Staffing bump, online booking en route as Transit Plus riders wait

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This article was published 02/08/2023 (797 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sometimes, it takes so long to book an accessible ride Mitch Krohn hangs up the phone and travels in his wheelchair instead.

Krohn says he waited one hour, 50 minutes to book an accessible Winnipeg Transit Plus ride last week.

On many other occasions, he opted to hang up without a booking and rely on his power wheelchair to travel downtown from his home near Polo Park.

“The system itself is completely flawed, in my opinion… It’s really getting to a point where you have to start asking, is this a human rights issue? A person shouldn’t have to wait that long to have a conversation with somebody to book appointments (to go see) doctors. These are important things that have to happen,” he said in an interview.

While times vary by time and day, Krohn said the wait on multiple booking calls has lasted between 45 minutes and two hours. In addition, Transit Plus also books ride pickup times with a half-hour window, which he said further delays trips.

“It’s incredibly frustrating, the number of appointments that I’ve missed because their half-hour system has been unbelievable and I always book ahead of time. The amount of doctor’s appointments I’ve been late for is just insane.”

Transit Plus rider Tim McIsaac said he has also encountered long waits to book rides.

“It’s not unusual to wait for an hour. They don’t have enough people. I phoned one time and the person that took my call said there were five people taking calls and 70 calls waiting to be answered in the queue,” said McIsaac.

Patrick Stewart, a consultant with the Independent Living Resource Centre, said the lack of a long-awaited option to book Transit Plus rides online is a key part of the problem, despite the fact Transit planned to add that service in 2019.

However, Transit later determined its existing software couldn’t support that function and sought a new provider, leaving the phone line as the only way to book rides.

“In this day and age, I think it is kind of surprising that one would actually have to call on the phone to book a ride. Technology has certainly been there for a long time to alleviate that need… It’s very disheartening how slow these things (have been) to put into place,” said Stewart.

Transit Plus users have reported lengthy waits to book rides since at least May 2022, with delays stretching up to two hours long, he added.

However, Winnipeg Transit says changes should help reduce wait times in the near future.

Teresa Platt, manager of client services, said the service is now hiring two full-time staff and 10 part-time employees, since a labour shortage is playing a key role in delaying calls from being answered.

“We anticipate seeing significant improvements with those additional staff,” said Platt.

She said the timeline to add a long-awaited online ride booking system should also be announced “very soon,” but declined to offer an exact date.

“We’re very pleased to see the changes that will be coming… customers will be able to utilize and access the service independently, (which) they’ve been waiting for a long time,” said Platt.

She said a new software system contract is in the “final stages” of being awarded, which will pave the way for the new service.

While the average wait time to book a ride through the existing telephone service is about 19 minutes, 45 seconds, Platt confirmed it can increase considerably during times of peak demand.

“It really ranges in the day. There can be times where it’s longer than we expect. We know that our customers have been incredibly patient throughout this past year and we are really glad to announce that we soon will be able to speak to a solution.”

Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of the public works committee, said the new option to book rides online should greatly improve service.

“(The wait is) completely not acceptable, that’s why we’re updating the software. I would like to have seen it done sooner. But… we’re moving on it. And I think that people will see a definite difference once it’s installed, once it’s operational,” said Lukes.

In the meantime, Platt said Transit Plus is offering extra shifts and overtime hours to staff when wait times become excessive to try to help speed up service.

Transit also said its 30-minute pickup window for rides is meant to help the system run smoothly.

“Including even a small pickup window lets us use the gaps that cancellations or no-shows create to keep our vehicles on time and provide more trips. A pickup window time is also a more transparent way to deliver service, considering everything that impacts a driver’s schedule, for example, traffic, construction, the time it takes to board, and customer no-shows,” spokeswoman Megan Benedictson said in a written statement.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga