Group aims to improve Sudbury Transit

For years, Sudbury passengers have been complaining about how the bus system could be better and more comfortable and now there is a group hoping to turn those complaints into change.

The chair of the Friends of Sudbury Transit group said city transit needs to make it easier for parents with strollers to get on and off the bus.

Natasha Delaney, 28, said she knows of many moms who feel forced to buy a car and others who just stay home.

"So if you take five steps back and look at this all these moms aren't accessing programs because of transit," she said.

"These parents are wasting their money on vehicles and insurance because of transit."

Delaney's own two children are a handful at playtime let alone on the city bus, where strollers have to be folded up and stored away.

"I can get my children on the bus, out of the stroller, stroller folded up, sitting with my hands saying good to go to the driver in 10 seconds," she said.

"I usually get applause from the other moms on the bus."

Solutions instead of complaints

Delaney said she recognizes other Sudbury moms don't find it as easy and some stay home rather than face the stress of riding the bus.

She thinks of them, now that she is the chair of the new passenger advocacy group.

"Our biggest goal is to educate and to bring forward solutions instead of just complaints," Delaney said.

Sudbury Transit manager Roger Sauve said he likes the sound of that.

"I don't see it as a negative thing," he said.

"We love ideas and we'd like to move the system forward as much as possible."

Sauve said the tricky thing is finding money for those new ideas in the already stretched transit budget. Nevertheless, he added, Sudbury transit welcomes all comments about the bus system and is always looking for ways to make it more comfortable and efficient for passengers.