(Photo: submitted by City of Moncton)
With COVID-19 restrictions lifted across the province, there’s a push from the community to bring public transportation back to pre-pandemic levels.
Sheldon Phaneuf is a local bus operator and spokesperson for ATU Local 1290, the union representing 99 employees, including Codiac Transpo personnel.
The union was excited by the recent decision to remove pandemic restrictions from buses, but they hope another large step will be taken soon.
“We do believe that complete restoration immediately would be appropriate,” said Phaneuf.
In the fall of 2020, service returned to approximately 70%, then in June, service was increased to about 75% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
“It’s not moving quickly enough and it’s not pacing the return to pre-covid activities and the economy,” added Phaneuf.
The Codiac Transpo operator said this sentiment is echoed by those relying on public transportation.
“Through the entire pandemic, we have focused on advocating on behalf of our passengers.”
Phaneuf noted that increasing service to 100% will require new operators for the gaps left by retirements, layoffs, and relocation to other tasks such as sanitizing.
However, the process for a new operator can be lengthy, with recruitment and training taking between 4 and 5 months.
“We absolutely need to start a recruitment campaign for operators to make up for some of the losses we’ve seen,” said Phaneuf.
Prior to the Spring Municipal election, ATU Local 1290 distributed a brief survey to all candidates.
According to Phaneuf, the majority of the responses were in favour of the immediate restoration of public transit service.
Now, the focus is to work with elected officials to restore public transit service to pre-pandemic levels
for residents in the tri-communities.
“It’s necessary in the community for fixed-income seniors and low-income workers,” said Phaneuf.
“We need to start looking at public transit and its ability to support economic growth and development, immigration as well as support our initiatives for the environment.”
