Greyhound passengers left on board for 10hrs with no information

Written by admin on 03 January 2011

When OntarioNewsNorth.com arrived at 16:20 there were 4 buses in the Husky parking lot in White River, however 2 of those soon continued East with no relief driver being left behind for either of the buses full of stranded passengers.

OntarioNewsNorth.com Editor/Publisher Karina Hunter approaches a couple passengers to hear their story, the group quickly grows to more than 20 as many of those fed-up with being stranded are eager to share the details of their ordeal with media. (Lft Hunter, centre Patrick Moran whose mother contacted OntarioNewsNorth.com from Southern Ontario and right, a 14 year old girl describes having swollen ankles after being stuck on the bus for more than 10 hrs).

WHITE RIVER, ON – Approximately 80 Greyhound passengers continue travelling West after a tiring ordeal that lasted approximately 14hours Sunday, January 2nd.

Early Sunday January 2nd passengers aboard 2 West bound Greyhound buses made a scheduled stop in White River, they expected to stop over very briefly as drivers were switched and those on one bus thought nothing of it when they were told “Sit tight” and shown how to work the door by their driver. Unfortunately minutes turned to hours and hours turned to frustration as morning broke without any information or return from their driver. Elaine Legarde, a passenger returning home to Thunder Bay, became the groups spokesperson and coordinator after she took the initiative to get the email addresses of many of those on-board; the group she said is hoping to “Get in touch again via Facebook and write a letter to Greyhound” she explained that “We [the passengers of the 2 buses] could’ve accepted 4 or 5 hours as an inconvenience but now [16:20 Sunday afternoon] we all feel like this is injustice and on the borderline of abuse”. The Thunder Bay resident had attempted to contact Greyhound throughout the day, calling three separate numbers to no avail.

White River Mayor Angelo Bazzoni was in the coffee shop across the street from where the buses were parkedwhen I arrived though none of the passengers realized it was the Mayor they had spoken to throughout the day when purchasing their drinks as he had never introduced himself. When asked if he had made any effort to help the stranded Greyhound passengers, which included a 3 year old girl and at least two people with diabetes, he made it clear he did not want to be identified as the mayor and simply said with a smile “We’ve been serving them coffee all day”, (i.e.sold them coffee all day, as they had any other customers). Apparently in 2011 the days of putting people up in gymnasiums or legion halls when stranded in a strange community without food or in the case of some, without money, are gone – at least in White River, Ontario.

At approximately 17:20, the ‘new’ drivers finally announced that the passengers were to embark on their buses to begin heading West again (these drivers had been on the scene for at least an hour), unfortunately the ordeal would not be finished for all, at least one passenger would find himself ‘stranded’ again just a few hours later as, by 23:00 in Thunder Bay, he contacted me to advise that having missed his transfer to Fort Frances, he had been told by the Greyhound driver of the bus he was on that all the problems were weather related and therefore not ‘Their [Greyhound] fault”, perhaps having said it was ‘not their problem’ would have been more genuine, the passenger could, said the driver, wait in the terminal for his bus; it is expected to depart Thunder Bay for Fort Frances Tuesday morning at 9:30am.

The Greyhound drivers on the scene said the delay had been caused by poor weather but gave no explination as to why the passengers aboard the bus were left for 10 hrs without any clue as to what was going on, nor any explination as to what type of compensation might be offered to them. I was at a loss to understand why, when the Highway closure from Terrace Bay to White River ended at 5:36 Sunday morning, just 2 hours after the bus arrived, it would be a reason for these people to be held over more than 14 hours.

A source told OntarioNewsNorth.com, comments were heard on a police scanner Sunday regarding the Greyhound driver of at least one of the buses having surpassed the number of consecutive hours he could legally drive; what part this may have played in the situation is still unclear.

: Buses finally getting ready to head West at approximately 17:20

: Being told their ordeal is nearing an end, stranded passengers make their way back to the buses at approximately 17:00

: When OntarioNewsNorth.com arrived at 16:20 there were 4 buses in the Husky parking lot in White River, however 2 of those soon continued East with no relief driver being left behind for either of the buses full of stranded passengers.

: OntarioNewsNorth.com Editor/Publisher Karina Hunter approaches a couple passengers to hear their story, the group quickly grows to more than 20 as many of those fed-up with being stranded are eager to share the details of their ordeal with media. (Lft Hunter, centre Patrick Moran whose mother contacted OntarioNewsNorth.com from Southern Ontario and right, a 14 year old girl describes having swollen ankles after being stuck on the bus for more than 10 hrs).