‘Big learning curve’: Transit riders try out new city bus network By: Erik Pindera Posted: 9:50 AM CDT Sunday, Jun. 29, 2025 Last Modified: 4:30 PM CDT Sunday, Jun. 29, 2025 Updates

Irate and exasperated at Portage Avenue and Fort Street, Henry Sojka throws his hands in the air when he learns from a passing transit driver he’s been waiting for a bus that’s never coming.

“This is ridiculous,” said Sojka. “My whole day is screwed up.”

A 69-year-old retired railroader, Sojka took Winnipeg Transit to the city centre to visit an Exchange District book store, and planned to stop off to grocery shop on Sargent Avenue on the way back home in the afternoon.

But Sojka learned Sunday afternoon — as the public transit agency rolled out its massively overhauled new bus network — he’d have to hoof it over to Main Street to catch the public wheels he needed to return to his Weston neighbourhood home.

“It’s getting worse, not better,” a frustrated Sojka said.

Winnipeg Transit’s new spine-and-feeder model, launched on Sunday morning as service began, has changed virtually every bus route in the city, in what’s been hailed as the largest overhaul in the city transit system’s 142-year history.

The new Primary Transit Network consists of frequent buses on main lines, or spines, that connect to feeder buses along community routes. It’s meant to provide more reliable and more frequent service to the vast majority of riders, officials say.

It’s a massive change from the prior hub-and-spoke system, which had the city’s downtown as the main transit hub.

“It’s really different from the old network… because the old network was really designed for the city we had in the ’50s and ’60s — a radial network, got people into downtown in the mornings, out of downtown in the afternoons,” said Winnipeg Transit’s manager of service development and the project manager for the new network, Bjorn Radstrom.

“What we heard from people is they really want to get from anywhere to anywhere within the City of Winnipeg.”

Radstrom provided an update about the launch on Sunday morning, several hours after the first new bus hit the road at 5:30 a.m.

“Operationally, everything’s working fine so far… in five-and-a-half hours of service, we’ve had one missed turn,” said Radstrom at around 11 a.m. “We’re really happy with the way things have gone, all the signage is up, the buses are working properly, the operators know their routes — so, so far, so good.”

Despite significant efforts from transit officials and the city to advertise and educate riders about the changes, Radstrom knows there will be some growing pains.

“There’ll absolutely be a big learning curve for everybody and it’s going to last throughout the entire summer… and the real test is going to be in September,” said Radstrom.

Radstrom said he understands that change can be a challenge.

“We’re asking people to give it a shot before they judge it, and right now, before they’ve even used it, use the trip planners we’ve made available,” said Radstrom. “We think for the vast majority of people, it will be better.”

Teams of Winnipeg Transit staff — between 12 and 15 at any given time — are out on the streets in high-bus-traffic areas to help riders navigate the changes, while additional staff are working the phones at 311.

Those teams will be out all week and will return to the streets in September, as Winnipeg Transit transitions from its summer to regular schedule.

Staff also spent time giving presentations to community and cultural groups about the changes, said Radstrom.

Officials are aware that some riders’ routes will be slower, though Radstrom said that’s thought to be a small minority.

“We expect to hear from them — but we want to hear those criticisms, it’s really important for us to hear from people what’s working and what doesn’t work, because that’s the only way we can continue to adapt this network and make it better,” said Radstrom.

“We know we didn’t get everything right straight out of the gate and we’re looking forward to making those improvements every year, forever.”

The head of the union for Winnipeg bus drivers, Chris Scott, said he expects the new network will make operations more regularly reliable, rather than frequently late.

But, he said, the changes will cause frustration to people used to their routine and the routes.

“We have some concerns that some tempers may flare up and there may be some incidents on the bus, but both the union and city officials have asked the riding public for patience, because the operators are learning the system the same as the passengers are,” said Chris Scott, the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505.

At Osborne Station, a stop on the southwest transit way, 66-year-old Chris Glowach was optimistic about the new network.

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A daily bus rider since he became visually impaired in 2003, Glowach said his routes between his home in the south end and elsewhere don’t seem to have been as drastically affected as those in other areas.

“And they’ve been great explaining things — I even got a map — they had people handing out maps downtown last week, explaining things,” said Glowach on Sunday. “People just have to give it a chance… I’m not against change.”

He said under the old system, his biggest beef was long waits after a missed bus.

“They say that’s not going to be the case anymore — so you might have to take an extra bus or two, but apparently you can get from point A to point B faster than going through all those different routes,” said Glowach. “Give it a chance.”

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.  Read more about Erik.

Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.