Durham Region Transit

The most unreliable transit system that possibly exists. The amount of times buses have broken down, or trips being canceled is ridiculous. I could attempt to catch the earlier bus to avoid a situation, only for that bus to have a issue. Even though I pay my fare with my presto card, the fact that the fare is $4 with the service getting worse is beyond me.

If I could give less than one star I most certainly would, after the completely absurd incident I had with the 900 Pulse bus last week. At the Brock and Kingston stop there was a temporary diversion (that wasn’t indicated) and apparently users were supposed to board in front of the Midas. Not knowing this I waited 20 minutes for an already late bus and the driver pulled over, told me to go to the other stop, closed the door in my face and DROVE AWAY. This kind of behaviour is absolutely disgusting. The way to properly handle the situation would be to tell me the bus stop had been moved for next time and then let me get on considering HE HAD ALREADY PULLED THE BUS OVER AND STOPPED. You can tell he gets pleasure out of making people miserable. So after this I walked down to the Midas and the next bus DROVE RIGHT PAST ME, and I tried to call the station but of course they’re always “busy” and never called me back. So then I had to walk back to the regular stop where the next driver said there was no diversion and I FINALLY got on. I completely missed my first lecture. The drivers are absolutely atrocious that are intentionally rude and are never on time. Avoid this bus service at all costs and pay the extra for the GO bus if you can afford it.

My rating is based more on the customer service not the actual bus routes. I lost my keys on board and reported it right after I got off the bus. They replied right away to let me know they check the vaults on fridays and that weekend I got an email that they had found them. I called the office at 110 Westney to see if someone else could come pick them up for me and the agent was so nice and helpful, super pleasant and easy to resolve any issues. very rare nowadays. I’ve also never had an issue with taking the bus either though.

The 915 is completely unreliable. It's frequently late or just never shows up. I literally follow 3 live transport apps and look on the DRT website and yet it still does not help to give me updates.The other night I was waiting for the 915 to Ajax Go and the bus never came, it caused me to miss the train and due to covid the next train was only in the next hour. I ended up having to cancel my dinner plans all together because I wasn't going to be on time for the reservation and they couldn't move it to a later time. Whole night ruined just because a bus did not show up.This was only the most recent incident though. I've been late to work a couple of times and had to scramble to make another plan last minute so many times I've lost count. At times I have just started walking because its faster to get to my destination than to wait on the bus.Incredibly disappointing. Odly I've never had this issue with any other bus. Its just the 915.

Twice this week I waited 45 minutes for 901B, which is scheduled to be at my stop every 20 minutes! How is that possible? Yet once the bus arrives at Oshawa Centre it SITS for about 20 minutes. Also, most drivers are nice (especially the younger ones), but a couple of the older ones are cold, rude, and stop too far away from the curb to safely disembark. One woman driver (short brown hair) drives far too fast, is rude and didn’t even stop the bus at the curb last time. Just went into the road at the intersection. When not 45 minutes late 901B is otherwise often10 to 15 minutes late - for a bus that is scheduled for every 20 minutes during the day.

Here's my 2 cent, I used to drive for Durham Region Transit last in 2018.1) The 900 route is really tight and so are a lot of routes, planning is trying to save budget by shaving time assuming the passengers sprints onto buses with fares ready to go. There's used to be a 10 minute bathroom break at the night, now its used to for catch up. It's a 2 hour run without a bathroom break, I had close calls on the bus.2) Most the of the drivers aren't that bad. We work split shifts, you think going to work is bad. Imagine having to go to work 2 times a day and get paid for 8 hours when you've been there for 12-13 hours.Some of our shifts goes something like 5am-8am, 12-2pm and then 4-7pm. So we're always lacking of sleep and no you don't get paid in between. If your starting location is in Ajax and you finish in Pickering, good luck getting back.3) We get harassed, the schedulers schedule timing points so tight, we are playing catch up. Also, if we wait for 1 passenger we get harassed by the next 20 asking why we're late. Most of us don't care about schedule because we'd rather have our passengers safe going to places instead of getting injured or hurt. That been said WE GET HARASSED. You might think Boo hoo getting harassed a little doesn't hurt anyone.The day before I quit, I was running 8 minutes late on my bus because there's no catch up point on my run 223 on Sunday. I had a lady come up and yell at me for being too early after I had stopped for her. She was at the wrong stop as well.The next day, my bus had a malfunction and my run was delayed, I got yelled by 40- 50 people coming on my bus in Pickering. That's the day I quit. I never want to feel so bad for trying serve the public. I tried to hold my tears during the whole ride, and quit mid shift.We get yelled at, we get threats, we get knife pulled on us, we get spit on, we don't get enough sleep. That's why we're angry and look like we don't care. When I first started I used to smile at everyone and believe people are good on the inside. Deep down we're all human that job slowly destroys your soul.Thank you for those who read the whole story. Maybe some of you will come to more of an understanding. Us public servants are no different than you guys, we are dads, we are moms, we are sons and we are daughters. Some are even grandparents!Cheers.Pinyi Zhang

I am NEVER riding the 900 pulse ever again. I take the 1hr 40min walking trip home before I EVER ride that bus again! The bus makes no damn sense! Stops that let you on but not off and yet on the opposite side of the road, they let you off but not on. I had only one good bus driver with regards to the 900, with others who don't even TELL you the stop that THEIR bus calls out automatically is not an actual stop and rude drivers for the most part (save the only good one, and she should be paid extra for her kindness). Worst. Bus. EVER.

Unbelievably terrible service. Buses are never on time, especially on the coldest of days, and they charge too much for such poor service. Drivers are also very rude most of the time and scream at you to get off even if you're a dime short. But I thank you, this has actually motivated me to get a driver's licence, but unfortunately, since Ontario makes you wait 8 months to 1 year to get your G2, I guess I'm stuck taking this awful service for a while. I would give negative stars if I could.

Been living in pickering for 15 years. Routes keep changing but doesn't get better. Bus constantly late when trying to catch the go train also no late routes so you end up walking home. Better to drive or walk in pickering because if you had to rely on pickering buses to get to work you would be late on regular bases and be fired. Their app is also incorrect often, bus says coming in 6 mins and 6 mins later it now says 15 mins. Also there are 5 buses available to go to ajax in pickering but zero available for pickering at night time. From my 15 years of experience seeing pickering transit I would recommend using your car or walking. It will not get better, don't waste your time believeing it will get better. People who work for Durham transit don't take the bus, probably work from home and drive to the office. I would personally fire the top executives who run Durham transit. They don't care about regular people that have to rely on transit. I have walked in -25c to get to the go station 30 mins away, at least I know I will make it on time.