![]() ![]() Perhaps the biggest issue facing drivers involves what are known as “splits,” unpaid breaks between morning and evening shifts. Either of those options would take time to implement, but all options will be on the table for the board to discuss.” Other people are suggesting we bring the operation in house. “Some people want us to cancel the contract. “There are a lot of frustrated bus riders right now,” Whitburn told the Union-Tribune in an email. The transit agency has the right to void Transdev’s contract for “noncompliance” after issuing a 10-day notice. ![]() San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn said he plans next week to call an emergency meeting of the MTS board, which he chairs, to explore options for restoring service. MTS, which initially distanced itself from the dispute, is now starting to feel the heat from riders. “What do we have to do with all of this?” “I don’t get it,” said the Chula Vista resident. He was dreading calling his boss at the Hotel del Coronado to say he’d be late, again. “There has to be a solution,” said Rogaciano Jimenez, 57, who’d been waiting for nearly three hours on Wednesday at the Iris Avenue Transit Center in Otay Mesa. MTS services about 100,000 riders on a typical weekday, including roughly 1,000 who use paratransit. Some riders have voiced support for the striking drivers while also pleading for an end to the dispute. MTS also said just about half of the paratransit minibus trips for people with disabilities were being completed. The recent strike has been tough for bus riders over the last few weeks, especially in the South Bay, where only 3 percent of routes were running as of Friday. Tranzit is one of the country’s largest privately-owned bus companies, with brands including Intercity and Great Sights.(Adriana Heldiz/The San Diego Union-Tribune) That wasn’t helped by bus shelters being left on the previous routes, creating confusion for drivers who were new to town. He admitted there were issues when the contract began, with a lack of drivers for the new buses and new bus drivers taking the old route. “I would say our Wellington urban operation is going damn well.” In Wellington city, their buses run from Island Bay to Johnsonville, Miramar to Johnsonville, and Wellington to Brooklyn, he said. Tranzit supplies buses for the Hutt Valley, Wainuiomata, Wairarapa and Porirua networks. “The issues you hear about will be Karori, Hataitai and Seatoun - we don’t do any of those areas at all,” he said. “And we are in the middle, supplying the buses,” he said. Snelgrove said one of the biggest issues with the network was the number of parties involved: including central government, Wellington City Council and the regional council. “We never had any issues with the union at all … It’s only come about since the new contract,” he said. “I’m not going to sit here and say we are squeaky clean, but we certainly keep people here a long, long time. ![]() ![]() “Unfortunately, we have been perceived as a bad employer and anti-union,” Snelgrove said. It’s also been slammed in the media for buses that are too small, timetable delays, and drivers not knowing the correct routes. The family company has been accused of being “anti-union” by the Tramways Union advocate Graeme Clarke, RNZ reported in July. The company was awarded the Trust House Supreme Award at the inaugural Wairarapa Awards on Thursday night but it’s reputation and name that had been “tarnished” by the problems in Wellington, Snelgrove said.īoth Tranzit and NZBus supply buses to the network, which is managed by Greater Wellington Regional Council.īut Tranzit’s Wellington fleet, called Tranzurban, which makes up nearly half of the city’s buses, has borne the brunt of criticism since July. The capital’s entire bus network was revamped in July, with new timetables, altered routes and new buses, in what Snelgrove said was one of the biggest changes to a city’s public bus system undertaken in New Zealand.īut the transition to the upgraded network has been chaotic. ![]()
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