it reduced service levels by 30 per cent.

He said transit had plans in plans to scale up services, depending on what ridership and city services look like after the province began to reopen some non-essential businesses on May 4.

MONITORING RIDERSHIP

Shaw said Winnipeg Transit has asked its operators to report to the control centre if there are more than 15 people on a bus or more than 25 on an articulating bus.

“However this does not represent what we feel to be overcrowding on buses, rather it is a reporting tool used to understand and gauge the loads being carried on the buses,” he said, noting that it’s hard to place a number on overcrowding on buses.

Shaw reminded Winnipeggers that it’s the job of the passenger to maintain physical distancing, not the job of the bus driver.

Transit continues to monitor ridership using four elements: automatic passenger counters, control centre checks, on-street inspector observations, and encouraging operating reporting.

MAY LONG WEEKEND

With the May long weekend coming up, Shaw reminded Winnipeggers to remain vigilant in regards to public health orders.

“This is not a time to take our foot off the gas and to start relaxing,” he said.

Shaw added, "We have to come together to continue to fight the transmission and break the transmission of COVID-19. We need to think about everyone in our community, including the most vulnerable.”

He also urged residents to use the Active Transportation Routes, but to do so responsibly, which means obeying the rules of the road and applying common courtesy.

“These Active Transportation routes were put into place to ensure there is adequate room to practice social distancing,” he said, adding that people should leave space when they are passing someone else.