Edmonton boy short ten cents on fare not allowed on ETS bus

An Edmonton man is speaking out after his young son was not allowed on a city bus because he was short ten cents for bus fare. The incident happened on February 1st, the same day ETS fares jumped from $2.75 to $2.85.

It was only 11-year-old Tyler's second time taking the bus. According to Tyler, when he got on the bus he noticed that the fares had increased. He let the driver know that he was short ten cents, and the driver told him he could not get on the bus.

Tyler's dad Brian Strobel thinks the bus driver was too harsh on his son.

"He could have said, bring an extra ten cents next time. There's a whole bunch of things he could have done but the last thing he should have done is refuse to let my boy on the bus."

Crying, Tyler was left to walk home on a day where the windchill dipped to -20.

Strobel worries about what could have happened to his son if he'd had further to walk or if the temperature had been colder.

"They need to be able to access the bus even if they're short money or they lost their money or something. In that type of weather they should just bring the child on the bus." Strobel said. "Bus drivers are like a third line of defense for our children when they're out there by themselves."

A spokesperson for the city says it is their policy to allow some leeway for passengers after a change in transit fares.

"It's the expectation of all of our customers that they pay a fare when they get on the bus, however we have trained our operators to understand that there are circumstances in the public transit industry where you have to take a look at the overall picture." Wes Brodhead, Director of Bus Operations for the City of Edmonton told Global News. "We would never ask our operators to put a child at risk as a result of not having enough fare."

Brodhead says that the driver in question has been identified, and supervisors have spoken to him to about the incident.

"A situation occurred here that shouldn't have happened, and we'll work to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Strobel says his family has received an apology from an ETS supervisor, but they're looking for more.

"They've apologized but I expect an apology from that particular bus driver."

City officials predict that ETS will transport 74 million passengers in 2011.