Parents worry as Transit bus charters set to end Concerned for safety of children travelling on bus, crossing Main Street By: Joyanne Pursaga Posted: 6:19 PM CDT Wednesday, Apr. 9, 2025

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This article was published 09/04/2025 (512 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More than two dozen Winnipeg Transit school charter bus routes will soon end, sparking safety concerns over children as young as 11 left to rely on the general transit system.

Winnipeg Transit offers 28 different school charter routes, which can each involve multiple buses, that are set to end when a new primary transit network overhauls routes on June 29.

That means the charters won’t run during the next school year.

Ben Poggemiller said the changes were initially set to kick in just as his 11-year-old daughter began using one charter to get home from Edmund Partridge Community School on Main Street.

“The concern (is) all of these children who are technically not even allowed to be home alone at 11 years old are now left to fend for themselves on Main Street, taking the bus home,” said Poggemiller.

After hearing safety complaints, Seven Oaks School Division decided to hire a private company to replace the lost bus service in the fall, with parents paying a subsidized fee.

Poggemiller said he’s relieved for his own family but remains worried for other students.

“The concerns (are) kids having to catch the bus on Main Street alone where there’s (bus) shelters that are either smashed or have someone living in them … It (doesn’t) sound like a really safe situation to me,” he said.

Poggemiller said a man had recently tried to grab his daughter on school grounds. While she wasn’t hurt, he said it’s an example of “scary situations” that occur in the area.

“Any time young vulnerable children are exposed to the general public, there’s a risk there,” he said.

Transit’s network overhaul is slated to change nearly every route in the bus system and provide more frequent service overall, with a “spine and feeder” model that relies on routes from outlying areas to connect to main ones.

The Seven Oaks School Division will pay a local bus service to fill the new Winnipeg Transit gap for students up to and including Grade 8 next year, superintendent Tony Kreml said. He hopes to make the move permanent.

“Families were concerned about some of the aggression that they’ve heard that has been happening on the buses,” said Kreml.

The replacement service is expected to cost about $600,000, the division said.

Kreml said the Seven Oaks school charters were reserved for students alone.

The union representing Transit drivers said safety remains a concern.

“We have noticed that last year there was a reduction in the number of safety incidents… but what we’re finding is that the incidents are becoming more severe in nature,” said Chris Scott, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505.

“The concerns (are) kids having to catch the bus on Main Street alone where there’s (bus) shelters that are either smashed or have someone living in them … It (doesn’t) sound like a really safe situation to me.”–Ben Poggemiller

The Transit union recorded 220 security incidents in 2024, down from 257 in 2023, including assaults on passengers and drivers, physical and verbal threats, people displaying weapons, spitting and other concerns.

There were 27 incidents in February alone, the highest tally for that month since at least 2019, the union said.

Scott noted a passenger was stabbed on a bus on April 2.

A hatchet was thrown that barely missed a driver in a separate recent incident, he said.

“We did have hopes that the community safety team (patrolling buses and bus stops), along with improved funding… would curb the acts of violence on the transit system. To a degree, it has, but clearly more work needs to be done,” said Scott. “A lot of my members are now calling for a dedicated transit police service, a division inside the police department that is committed to transit.”

The union leader said many school charters already allow regular transit passengers to ride, mixing students with the general public, so concerns may be limited to specific areas.

Coun. Jeff Browaty said he has heard safety concerns from Seven Oaks parents.

The North Kildonan councillor said some routes should become safer when the new network arrives since many “feeder” routes won’t reach downtown and on-demand service will increase.

Browaty said he understands concerns about young students crossing Main Street alone and hopes Transit can help educate kids to travel in groups.

“For the most part, our new local routes, most of them are really getting people to and from main routes. I really don’t foresee them having a lot of security or safety concerns,” he said.

Logistically, the charter buses need to be phased out to free up all transit buses to serve the entire network, said Browaty.

“We need all of our buses to be on those routes… In many cases (transit) will be providing better service into these communities to get people to and from their schools,” he said, stressing he expects a “massive improvement” in transit service overall.

In an email, Pembina Trails School Division told the Free Press it will hire charter buses to replace some lost service for Shaftesbury and Oak Park high schools next year, though other students will need to rely on transit routes.

“Families were concerned about some of the aggression that they’ve heard that has been happening on the buses.”–Tony Kreml

Winnipeg Transit said the new network will serve schools without the need for supplementary charters.

“We will still be providing robust public transportation to schools on the routes in our new bus network. Public transit is for everyone,” wrote spokeswoman Megan Benedictson.

She said school charters previously ensured transit access where regular routes did not.

However, the service could be confusing and inconsistent, she said.

For example, such charters could be fully funded by Transit or partly funded by a school division and either reserved for students only or allow other passengers. Some required regular Transit fare payment while others required fees to be paid directly to school divisions, Benedictson said.

When asked specifically about safety concerns, she noted more than 200,000 people board Winnipeg Transit buses each day.

“This number includes many students who take regular transit routes to school daily without incident. Transit is safe, and we care deeply about doing our part to keep it safe,” she wrote.

Winnipeg Transit did not grant an interview request.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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