WINDSOR, ONT. -- CTV Windsor’s Michelle Maluske asked Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens a series of questions ahead of the resumption of Transit Windsor operations on Monday. Here are his responses:
M: So transit still a go for Monday?
D: Yeah so we’re planning on resuming transit services on an enhanced Sunday schedule starting Monday. We’re looking forward to doing that. I know there are some folks in the community that are eager to be able to use the transit system.
And notwithstanding the fact that we’re running the system again, we still ask people if it’s not an essential trip that you’re taking please stay off the transit bus. We don’t want you to use the bus unless it’s absolutely an essential trip that you need to take.
M: So reassure folks, because before it was running there were concerns about people being safe. So what is the plan from a sanitization standpoint starting Monday?
D: During the suspension period we worked with our health unit and Medical Officer of Health locally to come up with the protocols that make sense for us locally to be able to implement, and they’re all about trying to protect the drivers and protect the passengers.
And so the number one that people will see or maybe they won’t see but they should know that’s going on is at the end of each route there will be a crew that goes on every bus to wipe down and sanitize all of the seats, the handles, and the poles, and the stop cords. So the whole idea there is any of the high touch points, we want to make sure we’re cleaning in accordance with the recommendations from the Medical Officer of Health at end of each route.
At the end of each night there will be a deep clean done on the bus which would be inside windows, and again a full inside cleaning that you would expect at the end of the night to make sure the bus is ready for the next day.
So this is an enhanced Sunday service, the schedule will follow the Sunday service but we recognize that we can’t have as many people on the bus that we normally do. So we’re asking people to self-govern here when it comes to the number of folks on the bus. And that’s why we say essential trips only because there are some people who will want to get to work, but if you’re just going for a fun trip you may stop someone from getting to work.
But in the event a driver has to pass a passenger on the route because they’re already full, they will call the depot, they will then send another bus. So we will have four to six busses waiting in the wings who will then join the route if there is overcrowding on a route to be able to add extra capacity. So that’s why it’s Sunday service but we call it enhanced service because there are extra busses we’re willing to put on to deal with a surge in demand.
M: The bus drivers themselves, will they have hand sanitizer deployed?
D: Every single bus will be installed with hand sanitizer for use by the operators. We’re also making gloves and masks available for each of the drivers to use at their own discretion. And we think, you know, we’re providing them with the proper PPE to be able to use, but it’s you know we don’t have to look very far. We can just look at the best protocols in place for every other transit system that’s in operation right now and try to follow those best protocols.
M: What about people who have disabilities? Can they get on at the rear or do they have to get on on the front?
D: It’s fair to say that those who have accessibility challenges need to board on the front of the bus. So we’re working with the drivers who are still required by law to assist those passengers. But you have to board at the front you cannot board at the rear.
To the extent that you can use handi-transit, we would ask people to make arrangements with handi-transit. Those busses are better equipped to help people, but they too are on a limited schedule right now as are most paratransit operations.
Expect delays, don’t use transit unless it’s absolutely essential. I would not get on a transit bus right now. And certainly I don’t want the people working at long term care homes riding transit and then having to go into work at a long term care home having to dealing with seniors who are vulnerable.
So the Medical Officer of Health was very clear, seniors and those with vulnerable medical conditions should not ride transit right now. Even for his protocols for riders of the bus, he suggests you find other ways to get around including walking and riding a bike.
M: Do you want to comment on the damned if you do damned if you don’t situation about transit and having to change a decision that was controversial?
D: Listen, I didn’t change it. We just got to a point where the Medical Officer of Health says we’re now stable. And so I’m at the point where if we’re now stable I know I need to give a week’s notice to get the system up and running. And most of the cases that we see now locally are coming from long term care homes, so they’re isolated to some respect.
So certainly we are not out of the woods, but I recognize that what I did was always intended to be a short term effort to try and reduce community transmission of this virus and protect our riders and our drivers. I get that it was a controversial decision. It was never a decision I wanted to make and I don’t know a single politician that ever knocked on doors saying I’m gonna make your life more difficult. And so that wasn’t the goal at all.
But I’m proud of the community because our ridership was down by 90 per cent and the vast majority of our community found other ways to get around. We helped each other, neighbours helped people get to work, coworkers were picking people up, Walmart ran a special bus service that they arranged on their own to bring their employees to the store. So the businesses stepped up, neighbours stepped up, family members stepped up, the entire community stepped up to fill the holes that were left when we suspended transit operations.
And the whole notion of suspending transit operations was to save lives and reduce the spread, the community transmission of a deadly virus. That’s why I did it, and if you asked me if I would do it again knowing what I know now 150 per cent I would do the same decision and make the same decision over again because it was the right move for people in the City of Windsor.
