Wait-list is just the latest chapter in a series of GoBus booking issues, says rider

A St. John's man who uses GoBus Accessible Transitto movearound the city says an incoming waiting list for riders who want to use the service isjust the latest in a series of problems.

Bob Riche, a retired teacher who recently started using a wheelchair, uses GoBuslargely to travel to physical therapy appointments and to coach his high school basketball team.

He saidthe drivers who operate the buses are kind and accommodating, but a lack of drivers and managementhas made the system difficult to rely on.

"The ideal is that somewhere within a half an hour window I'll get picked up when I book the ride with GoBus.But it's often that I'm waiting half an hour after the window has closed or longer just to get a ride," Riche saidThursday.

"Then once I'm on the ride, sometimes it can be fairly quick and fairly direct. And other times I might be an hour."

Because of theuncertainty of when he could be picked up, Riche says he often sets aside severalhours in his schedule just to accountfor delays. In one instance, he said he set aside five hoursto travel to Waterford Valley High School for a 90-minute basketball practice.

"When the system works as it's supposed to, I end up being there fairly early," he said.

"There's no way to get a bus if you think about something in the morning. You say, 'I'd like to go there this afternoon,' there's no chance. In my experience, there's absolutely no chance."

Riche has also booked physical therapy sessions for next weekand is allotting one to twohours per day for the commute.

Booking a ride through theGoBusonline system is often difficult, he said, andthere arefrequent technical issues. Riche said he often hasto book a ride days in advance.

The GoBus wait-list is being implemented Sunday.

The wait-list is being made to balance the demand for GoBus and the number of available drivers, according to a letter from Metrobus,which operates the system in partnership with the City of St. John's.

CBC News asked Metrobuson Thursdayfor comment.

When asked about what a potential solution for improving the GoBus system could be, Riche suggested the system could be operated by a public enterprise, possibly the provincial government.

He saidthe bus was created to help people with disabilities or mobility issues navigate St. John's and Mount Pearl, and he believes that should be the priority over profits.

"It should be serving their needs first," he said. "But to try and make a buck off it when it's heavily government subsidized anyway, why not just put it all there so it's service-based first?"

Liberal MHA John Abbott, the minister responsible for the status of persons with disabilities, saidthe city hasn't asked for support of the system or to help address a lack of available bus drivers.

However, he did say government would be willing to help.

"For our part, if there's anything we can do [to] expedite the licensing of bus drivers and those kinds of things which fall within our domain, we will make sure we do that," he said.

"For us, we'll just have to observe and support them whatever way we can."

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador