Kathy Banville, a regular Para Transpo user, says she is tired of the service going from one contractor to another. She says the city must continue to provide the service.
Some passengers continue to have mixed feelings about the quality of service provided by Para Transpo even after it was taken over by the City of Ottawa, Jan. 1.
Kristen Williams, a third-year Carleton University student who uses a scooter, said she registered with Para Transpo at the beginning of the school year. She said she uses the service to commute to work, but has had trouble getting there on time.
“Sometimes, it seems like getting to work is more of a hassle than being at work and doing my job,” she said.
Para Transpo had been operated by FirstBus Canada, whose five-year contract expired on Dec. 31, 2007.
Patrick Larkin, Para Transpo’s manager, said 1,200 to 1,300 people use the service every day.
“We try to get the person picked up within 30 minutes of an agreed-upon time and 94 to 96 per cent of customers are generally picked up within that time frame,” he said, adding this only applies to those clients who have scheduled a pickup time 24 hours in advance and depends on weather conditions.
Williams said she recalls having recently booked the Para Transpo service to come and pick her up at 4:30 p.m. so that she could arrive on time for her shift an hour later. “I was 45 minutes late for work that day and my boss confronted me about it,” she said.
“I get frustrated,” she said. A week before that incident, she said she waited for the bus for an hour before resigning to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to go to work that day.
Not all customers, however, are dissatisfied.
“It’s much better now,” said Stanley Banville, 53, a wheelchair user who has been using the service for about 20 years.
His sister Kathy Banville, 54, agrees. She is a wheelchair user who has lost her eyesight.
“I don’t know what we’d do without them. They’re our way of transportation,” she said.
Though contracting with taxi firms is not a new concept with Para Transpo, the city has increased the number of trips made by taxis, Larkin said.
This move has paid off as Stanley Banville said it speeds up his commute.
“In the buses, they have to pick up other people, so it takes longer,” he said.
Para Transpo buses can accommodate three wheelchairs and four passengers who do not use mobility devices like wheelchairs or scooters, Larkin said. Taxis, on the other hand, accommodate a maximum of one wheelchair and one passenger who does not use a mobility device, he said.
“A mix of the two vehicles is probably the ideal solution to providing the best possible service,” Larkin said.
But Kathy Banville said it’s also important to consider the long-term effects. As a regular user, she said she’s seen Para Transpo pass from one contractor to another.
“You get used to one of them and then they leave . . . Then you get another one and it never seemed to quit,” she said. The vehicles belong to the contractor, so when the contractor leaves, its buses follow suit, she said.
Now that the city has taken over for five years, she said, “I think they should stay with it because it creates so much kerfuffle” for the users.
When the city took over the service, it brought in a brand-new fleet of 91 buses, Larkin said.
The drivers who had worked for FirstBus Canada were hired by the city, he said, maintaining consistency.
Though still new behind the wheel, the city is trying to maintain the level of service provided by FirstBus Canada, Larkin said. Plans to improve the service will begin closer to the summer months.