City approves review of transit for disabled

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This article was published 20/06/2019 (1918 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg city council has overwhelmingly approved a review of the much-maligned transit service for the city’s disabled residents — a move that could result in some of its coverage being provided by Winnipeg Transit employees.

In a 12-4 vote Thursday, council backed the proposal from Coun. Brian Mayes to have the innovation committee consider the possibility of 30 per cent of the Transit Plus (formerly known as Handi-Transit) service area being provided by Winnipeg Transit by June 30, 2022.

However, the review won’t begin until contract negotiations with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 have been resolved.

“The time is now to start the debate,” Mayes said, adding the initiative is an opportunity for the city to address some of the service’s problems and lower its cost.

Transit Plus is funded by the city, but its services are provided by seven private transportation companies that have 15 contracts serving 7,934 registered users.

The service began as a pilot project in 1977, with Winnipeg Transit providing all rides, with city-owned vehicles operated by civic employees. The city began contracting out part of the service in 1988 after demand exceeded funding, but held on to 30 per cent of the work. By June 1997, the block of the service operated by civic employees was contracted out.

Accessibility advocates have long complained about the poor level of service provided by the private contractors: late and missed calls, vehicles in bad repair and poorly trained and poorly paid drivers. (Allen Mankewich, spokesman for the Independent Living Resource Centre, appealed to council Thursday not to approve two Transit Plus contracts up for renewal, arguing it is rewarding contractors for poor service.)

Couns. Kevin Klein and Shawn Nason acknowledged the service needs improvement but voted against Mayes’ proposal, along with Mayor Brian Bowman and Coun. Scott Gillingham.

Bowman and Gillingham based their opposition solely on the grounds it could further muddy contract negotiations with the transit union, despite the caveat no review would happen until 30 days following a contract settlement.

Mayes said data show the cost per ride for the city has increased 53 per cent since the service was completely privatized — adding giving some of the work to Winnipeg Transit could be one way to ensure there will be competitive bids from the private sector.

Most of the councillors who spoke in support saw the move as a way to improve a service relied upon by a segment of the community.

“It’s a really critical service that connects with our citizens in a meaningful way,” Coun. Cindy Gilroy said. “If we have an opportunity to take a look at that service to see if we can bring it in-house and improve that service, it’s a positive for our citizens.”

Coun. John Orlikow, chairman of the innovation committee, said the proposal doesn’t ensure any part of the service will be provided by Transit employees. He said he’s looking forward to developing a process that would review the service with an eye to improving it and having it become a template for reviewing other services.

“It could be transformative,” Orlikow said of the review. “I support the process that we’re going through, so we can provide councillors with a high-level view. Council needs data so we can decide (how) we want to spend out precious resources. We really haven’t done that in the past.”

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca