BC Transit cancelled multiple trips in Greater Victoria for a second straight day, and officials are chalking it up to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most of the routes had a few trips cancelled throughout the day, but there were a few with a high number of cancellations.
Route 4 from Downtown to UVic had the most cancelled trips with 30 not expected to run, followed by the 15 from Dockyard to UVic with 21 trips cancelled, then the 26 from UVic to Dockyard with 17 cancelled trips.
The following routes experienced cancelled trips:
- 3 – James Bay to Jubilee Hospital
- 6 – Downtown to Royal Oak Exchange
- 7 – Downtown to UVic
- 9 – Royal Oak to UVic
- 10 – James Bay to Royal Jubilee
- 11 – Tillicum Centre to UVic
- 14 – Victoria General Hospital to UVic
- 21 – Interurban to Downtown
- 27 – Downtown to Gordon Head
- 28 – Majestic to Downtown
- 30 – Downtown to Royal Oak Exchange
- 50 – Langford to Downtown
- 51 – UVic to Langford Exchange
- 72 – Swartz Bay to Downtown
“We appreciate the frustration when your bus doesn’t show up, particularly on a day like today, and we apologize for that,” said Kevin Schubert, director of Victoria operations for BC Transit.
The transit operator has been faced with the same problem as other employers in the province as drivers fall ill from the latest wave of COVID-19.
“We’re dealing with Omicron, we’re dealing with other variants, we’re not through COVID just yet and that’s unfortunately leaving some drivers who are ill and some service gaps,” B.C. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said on Wednesday.
BC Transit says it is working to recruit transit drivers and mechanics, but there will be ongoing service interruptions until more operators can be hired and trained.
“This week has been the worst part for us and we anticipate this to carry on for a little bit longer as we go through this spike ,it’s not like any other wave we’ve experienced through COVID,” said Schubert.
Transit users are recommended to check the Customer Advisories page before embarking on their trip to know whether trips have been cancelled.
Laura Brougham
