SASKATOON — An extreme cold warning remains in effect in the city of Saskatoon issued by the Meteorological Service of Canada, causing cancellations and delays on bus services — both for schools and public transportation.
For two days on Wednesday and Thursday (Jan. 5 and 6), with temperatures reaching -40 degrees, the Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools and the Saskatoon Public Schools cancelled bus operations.
Parents and legal guardians had to drop their kids to school or students used other means of transportation just to get to class, and get picked up after school.
All bus services for Kinder to Grade 8, high school, and intensive needs students in Saskatoon, Martensville and Warman were cancelled for the whole day.
SPS also cancelled its bus operations for two days that included all routes and charters used by the students.
Both school boards continued with their operations and classes were done as scheduled. Students stayed indoors during breaks after classes.
Saskatoon Transit continued with its bus operations, but the extreme cold temperatures caused shortages of fully functioning buses and several delays.
Cold temperatures usually cause the “check engine” signal light to turn in a vehicles control panel. Condensation in the air system freezes the valves that lead to suspension issues or frozen brakes.
Mechanics must make sure buses are in safe driving condition or repairs are complete before allowing it to run on the road.
Those who take the Transit are also advised to check for alerts, push notification, and real-time bus information and service disruptions on the Transit app or Google Maps.
The riding public can receive push notifications on service disruptions and other information if they “favourite” the usual routes they take using the Transit app.
Buses can no longer lower its body when temperatures reach -20 degrees Celsius and below, but the ramp can still be used. Passengers who need to use the ramp can ask the driver to deploy if required.
Saskatoon Transit is asking commuters to be patient during periods of cold weather.
For more information, visit SaskatoonTransit.ca or check @stoontransit (Twitter), or call 306.975.3100.
