Prince Albert deploys school buses as issues plague transit fleet

In the wake of complaints about public transit, the City of Prince Albert is pursiong legal action against a bus supplier for allegedly failing to honour the quality warranty of seven vehicles found to have cracks in the frames.

“Residents who rely on the buses to get to work, to go to school and to buy groceries, have been left unsure whether a bus will be there,” said Mayor Dionne.

The city is seeking $6 million dollars from Vicinity Motors Corp. to recover the purchase price of seven buses, repair costs and the expense of temporary replacement buses.

Vicinity Motors Corp. has headquarters in Aldergrove, British Columbia. CTV News has contacted the company and is awaiting a response.

The buses were purchased in 2017 and put into service in 2018. They were on the road for three years before the faults were discovered, according to the city

The city says mechanics found one of the buses to have a crack in the frames near the rear axle and upon further inspection, similar cracks were found on other buses. The remaining Vicinity Motors fleet was removed from service in April 2021.

Dionne says the company was unable to repair or replace the faulty buses that were under warranty and that prompted them to launch the lawsuit.

“These companies have let us down,” said Mayor Greg Dionne. “We did not get what we purchased. These buses are not safe to operate on city streets.”

In the lawsuit, the city is also seeking compensation for lost revenue from ridership and having to refund bus passes and loss of advertising revenue from billboards. Bus passes for the month of March were refunded to transit users.

“There wasn’t bus service all winter off and on,” said transit user Virginia Mirasty. “All of April there was no bus service on the West Flat so I had a bus pass for nothing.”

Mirasty said the city refunded her bus pass money for the month of March, but she said it’s not enough as she relies on the bus for all of her travel in the city.

The city says they’re working with First Bus Canada to purchase buses and have put school buses on the road this winter as city transit buses, however, not all of the routes are restored.

Mirasty wears a knee brace and said she has a difficult time getting in and out of the school buses.

The city recently purchased three buses through First Bus Canada. The buses were used by a U.S. university and purchased by Prince Albert to replace the school buses and more are on the way.

Dionne said the three buses are being upgraded to fit Canadian standards with features such as new heaters and daytime running light. He said the buses need to go through a Canadian and Saskatchewan inspection and are subject to SGI approval before they can be put in service.

“One thing people will notice is that these buses were made for a hot climate so they have air conditioning so you won’t have to worry about heat in the summertime,” said Dionne.

The new U.S. buses are also wheelchair accessible and easier to climb in and out of.

Dionne said the city is working to rectify the problem and improve service for transit users.

“Their experience will change now because first, the bus will show up. And now it’s summer and the buses weren’t showing when it was thirty below… but I apologize for that,” said Dionne.