*THREAD*

My thoughts on my first experience with the Replacement Bus Service (R1)

Note: I have shared these thoughts with OC Transpo Senior Management and the Transit Commission. (I'm not just tweeting things)

1/14

Today was my first experience with the Replacement Bus Service. While I have experienced delays in the past, I have been lucky to avoid the stress of the R1 service.

2/14

The communications from the ERO were unclear and sounded panicked. I'm not sure if ERO's have scripts to follow for all scenarios, but if not, I would suggest they be developed.

3/14

The messaging from the well-intentioned ERO was unclear with respect to what we, as passengers, were to do now that the train was no longer continuing Eastbound (we were stopped at St. Laurent).

4/14

As riders made their way to the stairs/escalators, the overhead announcements were not clear either. It was difficult to hear them (think the teacher character in the Peanuts cartoon).

5/14

I posed the following question to @OC_Transpo : Is there a communications contingency for those who are hearing impaired? The ERO/PA announcements will obviously not work for them.

6/14

As passengers made their way up the escalator at St. Laurent to exit towards the buses, the crowd started to bunch up. The escalator was dumping people off faster than the crowd was moving, which caused us to be shoved forward continuously...

7/14

...I am concerned this could be a safety hazard for those with mobility issues. I have asked OCT if it be possible to slow the speed of the escalator depending on the volumes of people in the station.

8/14

As we reached the bus level, the Red Vest Ambassador (there seemed to be only one), instructed those heading Eastbound to go to "the old 95 stop"...

9/14

The issue with this communication is that if you have never taken the 95 from St. Laurent (like me), then you don't know where the "old 95 stop is". I have asked OCT if Ambassadors could be instructed to use the stop number instead.

10/14

Once we all arrived at the bus stop, we had to wait about 10-15 minutes for replacement buses. While I understand that it takes time to scramble buses for this service, there were several (at least 5) buses that were "out of service" just sitting at St. Laurent...

11/ 14

...While I am sure there is an operational reason for that, the optics are not good.

12/14

In addition, sending 40-ft buses as R1 buses is, in my opinion, not optimal. Given that the purpose of these buses is to move as many people as possible away from the station, would it not make more sense to utilize either the articulated or double-decker buses?

13/14

This will allow for the movement of people away from the bus platforms which, as you know, become quite chaotic and dangerous as more and more people arrive.

14/14