The City of Saskatoon says it’s working to repair broken air-conditioning units on Saskatoon buses. After receiving complaints from staff and riders, Mike Moellenbeck, director of Saskatoon Transit, said the city conducted a review. “The situation was bigger than we had originally anticipated,” Moellenbeck said during last week’s city council meeting. The city said air conditioning isn’t properly functioning on about half of its buses. “A little over half of the fleet has been verified to be functioning properly,” the city told CTV News in a statement. “Some air-conditioning units require repair, while others may not cool as effectively during periods of extreme heat.” Darcy Pederson, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 615, said drivers have been struggling through the summer heat. “They got ice water, they got towels, they got stuff to keep them cool, but you can only do that for so long because you’re in these buses for anywhere from eight to 10 hours,” Pederson told CTV News. “It’s like sitting in an oven. There are big glass windows on each side of you, and it just gets hotter and hotter. It’s starting to wear people out.” Moellenbeck said mechanics are prioritizing air-conditioning repairs and outside vendors are being brought in to provide additional support. Buses are also being swapped out during shifts to get as many vehicles with working air conditioning on the road as possible. Pederson said these are just “Band-Aid fixes.” He wants to see a long-term maintenance plan in place before the next stretch of heat. “The intent right now is to do what we can do to make it as comfortable as possible,” Moellenbeck said. Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story stated “roughly half of the fleet has been verified to be functioning properly.” The city later changed its statement to say, “a little over half.”
