Okanagan moms complain bus rides are ‘dangerous, drivers are rude’

KELOWNA – It’s a mode of transportation many people rely on, but some Okanagan mothers say too many negative experiences have discouraged them from riding on public transit.

“I just want to get my son safely on the bus and to my destination safely and I don’t feel like that’s happened,” says Kelowna mom Danielle Farr.

Farr along with a group of other mothers with young children have banded together to speak out against what they call rude and discriminatory behavior on city buses operated by B.C. Transit.

“I boarded the bus and all of a sudden the bus driver had a problem with my stroller which I brought into town just fine with no complaints or anything,” says Sarah Halford, a single mother of three. “He humiliated me, he insulted me, threatened me, tried kicking me off the bus with my kids and everything.”

Halford, a Peachland resident, says in that instance a driver complained her stroller was in the way of other passengers.

“He said you’re lucky you have your kids because otherwise you’d already be kicked off my bus because of your attitude and I was like okay all I was trying to say is that it’s my only mode of transportation,” says Halford.

Farr says she constantly worries for the safety of her child on the bus.

“They’ll speed, they’ll not wait for you to get to your seat, I’ve had incidents where I’ve launched my stroller forward and caught my son’s foot forward and it caused abrasions,” she explains.

B.C. Transit says it currently has one open investigation about bus driver behavior in Kelowna. No one from the agency was available to speak on camera, but Global News did receive an e mail statement.

“We strongly encourage any customer with a complaint to contact Kelowna Transit directly via telephone (250-860-8121) or by submitting a customer service report through the website,” said Maureen Sheehan with B.C. Transit in the e-mail statement. “Providing the bus number, route and time of the incident is very helpful information for our investigation. Each incident will be investigated in our effort to resolve the issue for all involved.‎”

Until changes are made, many of the moms say they’ll try to pass on taking the bus.