OC Transpo warning Para Transpo customers of delays due to maintenance backlog

OC Transpo is warning Para Transpo customers to expect service delays because of a backlog of maintenance requirements among its minibus fleet.

Para Transpo customers have been dealing with increased wait times over the last few days. Transit Services general manager Renée Amilcar said in a memo Thursday that the age of the minibus fleet means they are dealing with increased mechanical issues, which is affecting fleet availability.

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She said new buses are expected to arrive in the new year.

"Replacement of the minibus fleet was postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic due to very low ridership, resulting in keeping the current fleet operating longer. Council recently approved investments to purchase new Para Transpo minibuses given the age of the existing fleet, and they will begin to arrive in 2025. This measure will reduce maintenance requirements and further stabilize the fleet to provide improved service for customers," Amilcar wrote.

John Redins uses Para Transpo to get to work. He says last Friday his bus was scheduled to pick him up from east Ottawa apartment at 4:15 p.m., to be at work for 5:30 but the bus didn't show up until around 6 p.m., making him more than an hour late.

Catherine Margery Jackson says she missed a very important doctor's appointment after waiting for an hour and twenty minutes for her scheduled Para Transpo bus. "I would never have made it and, on top of that, it never came at all."

Amilcar said OC Transpo continues to take all new bookings and deliver trips but is also reaching out to customers to find individual travel solutions where possible.

Options include more trips with accessible taxis and contractor vans, prioritizing minibuses for customers who can't use taxis, contacting customers in advance to inform them of delays, reviewing schedules to improve efficiency, and increasing the number of minibuses undergoing maintenance at one time.

"OC Transpo has been notifying customers of delays directly through phone calls, text messages and social media. Para Transpo customers are also encouraged to use the My Para Transpo app to track or cancel their trips," Amilcar wrote. "We recognize that these service delays have an impact on our customers’ daily lives, and we appreciate their ongoing patience as we work to address this issue."

OC Transpo spokesperson Katrina Camposarcone-Stubbs tells CTV News Ottawa that Para Transpo has a fleet of 80 minibuses, approximately half of which were undergoing maintenance as of Thursday morning. As maintenance is completed, more buses will be available for passengers. She stressed that no one is being left behind, as staff are in direct contact with customers about alternative options for trips.

"Some customers are experiencing delays. And when we're able to pick them up, some customers are experiencing slightly longer trips. This comes from the fact that we have a very old fleet of Para Transpo minibuses," said director of customer systems Pat Scrimgeour. "They're due for replacement, and a lot of mechanical maintenance issues are coming together at the same time, so we've had more buses needing to go in for repair and for maintenance than would normally all come due at the same time."

He says the minibuses are 10 years old.

The union representing OC Transpo drivers says they're ready to drive, but they don't have enough vehicles.

"There's drivers without buses right now, but they're on standby. They're waiting. They're coming in. They're in uniform, ready to go," said ATU Local 279 president Noah Vineberg.

He said the union is allowing flexibility, having some subcontracted work to have buses repaired at outside vendors. "We've waived some of those concessions in an ability and a desire to get this up and running as quickly as possible. We've had some success over the last few days getting more buses daily."

He added that the buses will still be checked by his members, "Knowing, of course, that the safety is paramount and that nothing will go out until it has been fully certified and vetted by our mechanics."   

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Peter Szperling.