BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Several Buffalo residents continue to voice their concerns about delays in NFTA’s bus system.
Aja Threet is a Buffalo resident.
She’s a mother of a two-year-old and she heavily depends on the NFTA to get around Buffalo.
“I have to be at work by 9 am so I have to be on the bus by 8 just so I can get there on time,” Threet says. “My daughter goes to daycare on the opposite side of town from where we are so sometimes I have to get on a different bus that would take me a little bit longer to get there and having to travel all the way back home.”
Aja tells 7 News reporter Yoselin Person that not too long ago she used to work outside of the city where there was limited access to transportation.
But she says even then the bus would come every 20 to 30 minutes.
“A lot of the jobs that a lot of people now need to work to provide for their families because of the demand and all of the jobs are further out,” Threet says. “So I do feel like there could be more buses or more access for those who are trying to get to those jobs.”
The executive director for Buffalo Transit Riders United, Holly Nowak, says she has seen the struggles of riders waiting for a bus.
So the organization is pushing to make the system efficient.
“What have we been doing is working with the ATU and the NFTA have been very mandible to this which is great is changing the policy around drug testing,” Nowak says. “I’ve talked to people who were sitting there with their groceries melting in front of them because their bus didn’t show and they had to wait another hour.”
7 News reached out to the NFTA to find out how they’re addressing concerns like Threet.
They say this:
“We have a hard-working operations team that includes drivers who work incredibly hard transporting our riders throughout Western New York, and we have raised pay rates to recruit more drivers ahead of the winter.
On-time performance is a top priority throughout the year and while a bus may run a few minutes late due to traffic, we are very proud of our record of reliable service. If a rider has an issue we ask that they work with our customer service department.”
Meantime, riders like Threet say they just need the NFTA to hear them.
“The only thing is just because we are depending on you just to listen to some of our voices and concerns on how we feel the bus route is all,” Threet says.
