Red Deer bus riders may have to work a little harder to grab a seat on a city bus.
The city has removed four seats on 49 of its 53 buses in response to safety concerns with the first row of forward-facing flip-up seats. These are the seats that are flipped up in order to accommodate wheelchairs.
“There’s no barrier in the forward facing ones,” said Steve Parkin, transit operations superintendent.
“In 21 years and millions of miles there have been three incidents in the United States that resulted in someone being ejected from that position.”
The bus manufacturer, New Flyer Industries, recently contacted the city after receiving several incident reports.
As a safety measure, the seats are locked in the upright position so riders will no longer be able to flip them down to sit on them.
Parkin said the city is working with the manufacturer in order to find a solution to make up for the lost seating.