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Some Calgary Transit riders upset over packed bus rides

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Calgary Transit riders upset as bus rides remain packed
WATCH: Bus riders are voicing their displeasure with Calgary Transit amid inconvenient rides in recent weeks. As Josh Ritchie reports, customers say they’re dealing with packed buses, longer wait times and at-capacity buses driving past stops. – Oct 1, 2019

Some Calgary Transit riders are raising concerns over how their experiences have been riding buses in the city.

“So, always the buses are full, and sometimes there is no place to stand, and some stops they go past and the passengers are waiting,” Umang Patel said. “We can miss our class, labs, a lot of things.”

Patel is just one of a handful of students who hop on the MAX Orange bus at the SAIT stop. She isn’t the only student to have had a sour experience with the new transit line.

Many students who hop on the bus at that specific stop note having to watch their bus drive right past them on multiple occasions, and if it does stop, the bus is packed.

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“If you budget enough time to get to school, it’s usually not an issue — I personally do,” Kendra Thiessen said. “I know some people don’t, it’s a challenge that way.”

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Some would consider the students lucky, as the SAIT stop is only at the halfway point of the MAX Orange ride, which leaves those further down the line in a tough situation.

Calgary Transit said amid cuts to their hours and services, it’s not the only thing that factors in to the full rides. They noted that the start of school is a big factor, as well as events around the city.

“You know, there’s a lot of things that go into making a route busy or temporarily busy, so we look at all those factors and ensure we include that in our decision-making when we apply and budget to routes and… [make] those adjustments,” said Stephen Tauro with Calgary Transit.

Tauro said that Calgary Transit will continue to collect information on all its routes and will take a look to see if schedules need to be adjusted or if bigger buses need to be provided for specific routes.

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