Why is Sault Transit running itsy-bitsy parabuses on main routes?

An aging fleet and a shortage of mechanics to keep it running have forced Sault Transit to operate tiny community and parabuses this month on main bus routes.

It's not being well-received.

"The driver told me this is a regular thing now since so many of the city buses are in disrepair," one reader wrote to SooToday on April 8.

"I have been taking the Steelton/Second Line bus for the past 22 years, at least two to four times a week to get to work. Today the regular bus didn't come. It was a much smaller parabus," the reader told us.

"When it stopped at my stop I was very surprised and the driver told me that this was the bus today. It only had nine seats on it, and all were taken. So what happens when the bus is full? There's no proper standing room or bars to hold onto."

"If there are seniors getting on they might not have a seat due to people who wouldn't give up a seat to the elderly if their life depended on it. There's no bells to ring for the stops. You have to tell the driver when to stop and lots of passengers don't pay attention until they pass their stop. Lots of times there's moms with strollers and people with several kids in tow, people with groceries etc. The bus is way too small for the route they have it on."

The following day, a different transit user wrote to Mayor Provenzano and Ward 1 Coun. Sandra Hollingsworth.

"I cannot believe this is what my city has become," she said.

"SS to SAH [Steelton/Second Line to Sault Area Hospital] was a para bus on April 1. The poor bus driver had to refuse a woman with three young children, one of which wrapped around her waist. I got up and asked if I could get off and let her on. I was on my way to work, which is at a bank. Bear in mind – the first of the month. The driver explained that if two others do not get off, I stay on. No one offered. The driver felt terrible as did I!"

This reader heard back from Mayor Provenzano.

"We have a way to go, for sure, but we will make a lot of progress over the next couple of years." the mayor told her.

"I have been one of the strongest proponents of this investment and really pushed staff to find ways to significantly improve our transit service. We are working on it."

"What we are seeing is the effects of an aging fleet with the average age of our buses at 13 years old, coupled with a hard winter," Brent Lamming, the city's director of community services, tells SooToday.

"The primary reason for the use of parabuses is to supplement the conventional buses when they are out of service. As the conventional buses get repaired they go back into regular service."

Lamming says smaller community buses and parabuses have been used this month on regular routes including Eastside and Steelton/Second Line, and parabuses sometimes fill in on community bus routes.

"This is not uncommon especially after a long winter. We schedule additional staff to follow the parabuses on regular routes so passengers are not stranded, especially during the peak hours."

"In addition to the aging fleet we are short two mechanics that we are in the process of trying to replace," Lamming told us.

On April 9, Sault Transit had five buses listed as inactive due to major repairs and/or awaiting parts.

At the same time, three buses were on the hoist for safety inspection, three were undergoing body shop repairs and another two were expected to return to active service the following day.

By yesterday, Lamming reported that things had improved considerably.

Just two buses were in the garage, replaced by parabuses.

What's being done to keep this from happening in the future?

"We have been making investments in our transit services and have significant plans to upgrade in the years ahead," Lamming says.

Two new buses, complete with bike racks, are expected to arrive this summer.

Four used buses are being purchased from another municipality, to replace Sault buses with more than twice their mileage.

Later this year, the city expects to order three new 40-foot buses, two 35-foot buses and one new parabus with a low-floor unit.

Those would be delivered in 2020.

Says Lamming: "By the end of 2019, the city will have purchased 21 buses (new and used) since 2017 and invested approximately $1.6 million – the city’s share of investment which is matched by other levels of government."

He points to other recent investments in local transit:

• 2018 route optimization – a significant overhaul of transit routes based on extensive community consultation resulting in seven new routes serviced by 18 conventional buses plus a community bus route
• restoration of half-hour summer service
• purchase and Installation of surveillance cameras on parabus fleet
• replacing existing radio system on buses and transit vehicles
• $855,000 in capital building repairs to 111 Huron St.
• restoration of four pedestrian shelters
• recently obtained City Council approval for a one-year on-demand transit pilot that will focus initially to improve Sunday evening service. A request for proposals is in progress and transit officials hope to have the pilot implemented during the summer months or early fall

"We're doing the best we can with what we have," Lamming tells SooToday. "We definitely see light at the end of the tunnel."