Saskatoon Access Transit user 'shocked' over service reduction
Starting Thursday, riders looking to take Access Transit to get to their destinations will notice a shift in service over the next three weeks.
In a news release on Wednesday, Saskatoon Transit says the service will temporarily reduce service levels based on available resources.
It’s something Access Transit user Brittany Zuleta wasn’t prepared for as she uses it five days a week.
“I was shocked to hear the news, I’m like, 'why would they do that?'” she told CTV News.
Saskatoon Transit interim director Tracey Davis said the decision was made due to a short-term staffing shortage.
“Retirements, resignations that were naturally occurring anyways. We had a couple of folks who ended up injured unexpectedly,” Davis said.
Saskatoon Transit is hiring new drivers but says it will take time to get them trained.
It says booking an Access Transit bus will be challenging for last-minute spontaneous trips. Davis says Access Transit has roughly 1,800 active customers.
“The chances of getting that trip that they wanted might be reduced and they might experience those delays and might have to travel at an off-peak time,” Davis said.
Zuleta says “it isn’t fair” for people like her who depend on Access Transit to take them from point A to point B regularly.
“I don’t want to be having to pay for a cab or having my parents come get me because it’s not fair to them,” Zuleta said.
Sydney Risley is another Access Transit user and says she tries to use it as much as she can, as taxis are out of her budget and walking long distances is out of the question.
“My roommate, he even said to me, ever since taking Access Transit, I don’t come home as tired,” Risley said.
Saskatoon Transit is advising riders to continue booking trips three days in advance as early as 9 a.m. to avoid possible denials.
In a statement, Saskatoon Transit said Access Transit’s subscription service will not be affected by the decrease in service levels.
"In addition, Saskatoon Transit is actively using a number of third party transportation options to reduce the impact. Normally, there is a cap of how many third party transportation service rides are supplemented each day for customers when Access Transit is overbooked; however in order to reduce the impact on customers, this cap has been removed during this time of service level adjustment," the statement said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.