Some GO Bus Trips Are Getting Cancelled Today & Here's What's Been Impacted So Far
The cancellations are likely to last the whole week.
If you use the GO Bus for your daily commute, you may want to check in to see if your bus is actually going to be running at the time you want to leave or return.
"We had hoped to avoid all service impacts but it appears that we will need to cancel a limited number of bus trips and some train trips today and likely the rest of the week as our mandatory vaccination policy comes into effect," Anne Marie Aikins, Chief Spokesperson and Head of Media and Public Relations at Metrolinx told Narcity via email.
We're preparing for operational impacts tomorrow to our #GOBus service that will result in the cancellation of some trips. We're doing our best to minimize the impacts to service. We'LL send updated messages to any routes with cancellations. Follow us @GOtransitBus for updates.— GO Transit Bus (@GO Transit Bus) 1635730921
As of November 1, all Metrolinx staff who are unvaccinated or haven't provided proof of their medical exemption are getting placed on unpaid leave. While the total numbers of unvaccinated staff will be determined later in the day, Aikins shared that so far it's a "very small number" of about 4,600 staff members.
By October 29, just over 97% of Metrolinx employees had shared their vaccination status, and of that group, 95.4% were fully vaxxed and 2.6% were partially vaxxed against COVID-19. Only 2% of that group are unvaccinated.
Even though the majority of their staff is already vaccinated, about 1,417 daily bus trips will be cancelled today due to staff absences, and "intermittent train trips" may also be cancelled as crews are not available.
"Customers are encouraged to plan ahead, check the website for service updates before leaving home and sign up for On The GO alerts," Aikins said. "We will communicate any impacts to services regularly with customers. We appreciate their understanding."
According to GO Transit Bus' Twitter page, a few trips have been cancelled this morning, including a couple between Pearson Airport and Finch Bus Terminal.
Among the few trips that have already been cancelled are the 7:40 a.m. East Gwillimbury bus to the Yorkdale Bus Terminal, the 7:20 a.m. Barrie bus to East Gwillimbury, and the 8:05 a.m. Brantford bus to Aldershot GO.