The president of the union representing more than 4,000 Coast Mountain Bus Company drivers told TransLink's board of directors on April 30 that passengers are berating drivers after being passed up by multiple buses.
"Due to lack of service, buses are constantly full," said Balbir Mann, of Unifor Local 111. "These are 60-footers, for example, leaving Joyce Station already full by the time they leave their first stop on the way to UBC. At every stop, the driver has to tell passengers waiting at the next stop the bus is full."
This, he told, results in drivers "being berated by passengers due to being passed up by multiple buses which is causing passengers to be late for work, school, for appointments and other important events. It is causing friction between our operators and passengers."
If drivers engage in a conversation with a passenger, Mann said, and the passenger then complains to the company, 'the operator gets disciplined, without solving the issue by putting out more service.
"It is much more worse south of the Fraser," he said. "We need to fix this before we bring in more routes."
Mann also told the board that community shuttle buses had plastic barriers in the buses but the company "decided to remove all of them, not to replace them" while conventional buses have barriers. "Any worker should not be treated differently."
He said all drivers should have the right to feel safe while at work. "We're not seeing any cooperation from CMBC on this issue," Mann told the board.
Sarah Ross, TransLinks's vice-president of planning, said an investment plan approved on April 30 will provide relief from overcrowding on up to 50 of the busiest bus routes.
