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Kelowna buses facing service issues due to lack of drivers

BC Transit says struggles aren’t connected to recently announced vaccine mandate for drivers
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A bus stopped at the Queensway Transit Exchange in downtown Kelowna. (Michael Rodriguez/Capital News)

Bus riders across the Central Okanagan are noticing some impromptu schedule changes and even missed stops this week.

BC Transit says the Kelowna Regional Transit system is currently experiencing challenges in delivering full service caused by a lack of operators.

The struggles come shortly after BC Transit’s inclusion in a mandate that all public service employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of November but the company said the mandate “is not directly connected” to the driver shortage.

“To minimize the impact these service challenges are having on customers, alerts are being posted immediately on BC Transit’s website once trip cancellations are confirmed,” said BC Transit in a statement emailed to Black Press Media.

BC Transit is currently recruiting transit operators for several systems across the province. The company says it is facing a labour shortage just like many other customer-facing organizations. To learn more about the recruitment campaign, visit workatfirst.com.

To sign up for email notifications for changes to specific routes, visit bctransit.com/kelowna/schedules-and-maps/alerts.

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@michaelrdrguez
michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com

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