Feeling the squeeze on Metrobus? The city says there's no quick fix for crowding problems

Metrobus is having difficulty handling an unprecedented increase in ridership and there's no solution to overcrowding in sight.

According to management, the St. John's bus system typically records 3.1 to 3.2 million rides a year; in 2023, that number is expected to balloon to 4.5 million.

St. John's Coun. Ron Ellsworth, who also chairs the city's transportation commission, acknowledged the overcrowding issues but said there's no immediate solution.

"We're not going to be able to solve it at this point," he told CBC News in a recent interview. "We certainly understand the frustration and we certainly want to work to alleviate it as much as we can."

Earlier this year, the city announced it was partnering with the federal and provincial governments to purchase eight new buses. However, only two of those buses will be additions to the fleet; the rest will replace existing buses and they won't arrive until some time in 2024. There are currently 55 buses in the fleet.

Shauna Higdon, who takes the bus to classes at College of the North Atlantic, said she's been taking the bus for about four years and she's never seen it so crowded.

"Every time I take the bus, both to and from, the bus is completely full to the point where they're having to turn people away because there's no room for people to even stand up," Higdon said.

Ellsworth said the city will look at increasing service levels to match the increased ridership in the final quarter of 2024 more than a year from now.

In the meantime, Ellsworth said Metrobus is using the community bus, a service usually reserved for senior citizens, to help pick up the slack. He said the city is partnering with Memorial University to add on-demand service to Route 15, which travels between the St. John's and Battery campuses.

Ellsworth said Metrobus is also adjusting some routesand the city is looking at changing the timing of some traffic lights to make schedules more efficient.

"It's about gaining time and being able to move the buses a little bit faster, maximizing the resources that we have," he said.

Ellsworth said Metrobus is planning a study to find out more about the reasons behind the increased ridership. He said the city needs the information before investing in additional buses.

Making the bus experience better for newcomers

Ugonna Ani, who moved from Nigeria to St. John's about a month ago, said her experience using the bus has been mostly positive except when she found herself taking the wrong routes.

"I found it difficult to navigate my way," she said.

She said more obvious signage like electronic signals showing the next stop would help newcomers like her.

Tolulope Victoria Akerele, a Memorial University researcher and member of the St. John's Transport Commission, has been looking into the experiences of newcomers using the bus. Eight years ago, Akerele was a newcomer herself, and her experience mirrored Ani's.

"If you're not familiar with the city, you have to then depend on the bus driver to know where you're going," she said.

Akerele said some newcomers may be used to different kinds of transit systems, like those not based on schedules.

She said there are things Metrobus can do to make the adjustment easier for newcomers.

"We should not assume that people know how transit functions," she said. "Information is very, very key."

Akerele said her research, which is based in St. John's and Halifax, is consistent with research from other parts of the country showing that newcomers are more likely to rely on public transit than their Canadian counterparts.

Akerele said newcomers tend to decrease use of public transit the longer they stay in Canada but she's looking at ways to stop that decline.

"If we can get the buses more friendly, more user-friendly and all that, maybe people will then want to use the bus system more," she said.

Akerele said the increased ridership is positivebutthe next step should be finding ways to make the experience better.

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