Brody Langager
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
At The Centre Mall bus terminal on Saskatoon’s east side, the board with arrival times has a broken casing, and a bench nearby appears to have been bent.
It’s 9:15 a.m. on a Tuesday, and Robert Clipperton and Peter Gallen are planning a trip across the city. They’re part of the advocacy group Bus Riders of Saskatoon, and they want to show what a typical city bus trip looks like.
With the explosion of mental health, drug, and homelessness issues in the city, there’s been concerns about the safety of Saskatoon’s buses. Some residents say a city bus is one of the few warm and safe places for people facing homelessness.
Much of the conversation around city buses has come directly from Saskatoon Transit, the union representing Saskatoon Transit staff, and people who ride the bus.
Clipperton and Gallen’s trip began at the Centre Mall bus terminal on Acadia Drive, connecting to Bus 8 downtown, Bus 2 along 20th Street and up to Confederation Mall, then Bus 65 back down 22nd Street to the downtown core and back to Centre Mall on Bus 8.
A wide variety of people arrived at the terminal that Tuesday morning.
The trip on Bus 8, which Clipperton says he takes from time to time, was uneventful and quiet. Arriving at the downtown City Centre Terminal on 23rd Street East, the men highlighted the Customer Service Centre building for Saskatoon Transit.
The building looks run down, but the staff were helpful in getting Gallen some maps of the city’s bus routes. He says the printed maps can be difficult to read, pointing to the small writing showing the bus route numbers. There are maps on the city’s website as well where people can zoom in on their routes.
Two people slept in the back of Bus 2. As per the city’s recent bus bylaw, that would be grounds for removal from the bus.
While one of the sleeping passengers didn’t create any issues, the other, upon waking up, briefly reached out and touched the back of a stranger’s head. That person, who had their face covered, also seemed to be struggling as they made sporadic stretching/spasming movements.
Clipperton has raised concerns about the city’s recent bus bylaw, suggesting that sleeping on the bus isn’t necessarily an offence. He said a nurse he knows will sometimes doze off on the bus after a late shift. Clipperton suggested that she likely wouldn’t be removed, but the sleeping people on Bus 2 would.
Safety and the perception of safety are not the same, Clipperton said, adding that he makes a point to sit next to people with neck or face tattoos.
Dirty seats, no AC
The bus wasn’t full leaving the downtown terminal, but it had quite a few people by the time it arrived at the Confederation Mall.
There was some confusion at the Confederation Bus Terminal, as Gallen and Clipperton did not see a Bus 65 arrive.
Instead of waiting, they chose to take a detour and jump on Bus 5, which went into the Mount Royal and Westmount neighbourhoods before returning downtown.
The bus was one of Saskatoon’s older models. There was no air conditioning, creating a stifling environment despite open windows. The fabric seats were dirty from people putting their feet up. A used needle was left in one of the back windows.
Clipperton noted that the city had deep cleaned buses earlier in the year, something he says he hasn’t seen in the past and would like to see more often. Gallen added that if buses look dishevelled, people are less likely to respect them.
At one point during the ride, someone tried hailing the bus as it was leaving a stop, with some passengers pointing it out to the driver. The bus stopped and let the person on. They took a seat without paying.
Clipperton says about two thirds of the people he saw that morning actually paid the fare. Bus drivers have been instructed by Saskatoon Transit to not confront people who don’t pay, mostly for their own safety.
The round trip from Centre Mall to Confederation Mall and back was just under two hours.
Back at the Centre Mall bus terminal, a transit supervisor checks on buses, walking through each bus as it comes in, helping a lady with directions and even checking on a person who was under a nearby tree.
Transit supervisors oversee daily operations, making sure things are running smoothly. Clipperton recalls seeing a supervisor check on the well-being of a sleeping person on the bus, offering to follow up with them if they were still there when the bus got back.
Clipperton and Gallen want Saskatoon Transit to more visibly lay out the rules on city buses.
Clipperton called out Saskatoon City Council, suggesting that each councillor should take the bus so they can experience first-hand the realities that riders face.
