Saskatoon councillors ask for investigation after multiple cancellations on transit routes

The City of Saskatoon's transit committee has asked for a formal investigation looking into multiple bus breakdowns and cancellations this winter.

On Monday, councillor Darren Hill asked that staff look into whether the report should be conducted internally by Saskatoon Transit staff, by an independent third party or by the city auditor.

While Saskatoon Transit has blamed the route disruptions on this winter's cold weather andsupply chain issues that have made sourcing spare parts very difficult, Hill said his research has shown cities in other provinces like British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba have not been running into similar problems.

"It's not enough of an issue for any of them to cause service to be cut in any form," said Hill.

"So can you speak to why there's an anomaly in Saskatoon with regards to parts for our transit?"

Transit manager Jim McDonald said that sourcing parts has been a serious issue this year, with transit having to look as far as Portland, Ore., for spare engines.

He said a thorough review of the issue is a wise idea.

"I think that's something we'll look into to see if we were an anomaly and if so, why," said McDonald.

"If there's practices we need to change with the way we're procuring parts and sourcing parts and opening up to more suppliers."

On Feb. 28, roughly 30 routes saw cancellations due to broken down buses, a problem that plagued transit for weeks this winter.

Advocacy group Bus Riders of Saskatoon said that many people had long waits for the bus and were suffering through the cold.

The city estimates the average age of the bus fleet is around 9.5 years, with 73 of the fleet's 139 buses having joined the fleet before 2011.

Saskatoon Transit said it has received a large number of spare parts since the cold snap and reduced the number of buses needing repair.

Administration said it would be able to report back to the committee at its next meeting in April.