Regularly scheduled bus service resumed over the weekend on St. John as the system worked its way through a series of mechanical and scheduling problems.
Vitran St. John operations manager Donna Roberts said laid-off St. John drivers, working limited hours on standby, have been helping to get buses rolling for the first run of the day from Salt Pond at 5 a.m. Only one of the St. Thomas drivers assigned to the morning shift stayed on St. John overnight as required in order to report for work on time.
"One St. Thomas driver stayed over, one St. Thomas driver called in sick, one is under stress," Roberts said. "One St. Thomas driver never drove on St. John before. They've only been as far as the Cruz Bay dock for the Fourth of July."
Last week, Roberts encountered numerous surprises as she took on the task of putting a new crew to work on a reduced schedule utilizing two buses. By Thursday, mechanical problems and the lack of a mechanic on island to deal with them had both buses out of service for the day.
By Friday, Vitran drivers on St. Thomas said they were willing to comply with a mid- week directive from Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. postponing all scheduled vacation leave, despite union objections, and there was again bus service on St. John.
Roberts said she expects the service cuts will produce a drop in fare box revenues. "I'm losing customers and revenues," she said, "but I won't know how much until Monday when I'll be adding up the revenues."
She's pretty sure that a number of former St. John Vitran regulars have simply given up on bus service and are opting to drive their cars into traffic-crowded Cruz Bay instead of parking along the bus routes and taking public transit to town.
