Mixed opinions on Winnipeg’s new transit network

Winnipeg students are giving mixed reviews to the city’s transit system overhaul as they return to class. Jeff Keele reports.

Phoenix Wittmann is a University of Winnipeg student who rides the bus.

“Very frustrated about it,” Wittmann said. “I also took the bus a while ago. It was 30 minutes late there, 30 minutes late on my transfer, and it took me 15 minutes to walk.”

He said his previous commute was a 45-minute ride on one bus. Now, Wittman said it takes him two buses and over one hour and 15 minutes.

CTV News spoke with several bus riders about the city’s new transit network. The issue most brought up was having to take more buses to reach destinations, meaning more transfers.

“Now I have to take three buses, and that’s kind of a struggle for me,” Zabina Garcia said.

“Now with the new routes I’m taking two buses to classes every day,” Maya Charman said. “It’s a lot faster, which I appreciate, but it would be nice not to have to worry about a transfer.”

Others said the new system is working just fine for them.

“Now I take the FX4, and it drops me like beside my house; it’s good for me,” Aditya Barman said.

“I was a little bit scared for my first year… it gets me around and where I need to be,” Sadie Nelson said.

Winnipeg Transit said the purpose of the overhaul is to improve service and update a system meant for the 1950s and 60s. The routes are now designed as a spine and feeder system.

Transit said the buses on the spines or primary network are frequent and direct and should get riders to destinations faster. The buses on the feeder routes run through neighbourhoods and connect to the spine, but don’t go downtown or to congested areas, so they should be on time.

Transit also said September is a challenging time for riders as people are trying to figure out their routines and are travelling during peak times, which impacts buses being on time and pass-ups. So, it said it’s too early to draw conclusions less than a week into the school year.

Transit said it will be monitoring the new system and will be taking feedback from riders over the next year in order to make small tweaks and major changes that might be needed. It said feedback about the new network is valued and they want “detailed, constructive criticism” about what is working and what is not.

Some of the feedback is already rolling in.

Transit said 311 received an average of 799 inquiries a week for the first three weeks after the launch of the new primary network. During the next six weeks, the numbers dropped to 344 inquiries a week. For the first week of the fall service ending Sept. 7, Transit said 311 received 560 inquiries.

The inquiries include complaints, questions, requests, and commendations, according to Transit.

While the riders CTV News spoke to hope changes are coming for the better, most said they would not want to go back to the old network.

Maya Charman said while the new system is a change, she is confident it will be better in the long run.

“People in Winnipeg especially are very used to their routines and taking the same bus every day and leaving at the same time for work,” Charman said.

Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) has proposed a motion at City Hall to extend the length of time for transfer tickets from 75 to 90 minutes.