Latest news with #busservice
CTV News
20 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
Significant reductions to Montreal bus, Metro service during nine-day strike
Commuters are being warned about significant cuts to Metro and bus service beginning next week due to the maintenance worker strike that will cause some headaches getting around Montreal. Of note, there will be no service disruptions during the Montreal Grand Prix. On May 29, the union representing the maintenance workers announced they were going on strike and had initially proposed to shut down the Metro for a day, but Quebec's Administrative Labour Tribunal refused, saying the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) had to ensure essential services were maintained to protect the health and safety of the public. On Monday, the tribunal said after reviewing a new agreement between the STM and the Syndicat du transport de Montréal that it was satisfactory. stm maintenance STM buses at a maintenance garage in Montreal. Commuting in Montreal, however, will be complicated outside of peak hours during the strike, which will run from June 9 to 17. Reductions to bus service From June 9 to 11, bus service will be maintained only from 6 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and then from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Regular service will then resume from 11:15 p.m. to 1:15 a.m. Outside of the hours, there will be no bus service. On June 12, there will be regular service from 6:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m and then from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Regular service will resume from 11:15 p.m. to 1:15 a.m. Outside of those hours, bus service will be reduced by 50 per cent, according to the STM. On June 13, 14, and 15, which coincides with Grand Prix weekend in Montreal, there will be regular bus service. On June 16 and 17, there will only be regular bus service from 6:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and then from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Regular bus service will resume from 11:15 p.m. to 1:15 a.m. Outside of those hours, bus service will be reduced by 50 per cent. Commuters are advised that Paratransit will not be affected by the strike and regular service will be maintained. Reductions to Metro service Metro hours will also be significantly reduced for public transit users during the strike. On June 9, 10, and 11, the Metro will only be in service from 6:30 a.m. to 9:38 a.m. and from 2:45 p.m. to 5:48 p.m. Metro service will then resume from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Outside of those hours, there will be no Metro service available. On June 12, the Metro will only be available from 6:30 a.m. to 10:38 a.m. and from 2:45 p.m. to 6:48 p.m. Service will resume between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. Outside of those hours, service will be reduced by 50 per cent. As with the bus, the Metro will not be disrupted from June 13, 14, and 15. On June 16 and 17, Metro service will be maintained between 6:30 a.m. and 9:38 a.m. and from 2:45 p.m. to 5:48 p.m. Service will come back between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. Outside of those hours, service will be reduced by 50 per cent. The STM said Monday that public transit users should 'plan their trips accordingly' during the strike and to consider working remotely and try walking or cycling whenever possible. The STM will also hold a press conference in the coming days to discuss the impact of the strike and more details about essential services. Last Saturday, STM bus and Metro operators also voted 99 per cent in favour of pressure tactics, including an unlimited general strike, according to their union. Their collective agreement expired on Jan. 5. [Info grève] Le @tat_gouvqc a approuvé les services essentiels convenus entre la STM et le syndicat des employés d'entretien (CSN) dans le cadre de leur grève du 9 au 17 juin inclusivement. Détails : 🏁 Grand Prix : service régulier les 13, 14 et 15 juin. — STM (@stm_nouvelles) June 2, 2025 With files from The Canadian Press
BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Mayor fights to keep March to Peterborough bus route
A newly elected mayor said he would fight to save the only direct bus service between a Cambridgeshire market town and a major said the 33 route between March and Peterborough was due to be shortened on 31 August due to "extremely low passenger numbers", and would start and finish in Whittlesey Bristow, the Conservative mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough's Combined Authority, said talks on the changes were "ongoing", with "potential options available" to keep March connected.A passenger, who relied on the route, told the BBC that the service ending would "have a huge impact on people's jobs and mental state". The passenger, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "For a growing community it's absolutely unacceptable."Another bus user, Craig Denyer, 43, said he lived in Whittlesey but travelled to work in March at a care home. "Currently the bus gets me to and from work at the right times, and costs £2 each way. When the service is cut I will have to use the train, which will be well over £10 a day," he Denyer added that the train times would not be ideal either, as he would have to wait 90 minutes to catch a journey home. A third passenger, who lived in March, said they used the 33 route for regular hospital appointments in cutbacks would leave her having to use a more expensive train or using connecting buses that would mean travelling to Wisbech - "about eight miles in the wrong direction", she a fourth passenger, who commuted daily from Peterborough to March for work, said they were not aware the service was being stopped. They said the news meant they could be forced to find a new job closer to home. Bristow, who is in charge of the Combined Authority that oversees the county's bus network, said: "I understand how worrying it is for people in March and surrounding villages to know that they could lose their only bus service to Peterborough."I have already met with Stagecoach to discuss the 33 and other routes. This dialogue continues. There are potential options for keeping March connected and I hope that we will be able to get one of these options to work." Darren Roe, managing director of Stagecoach East, said: "I welcome our new Mayor Bristow and all the newly elected councillors into their positions. We know just how much we can achieve if we all work together."Cambridgeshire is a wonderful region to serve, but there are big and tough choices to be made to improve our regional transport network. "We believe in the need to plan for the future, and now is the ideal moment to do just that." Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Trago Mills loses staff as bus bosses drop Bodmin route
A discount store branch in Cornwall has lost members of staff after the "tragic" cutting of a bus route, managers Cornwall Bus has dropped the number 11 service that used to run from Bodmin Parkway railway station to Liskeard along the A38 and drop into the Trago Mills store in the Glynn Valley en route. Passengers now are asked to travel from Bodmin Parkway to Liskeard via train and catch a bus from Council said passenger numbers "had reduced significantly" and the route was "no longer sustainable".Go Cornwall Bus said bosses were "genuinely sorry" over Trago job losses, but it could not reinstate the service unless funding could be found to support its cost. Ellie Robertson, business developments director at Trago Mills, said: "We weren't approached by the bus company in any way, shape or form. "The first thing we knew about it was a new timetable was put down on the bus stop."We wrote to the bus company and to Cornwall Council and tried to fight the decision, but, unfortunately, they have gone along with the changes, which has meant we have lost staff over it. "It's really sad on top of the redundancies that we've just gone through. It couldn't have come at a worst time. It's tragic." Ms Robertson said they a post on their social media had had a huge response. She said: "Dozens and dozens of people saying they used to shop with us but they no longer can, which is heartbreaking to hear. We need every sale we can get at the moment."We put memos up on the staff notice board so that people could put their name forward for car sharing. We've had a little bit of an uptake on that. "But it's really hard because everyone works in different departments and has different start and finish times and different shift patterns."Fortunately, one of our members of staff that has been with us for 40 years, who was going to have to leave because he couldn't get the bus anymore, we did manage to get a car share for him, so we do get to keep Steve the gardener." Jenny Day, catering assistant at the store, used that service and said: "Initially I could catch one bus into work at a decent time and one bus home. Now I have to catch two buses to get into work and rely on lifts to get home. "If I miss a bus or there's a bad connection, it means getting a taxi into work, which from Liskeard costs £12, which is what happened the other day."People from Bodmin, and one in particular that I worked with, had to leave. "In fact, two or three people have had to leave because there is just no bus service anymore," she said. Bob Winn, from Wadebridge, was a regular passenger on the former service, despite having his own car. He said: "So, if you want to go Trago Mills, you want to go Liskeard, Saltash or Plymouth, hard luck. "You have to go on the train, and we all know how much the train costs, so we just don't go anywhere. That's it." Cornwall Council said: "Commercial bus services and those subsidised by the council on the supported network need passengers to be financially viable and ensure we can maximise the allocation of our limited resources."Services continue to run between Padstow, Wadebridge, Bodmin and Bodmin Parkway. "Passengers can continue their journeys on to Liskeard and Plymouth by rail.""These bus services are timed to ensure passengers can make reasonable connections with the trains at Bodmin Parkway." Go Cornwall Bus managing director Richard Stevens said he was "genuinely sorry" staff had had to leave jobs, but that numbers of users going to Trago had fallen from 5,000 a year in 2022 to 1,500 people in the last 12 said: "It must be devastating and, for the people that were relying on this service, this withdrawal is life-changing and life-impacting... that's not lost on me at all."In terms of it can it be reinstated, if the money could be found to support the cost of the service, it could be reinstated."The difficultly we have at the moment is we are waiting for the government announcement for three years of funding for buses... So it will need public subsidy if we are to reinstate this link."
CBC
26-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Closure of bus stops troubles some Fredericton Transit users
It was just over a week ago that Natalie Flinn walked to her bus stop on the north side and learned from a sign that the stop would soon be dropped from the route. The closure on the north side is part of a Fredericton Transit decision to shed a number of stops across the city. "It's going to be hard when it comes into that icy weather, the slushy weather, the snowy weather," Flinn said. She said she and her kids take the bus because a car isn't affordable. She also likes to be conscious of her environmental footprint. But the stop at Fulton Avenue and Maple Street where she normally catches the bus to work is one of many about to be closed, forcing her to walk to the next stop or to one that would require a transfer. Fredericton Transit has undergone several changes in the last couple of years. It closed some stops last year, increased half-hour service on some routes this year and added Sunday service. In a Facebook post on Thursday, Fredericton Transit said it would be "streamlining routes to support our growing ridership and keep our system sustainable" and reducing stops for "faster trips and reduced emissions." The city said its transit manager was away and nobody else was available for an interview. It also did not provide a list of stops that would be closing. Flinn said that from what she can tell, there isn't a lot of rhyme or reason to which stops were chosen to be cut. "I don't think they're taking into account the geographic and societal needs for each stop," she said. "There was a sign posted every other stop along Maple, so it looks like they just went, 'OK, cut, skip this one, cut.'" She said some of the stops that get the most use had closure signs on them, and stop that aren't necessarily popular were left alone. For example, the Maple and MacFarlane stop, which she said gets far greater use than the Maple and MacDonald one, was cut and the MacDonald stop was left alone. And just near her, she said, there's an independent-living home for adults with additional needs — and a lot of the residents use the nearby bus stop. "I know that it would be a hard change on a lot of their routines to go to the next stop," Flinn said. "And for a few of them, it might actually be physically demanding on them, even though it's only, like, three Fredericton blocks away." When Fredericton Transit posted the decision on Facebook, passenger Allie Robertson said things began to click. About a week earlier, she started to notice signs posted at stops along her regular bus route. And as a home care worker who has a lot of clients with mobility challenges, she immediately feared the change would make things more difficult for people with disabilities or mobility issues. "For somebody with mobility issues, taking out these spots, it would definitely add more stress … because they would have to go further than one to two blocks to get to the stop," Robinson said. And in the midst of an ongoing push for increased transit ridership, Robinson said she thinks a change like this could have the opposite effect. As well, Robinson said, she isn't sure if the city's goal of increased efficiency will actually happen since the number of people at each stop could very well go up, taking more time for people to get on and off the bus at each stop. On Fredericton Transit's social media post, the nearly 100 people commenting brought up similar concerns, with many asking for a list of eliminated stops and others echoing Robinson's thoughts about people with mobility challenges.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
'Low demand' bus route dropped after three months
An "isolated" community is to lose its first bus to a nearby town in a decade after only three months of operation. The number 68 from Port Clarence to Billingham and the University Hospital of North Tees was introduced on a trial basis in February. However operator Stagecoach announced the service will end after next week's half-term holiday because of low demand. It said it brought in just £12.58 a day and four people per trip, while running costs were in excess of £80 a day. Councillor Katie Weston, Labour member for Billingham South, said she did not blame the company but called for changes to help remote communities access public transport. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "There's a lot of kids who aren't doing anything after school because they literally can't get back, they rely on the school bus. "And people doing their shopping, going to the doctors, because Billingham is their town centre." After meetings with Stagecoach the service, which had not run for a decade, was brought back on a trial basis. "We thought we'd try and get enough people to use it, then we might be able to build on it and they might be able to put more times in place", Weston said. "The passenger numbers aren't high enough for Stagecoach to be financially viable. "It's a private company that at the very least needs to break even to run that service. "Less than half of the population of Port Clarence has access to a car, so it does leave them very isolated, socially and economically. "What they need is an actual proper regular bus service and, given the current system that we have, it's just not going to happen. A Stagecoach spokesperson said: "This trial was undertaken in good faith and at Stagecoach's commercial risk. "Unfortunately, across the first six weeks of operation, service 68 has carried an average of four people per trip, with a total revenue of £12.58 each day. "Labour costs alone for operating these trips has been around £80 per day - this is before fuel and vehicle costs are factored. "With such low demand, it was determined the trial could not be extended." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Stagecoach
