OC Transpo user says he was fired from two jobs because of cancelled and late buses
To say transit rider Max Well is frustrated with OC Transpo would be an understatement.
"I was 25 minutes late because three buses didn’t show up," Well said. "I now have lost two jobs because I would show up late for a shift due to reasons out of my control."
Unable to get to work on time and fired, he says, because of unreliable public transit.
"Loblaws was like, 'you aren’t a reliable employee'. And I was like, I’m relying on the buses. I’m doing everything I can."
Despite paying for a monthly pass, Katelynn Cadieux has been forced to turn to Uber on occasion. She’s also upset there isn’t more warning from OC Transpo when a route has been cancelled.
"In the past two weeks it’s happened three times," says Cadieux. "It’s just when these flukes kind of happen and they don’t say anything about it, it gets really frustrating. When they know the bus isn’t coming but they just don’t say or announce it anywhere."
Hundreds of trips have been cancelled in part because of a new mandatory 30-minute break for drivers. OC Transpo is now on a hiring binge.
"So the half-an-hour break has obviously created more work, because you need the coverage for that half an hour break," says Clint Crabtree, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 President. "And so therefore, with the coverage needed, you don’t have enough operators to cover the amount of work that’s put out there now."
Transit user Fatima Nabbus was told to leave a bus that wasn’t completing a route. She had to get off and call an Uber to get to work on time.
"There was one time where I got on the bus, it was on time, until we got to the station and he said, sorry the route is over now, we aren’t going to go all the way," says Nabbus. "I assume he had to go on a break. So there was no one to take over for him at the station so he said sorry the route is cancelled now."
OC Transpo says it hopes to hire nearly 300 more drivers this year, but it will take time.
Too late for Max Well.
"OC Transpo played a role in my work seeing me as irresponsible," says Well. "Despite me doing everything I can. It’s not like I could do anything about it."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.