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A Brandon Transit bus and a pickup truck needed to be towed from the scene after a crash at Victoria Avenue East and Park Street in January. The eastbound lanes of Victoria Avenue were partially blocked until the vehicles were towed.
When buses hit the road early each morning, there are times the fleet has no backup plan should one bus experience mechanical difficulties.
"We do make pull-out every morning," City of Brandon director of transportation Tim Sanderson said.
"But we do like to have a spare bus in case one breaks down so we have another one that we can send out. There has been a few mornings where we haven’t had that spare bus and it’s been a bit of a wing and a prayer, but we pulled through."
Sanderson said one major challenge is that a bus was involved in a serious collision recently that has forced that bus out of commission.
"It got into a significant accident and we’re still waiting for it to get repaired."
He hopes the rubber will meet the road for the banged-up bus within a couple of weeks.
Another issue is the fact that four buses in the fleet are a different model than the rest. Sanderson said the buses purchased in 2008 just aren’t as reliable as some of the newer buses.
"We find we have a lot of mechanical issues with them," Sanderson said. "We try to keep them in as much as possible so we can use the better buses that are more reliable."
Typically buses are cycled out every 13 to 14 years, according to Sanderson, but for the unreliable group he expects to have to change them out in eight years.
A brief message on the city’s website under transportation services states: "Due to the inordinate amount of bus breakdowns, staff are struggling to catch up. The recent snowfall has also played a part with the garage falling further behind. Keeping the snow removal fleet on the road has suspended work on spring seasonal equipment and might put staff behind for the preparations associated with spring cleanup."
While Sanderson said he wishes the maintenance on spring cleanup equipment was further along, he also said there will be no delay once the snow melts.
"There is still a buffer to make sure they will be ready to go," Sanderson said.
"We want to be prepared so that when that snow does clear, the street cleaners can hit the road right away. We’re not where we’d like to be. We’d like to be ready right now, but when spring does hit, the street sweepers will be ready to roll."
The department recently started keeping track of its fleet-availability rate, with the goal of keeping 95 per cent of the 261 pieces of equipment ready for action.
Sanderson said in February the department met its goal, keeping 95.01 per cent of the equipment in service.
The fleet department was recently identified as using the second-highest number of sick hours in city departments in 2012.
Last year, the department averaged more than 100 hours of sick time per employee, almost double the average of 52 hours of all departments.
Those numbers were inflated, Sanderson said, due to a significant illness experienced by one of the department’s employees.
"It was an anomaly last year," Sanderson said.
"Attendance can always be improved, but that’s not generally where we stand."
» ctweed@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition March 13, 2013
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When buses hit the road early each morning, there are times the fleet has no backup plan should one bus experience mechanical difficulties.
"We do make pull-out every morning," City of Brandon director of transportation Tim Sanderson said.
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When buses hit the road early each morning, there are times the fleet has no backup plan should one bus experience mechanical difficulties.
"We do make pull-out every morning," City of Brandon director of transportation Tim Sanderson said.
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