Midnight

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This article was published 08/05/2020 (1707 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A young woman’s laughter punctuates an otherwise quiet scene as Tuesday turns to Wednesday near a downtown bus stop at Vaughan Street and Graham Avenue.

A bus arrives and she is gone, leaving a handful of other Winnipeg Transit riders to wait, their faces illuminated by cellphones, across from the looming edifice of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Even the venerable downtown landmark is a few years too young to recall a time quite like this.

COVID-19 has spurred a precipitous drop in bus ridership, forcing schedule reductions this week.

A No. 10 bus appears. Amber-coloured messaging calls out with a social-distancing reminder. St. Boniface beckons.

A lone passenger, sporting earbuds, sits at the back of the bus. Simon Thome, 37, is headed home from Klinic Community Health after his shift as a crisis-line counsellor.

“It is busier on the lines, so it definitely goes by faster,” he says. “I’m just focusing on my work right now and taking care of myself — so I can help people.”

The bus hurtles down Portage Avenue and into St. Boniface with few pickups.

Thome has noticed the decline in ridership. Some passengers are apprehensive, he observes, but others continue with their same routines.

On Des Meurons Street, a couple of blocks past Marion Street, Thome reaches his stop and departs, nearly home.

The bus is making good time; enough for a short break.

Outside the bus, driver Carlos de Oliveira shifts into an impromptu calisthenics routine. He removes his face mask and breathes in some fresh night air.

Fewer riders, he says, has made his drive easier.

“Everyone’s being cool. Passengers are being respectful,” he says.

Buses fill a bit as they approach downtown, de Oliveira says, but are generally pretty empty.

“This is a cold Christmas Day, every day, from my experience,” he says.

“This is a cold Christmas Day, every day, from my experience.”

With physical-distancing measures in place, de Oliveira says he feels safe.

The changes are important. He knows a packed bus, even in the best of times, is not always the healthiest place.

“You always cringe when the ‘lung butter’ is being thrown around,” he says.

For de Oliveira, a mask and no touching of the face are his two winning strategies.

“I don’t go to Las Vegas, but you’ll win betting on those odds,” he says.

Break’s over. De Oliveira is on his way. The No. 10 bus has a schedule to keep.

— Grant Burr