The Route 5E bus drivers say the pirating shuttles prevent buses from leaving the terminal in a timely fashion. One bus driver who spoke with SNO anonymously says the shuttles will undermine the new ten-minute roll-out initiative starting  September 4th, 2023.

 “For that to work you have to stop the shuttlers from pirating along the route. You have a bus loading and when the people see the shuttlers coming, they come down the bus to board them”, he disclosed. He says this undercuts the efficiency of the bus service.

 “I don’t blame the passengers, you know. I’m blaming the drivers. If they stop the shuttlers, the bus will not take ten minutes before it loads - that used to happen before”, he added. According to him, this initiative needs the cooperation of independent bus owners. “All by the Anglican School, by Bisee, they have to stop them. If that happens, the bus will not take ten minutes. It was working before, but they didn’t have shuttlers picking up people from around the place.”

 Members of the National Council on Public Transportation have long lamented shuttlers pirating passengers along the different bus routes.