Edmonton's Adding More Buses After People Complained About How Packed They Were

What seemed like a smart move backfired incredibly for one Albertan city. There are more Edmonton buses running now, after their COVID-19 inspired changes made commutes jam-packed with people. Now they're rolling out more buses during rush hour so people can have their space again.

Earlier, the city shifted their buses to run on their weekend schedule because they figured fewer people were commuting around the city. The slower service let them clean buses between runs, said Edmonton mayor Don Iveson on Monday, March 16.

This, it turned out, was a big mistake.

Plenty of people still had to get to work the next day, and the slower morning service had the few buses running packed to the brim.

"So much for social distancing... Someone has to do something about this," wrote one Twitter user, posting a photo of a completely full bus in the morning on Tuesday, March 17.

In response, Iveson reacted immediately. In a press conference just hours later, he announced the city will be adding more buses during peak hours to spread commuters out a bit.

"We will add more buses between the peak times of three and six o'clock today, there will be more buses on the road," said Iveson.

"There was a lot of chatter basically of just how awful it was and how uncomfortable it was for people," said commuter Allen Lai to Narcity.

His bus skipped seven stops on the way to work, he said, each of which had five or more people. Lai was sure the other buses were like that as well.

Given the province is now in a state of emergency over COVID-19, it makes sense some people were feeling iffy about personal space.

However, the city's move made sense; despite the crowded morning commute, the city said that bus ridership had fallen by 40%, mainly due to people staying indoors.

Alberta has taken serious measures to effect social distancing, including shutting down all of Calgary's bars on St. Patrick's Day.

Even though Edmonton's transit faced a bit of backlash, they responded quickly to help fix the issues.