New, ‘improved’ transit system has made taking the bus even less convenient for many

Opinion

The City of Winnipeg’s latest public survey has delivered another dose of reality when it comes to public transit in this city.

According to the 2025 Resident Satisfaction Survey, fewer than half of respondents — just 48 per cent — said it’s easy to get around Winnipeg by bus.

That’s a failing grade for a service that tens of thousands of residents depend on every day.

The level of satisfaction with transit has also worsened over the past few years. The number is down from 62 per cent in the city’s 2021 survey.

Meanwhile, the poll was conducted before Winnipeg Transit’s massive overhaul of its bus routes on June 29. Had it been taken after — given the volume of complaints directed at city hall since the changes were made — that number would likely have been even lower.

Coun. Janice Lukes, who chairs the public works committee, is putting on a brave face. She insists the numbers will improve over the next two years as people “get used to” the new system, and as tweaks are made. But it may not be that simple.

Because while city hall is trying to sell this redesign as an upgrade, the day-to-day experience for many riders has deteriorated.

Transit officials will tell you the redesign is all about efficiency. Fewer stops and more frequent buses on major corridors, they say, will make the system faster and more reliable. On paper, it’s a tidy plan. In practice, it has left a lot of Winnipeggers stranded, frustrated or both.

Yes, some people are seeing faster, more frequent service. If you live and work along one of the key lines, you might even think the overhaul is a success.

For many others, though, service has been cut back. Some routes that once ran past midnight now shut down as early as 11 p.m., leaving late-shift workers scrambling for rides.

Whole routes have been eliminated, forcing some people onto feeder buses and transfers that add time and hassle. That’s not progress — that’s regression.

Then there’s the issue of bus stops. Transit cut them back significantly, claiming fewer stops would mean quicker trips. But that “efficiency” has come at a steep cost.

Some riders, including seniors and those with mobility challenges, are now forced to walk farther just to get to a bus stop.

And with winter on the way, those complaints will only intensify. It’s one thing to tell people to walk an extra few blocks during the summer months. It’s another to ask them to trudge through snow, ice and -35 C windchill in January. If city officials think the complaints are loud now, just wait until it gets cold.

Transit is supposed to be a public service, not a mathematical formula. The goal isn’t simply to move buses faster along corridors; it’s to move people, reliably and conveniently, from where they are to where they need to be.

That means taking into account the real lives of riders — students getting to night classes, hospital workers finishing a midnight shift, seniors trying to stay mobile and independent.

And let’s not forget: a big chunk of Winnipeg’s transit ridership doesn’t have the option of hopping in a car when the bus doesn’t come. They’re stuck with whatever Transit offers.

For them, this overhaul has meant more walking, more waiting, and less certainty about whether they can count on the bus, at all.

The city’s response so far has been to spin. Officials point to the positives — the faster buses, the more frequent service in some areas. Lukes says people just need to give it time. Transit insists tweaks — which they said won’t come for another year — will improve the situation.

But that argument ignores the lived experience of many riders. People aren’t upset because they don’t understand the system. They’re upset because the service they relied on is now worse.

Winnipeg can’t simply “tweak” its way out of this. If the goal is to build a transit system that people actually want to use, not just tolerate, then officials need to listen to riders — really listen — and be prepared to make bigger changes.

The 48 per cent satisfaction rate is a red flag. But it also underplays the frustration that’s brewing out there.

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The survey results don’t capture the voices of those struggling with the new bus routes, and those who might not realize how much harder their commute will be once the snow flies and the temperatures plummet.

Winnipeg Transit deserves some credit for at least trying to modernize its bus system. But they’ll have to do more than “tweak” it if they want to convince more people that the system is better today than it was before the changes.

City hall has to stop pretending this is simply a matter of “getting used” to a new bus system.

Transit is supposed to serve the people. Right now, too many people are being left behind.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca

Tom Brodbeck
Columnist

Tom Brodbeck is an award-winning author and columnist with over 30 years experience in print media. He joined the Free Press in 2019. Born and raised in Montreal, Tom graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and commerce. Read more about Tom.

Tom provides commentary and analysis on political and related issues at the municipal, provincial and federal level. His columns are built on research and coverage of local events. The Free Press’s editing team reviews Tom’s columns before they are 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.