Yellowknife’s municipal transit was hit on Friday as an extended cold spell continued, though the city’s school buses reportedly had a trouble-free morning.
The City of Yellowknife said on Friday that its afternoon express bus service and route C – one of three regular routes – were out of service “due to mechanical issues.”
Yellowknife had by that point warmed up a little to just above -40C, having been well below -40C at times on Thursday and into Friday morning.
Multiple school bus routes weren’t operating on Thursday morning, but on Friday bus operator Transdev reported no problems for school buses.
“School buses are all good, as long as all employees can make it into work,” Transdev’s Nancy Marchiori said by email shortly after lunch on Friday.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Yellowknife’s street outreach van was also off the road on Friday.
The van can normally be called by residents who are concerned about people outdoors in Yellowknife who appear to be in distress. The van can be dispatched between 10am and 10pm daily to check on people and get them to somewhere safe and warm, or get them to a place that offers treatment if they require it.
“Due to the severe cold temperatures, we have made the difficult decision to keep the street outreach van off the road today,” the Yellowknife Women’s Society, which operates the street outreach program, posted to Facebook on Friday afternoon.
A new van purchased for the program has been “in the shop for quite some time,” executive director Renee Sanderson wrote, and the old van “is on its last legs.”
“We are actively working on finding an alternative solution. Our team is dedicated to resolving this situation as quickly as possible, and we hope to have a replacement vehicle soon,” Sanderson added.
“We understand the importance of our service, especially during extreme weather conditions, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please bear with us as we strive to address these challenges promptly.”
