Complaints down, wait times up

WINNIPEG’S accessible transit service says it received fewer schedule complaints after a priority system was added, but a staff shortage has created longer waits to book a ride.

Winnipeg Transit Plus switched from a system that guaranteed some trips over others (such as prioritizing work and medical trips) to a first-come, first-serve model, beginning on Oct. 6, 2021.

In the first year following the change, complaints fell to 4.96 per 10,000 trips, down from 5.99 per 10,000 trips the previous year, a 17 per cent decrease, a city report says.

However, vacancies in the Transit Plus contact centre have triggered increased wait times. By October 2022, five vacancies needed to be filled and the average wait had risen 71 per cent, the report says.

The city says the service is recruiting and training new staff to address that issue.

Public sessions discouraged

A committee tasked with advising council on how best to address bus safety should keep its advisory role rather than opening its meetings to the public, a new report says.

Last year, city staff were directed to report on a motion to make the transit advisory committee hold livestreamed, public sessions, because a growing concern about transit safety warranted the move for more transparency.

A new report suggests that shouldn’t be done, noting the committee’s members do not support it.

The report will be debated on March 7.