LONDON, ONT. -- As the City of London considers mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for its employees, city transit drivers and other London Transit Commission (LTC) employees may be next in line for the jab.
It’s one of several pressing issues the LTC is juggling this week, as it prepares for the possibility of an onslaught of riders in the fall, while navigating the transit service through the fourth wave of the pandemic.
“I think that, yeah, mandatory vaccinations could be a responsibility, especially in situations where you’re dealing with the public,” said bus rider Jennifer Spivey, who was waiting for the bus at the hub outside Masonville Place in north London.
“It would improve the safety overall,” said rider Sean Jaffray. “‘Cause there is still interaction between the bus drivers and the riders themselves through the paper transfers, and…”
The LTC confirms to CTV News London it has begun the discussion of whether to mandate vaccines for its staff -- including operators. But officials say they’ll have to tread carefully.
“It’s not something that would ever have been contemplated in the relationship between employer and employee prior to COVID,” said LTC Chair Phil Squire. “But now it’s something we absolutely have to think about. So we’ll have to speak to the union. We’ll have to take legal advice, and find out what the best way is forward.”
LTC General Manager Kelly Paleczny cautioned that the LTC would have to make sure it still has enough drivers to maintain service, before implementing a vaccine mandate.
“We have to make sure we do it in a manner that’s not going to impact our ability to deliver the service that we’ve got on the road. So we’ve got some fine-tuning on that side to do, but yes, we will be moving forward with something in the very near future.”
Meantime, at its meeting Wednesday, the LTC will consider a plan to expand service beginning in September with a return to work and school for many. Further expansion would take place in November, then next February.
However, with ridership still only at half of pre-pandemic levels, Squire is not so sure now is the time.
“And if we’re in the fourth wave that means, from my point of view, our ridership is not going to bounce back to what we would call normal levels 'til the foreseeable future. And the other big issue for us is what happens in the fall with students. If there’s any indication that we’re not going to get full student numbers coming back, full student numbers using our bus passes, that’s going to have a huge effect on ridership. So, I think the best thing to do with our transit authority is to be very prudent with expanding the service.”
Air filtration also at issue
Riders may soon be able to breathe a little easier when they board the bus.
The LTC is looking at installing air filtration systems on every bus, which would filter out COVID-19 and other airborne viruses. Paleczny says it would add another layer of protection for both riders and operators
“The maybe fortunate thing we have in a workplace that’s a building is we can do that type of pre-screening where that’s obviously not feasible on a transit system where you’ve got buses trying to maintain a schedule -- you can’t be screening everybody as they enter.”
The price tag for the Active Air Purification Systems made by U.S. based United Safety and Survivability Corporation would be $880,285 before taxes, with an operating cost of $67,700 per year.
Officials with ATU Local 741, which represents London's transit drivers, are in the middle of negotiations with Stratford Transit so they were not available for an interview Tuesday.
