Sidewalks missing on Aylmer Road

STO users fear for their safety on Aylmer Road

With winter approaching, many Aylmer bus riders are asking the STO to improve service to the Rivermead Park-and-Ride.

One, Naina Sharma, told the Bulletin, “With the reduced bus service for route 59, many users are (taking other westbound routes and are) getting off on side streets near Aylmer Road, like Atholl-Doune and Honfleur, in the dark. There’s little visibility, cars travel at 70 km/h here, and there are no sidewalks. Snow banks make the walk more dangerous. Bus riders must walk on the edge of the street. We need more trips to Rivermead. This worries the elderly, parents with children, and women who walk home in the dark.”

Josée Lacasse, the only Aylmer councillor on the STO board, considers the situation unacceptable. “The STO is aware of these problems and employees are working on solutions. Improvements are coming,” she added. “We had no choice but to implement the new system because the Hippodrome Park-and-Ride is closing.”

Pierre Benoit, representative for regular public transit on the STO board, reports many complaints from users; he has made several recommendations to the STO. “In the past, these (unhappy) users took either the 59 or a 40 route (41, 42, 43, etc.), which stopped at Rivermead. With the new service, only the 41 and the 59 stop at Rivermead and many passengers can’t get on the 59 in Hull, since the buses are full, despite the new 41 trip, and so they take another bus,” he told the Bulletin.

“It’s easy to say the STO should simply add more 59s,” added Benoit, “but we need more buses to do that and the STO is limited on that count.” The STO operates 305 buses, 61 of which are articulated buses.