Weather, road conditions put Brandon Transit buses behind

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/12/2016 (3434 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Blustery weather and poor road conditions have had a significant impact on Brandon Transit over the past few weeks.

Bus routes are running an average of five minutes behind schedule, but that can stretch to 10 minutes or more. Some riders have reported waiting more than a half-hour.

Michael Crede takes the bus every day for work, and says the delays have been happening for the last three weeks, typically a five to 10-minute wait. When the temperature plummets and feels like -40 C with the windchill, Crede said even a few extra minutes can be difficult to bear.

“There has been times where we were late because of the buses,” he said, adding this week has been a bit better with the warmer temperatures.

Carla Richardson, director of transportation with the City of Brandon, said there have been a few minor accidents due to road conditions, and traffic generally is a lot slower when the roads are icy.

“I would much rather have them slow right down and arrive safely, then try to maintain their speed and be driving too fast for the conditions,” she said.

Delays are typical at this time of year, but the issue is even worse due to First Street bridge construction.

“We only have two routes that go to the hill,” she said.

When the rest of the system is running five minutes behind, the buses wait for the transferring passengers downtown whenever possible.

But there are other intersections that tend to cause delays, including turning right on to 18th Street off Pacific Avenue, or getting caught in the one-lane traffic on First Street. Also, the intersection of 18th Street North and Braecrest Drive can be a challenge for buses when they need to make a left-hand turn back on to 18th Street. Delays caused by waiting for trains to pass are also an issue.

“We are seeing a lot more traffic this last month because of visitors, Christmas shoppers, there’s all sorts of additional traffic that picks up in December,” she said.

Drivers keep in touch through open radio channels, and co-ordinate transfers whenever possible.

“We don’t want (passengers) left behind downtown, we don’t want them to be standing out wondering where the bus is,” Richardson said, adding it’s tough to make everybody happy.

If a driver is asked to wait for incoming buses, the next route is delayed, forcing passengers to wait longer at stops.

“It’s something that we battle all the time, and that’s not just seasonally, either,” she said.

One other reason for delays is when buses have to wait for people who are running to catch the bus.

“They may not think that it’s a big deal, but if they do that several times, it does add up,” Richardson said. “We really don’t want them driving by people that we know are running to the bus, but just try to encourage people to be at the stop in plenty of time so they’re ready to get on.”

Over the next few months, Richardson said they plan to work on a route review plan, which will include community consultations. Routes are 11 kilometres long, so to pick up all the passengers, drive for the conditions all in 25 minutes can be a challenge.

The goal is to “revise and redistribute” some of the routes so that they can have some breathing room.

“They have got too much area to cover in too short of a time,” Richardson said.

» jaustin@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @jillianaustin