Feedback to Winnipeg Transit network changes mostly negative, but tweaks will be slow to come

It's been just over a month since Winnipeg Transit switched over its entire network in a single day and city staff have already received a flood of feedback from members of the public, mostly negative.

The transit service has received about 10 times the number of comments compared to what it normally gets, said Bjorn Radstrom, Winnipeg Transit's manager of service development.

"Which is exactly what we expected … because it's such a big change," Radstrom said Friday.

"The interesting thing is that the ratio of commendations to complaints is about the same as it always was — basically one commendation for every 100 complaints."

On June 29, Winnipeg Transit switched its network from the decades-old "hub-and-spoke" model, which had buses meandering through outlying neighbourhoods before heading downtown, with a new "spine-and-feeder" system, featuring straighter routes along major streets, and smaller routes connecting to residential areas.

"We know that we didn't get it right, straight out of the gate, with a change this big," said Radstrom. "We made mistakes. And there's also things that can just be improved slightly as people get used to the system and their travel patterns change … Basically give it a shot, but provide us with that feedback."

The changes removed approximately 1,200 bus stops, with the goal of making trips faster and schedules more reliable. Transit said the changes would also make buses more frequent.

What officials are seeing

The early feedback and data has shown mixed results. Around 10-15 per cent of buses are running behind schedule, on average, which is an improvement, Radstrom said.

A problem the transit system is now facing, however, is too many of its buses are arriving early. The agency plans to rewrite some schedules, adding more time in between stops on some routes, like the D12 Ellice and D13 Sargent, while shortening times on others.

Those changes won't be made until December, Radstrom said, because it is too late to change the fall schedule set to go into effect in September.

Congestion in places like the Redonda bus loop in Transcona or the Unicity Shopping Centre in St. James will require infrastructure changes to fix, Radstrom said.

Bus pass-ups, where buses drive past passengers waiting at stops because they are too full, have decreased, although people in some areas of the city may experience pass-ups where they didn't before, for example on the F8 along Henderson Highway, Radstrom said.

Transit plans to increase service along that route once the fall schedule begins, as well as add articulated buses to increase capacity.

For some Winnipeggers, bus routes ending earlier in the evening around 10:30 p.m. local time have become a problem, particularly for those living in the suburbs or working late-evening shifts.

A problem with the GPS tracking system, affecting about 10 per cent of the fleet of buses, has led to inaccurate information being fed into the service's real-time updates to trip and wait times.

It has also made it impossible to get accurate information about ridership during the first month of the new network, because it uses the same technology, Radstrom said.

Members of Winnipeg Transit's technical team are working with the vendor and supplier of the GPS units to find a fix, which Radstrom hopes will come within the next couple of months, because that data is needed to track performance once the fall schedule starts.

Mayor, councillors want changes

Mayor Scott Gillingham, speaking to reporters on Wednesday at an unrelated event, said it's unlikely major changes can be made to the network before September, adding that the increased ridership from students going back to school will provide important information that will help with making adjustments.

"We're going to have to see how this new network system does under that pressure as well, before we make any substantial changes, but some small tweaks, if possible, that our staff can make, then I would like to see them make that," he said.

Longer term, Gillingham would like to see Winnipeg Transit address the concerns about buses ending early. 

Winnipeg councillors say the feedback they have received from constituents has been largely negative.

Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) says she has heard from riders complaining about overcrowded or missed buses, trips taking longer, and bus stops located too far for some people, particularly seniors, to walk to.

"I'm hearing … lobbying for continued investment into transit, and that is really important," Rollins said.

"But in that context … I'm hearing concern that perhaps there was insufficient investment and more was needed in advance of a changeover in the middle of summer."

Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski) said the early end to some bus routes, like those along Mountain and Selkirk avenues, poses safety risks for some people.

"You don't want to be walking around those areas that time of night," he said.