The Friday commute will be a challenging one for many bus riders.
The STO had to cancel more than 100 trips during the morning rush due to a technical problem on 57 of its buses.
Many in Gatineau Friday afternoon were shocked to learn of the disruption.
“No, I wouldn’t want to get on a bus today.” said Susan Fitzgerald, who chooses to drive between Ottawa and Gatineau to avoid the transit system.
Major recall on hybrid buses @STOGatineau affecting rides this morning and evening in the capital region - CEO says connector corrosion in power steering system needs replacement @ctvottawa pic.twitter.com/Cz16Yn2b6H
— Mike Arsalides (@MArsalidesCTV) March 22, 2019
CEO Marc Rousseau said the STO first discovered a defect in the power steering connector last week; pulling the Nova Bus hybrid models Thursday evening.
“We recognized we had an issue with the power steering yesterday and we started to do some inspection during the evening and we discovered that based on the inspection that we have done there was a potential issue.” said Rousseau.
In Montreal, the transit system (STM) pulled another 285 hybrid buses Friday.
By the evening commute, STO confirmed there would be no further disruptions for the ride home with the return of 38 of 57 hybrids to service.
As for the remaining buses, STO awaits delivery of replacement parts for the defective power steering connector.
"We're still waiting for the final count and see how we're going to have to deal with that on Monday morning.” said Rousseau.
