Once empty Codiac Transpo buses now standing room only due to spike in ridership

Courtney MacGregor has been riding the bus to and from work for six years.

She says in the last year or so, she’s seen such a sharp increase in riders that she can’t always find a seat.

“I try to get in not first, I let the handicap people go in, but I try to be one of the first in there so I can find a seat otherwise I have to stand up and wait until there’s a seat,” she said on Friday.

Codiac Transpo is seeing a huge spike in ridership, with a 60% increase in riders compared to last year, and a 30% increase compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Codiac Transpo Public Transit director, Angela Allain, said there are several factors contributing to the increase, such as a higher number of post-secondary students using the service now that in-person classes have resumed.

She also pointed to Moncton’s population boom over the last year.

“A lot of new people that are living in the city, getting around on public transit. A lot of people that have moved here have come from very large centers, they’re used to public transit. They’re not automatically all gonna go buy a car,” Allain said in an interview.

She said the fleet’s 37 buses were getting more mileage, and they’re playing catch-up trying to hire enough drivers to keep up with increased demand.

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“In the future, with all the development that we’re having, we can see the need to expand the service.”

Bus driver Sheldon Phaneuf is pleased to see the buses so full.

“I come originally, from Montreal so I’m familiar with an active, full transit system. We’re starting to see that here!” he said. “We look across the country and we still have transit operations that are trying to get back to pre-pandemic service levels. We’re there and we’re beyond that,” he said.

Allain said other changes were in the works, such as changes to operating hours and frequencies.

Dieppe’s Emma Haché has been riding the bus since she moved to the area in 2016.

She’s seen a definite increase in ridership over the last year, especially in the mornings.

“I wish they went a little later, maybe for after the bar,” she said.

Allain said for the time being, they are trying to reorganize existing resources to meet the demand.

She said discussions about additional budget from the municipality to reflect the increase would happen in the fall.