Members of the media wait for a delayed Pan Am Games bus at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ont., on Monday, July 13, 2015. The bus was delayed for nearly an hour, with the media having to commission an official car to take them to their destination. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Republished July 13, 2015 - 2:48 PM
Original Publication Date July 13, 2015 - 10:20 AM
TORONTO - Pan Am Games organizers say they're still ironing out "some kinks in the system" as journalists covering the multi-sport event face issues getting to and from venues scattered around the Greater Toronto Region.
Buses have been set up to shuttle media around the various Pan Am sporting centres but some journalists have already faced long waits and in certain cases had to deal with no transportation showing up.
In one incident in Barrie, Ont., located about 110 kilometres north of Toronto, a bus set to bring media back to Toronto never turned up.
Allen Vansen, executive vice-president of operations, says the transportation network set up for the Games is "pretty substantial" with just under 300 buses and 20 different bus companies providing service, but such incidents are expected.
He has apologized to journalists and says improvements are being made.
With the case in Barrie, he says cars were deployed to bring journalists back to Toronto.
"We're still ironing out some kinks in the system," he said. "We know there was a delay, we apologize for that but it's about how we recover from those elements and how we get the system right."
Additional buses have been added to the media transportation fleet, special "hosts" are now accompanying drivers to ensure they know where they're going, and all buses are being tracked by a security team, Vansen said.
Additional fleet cars have also been added to the system to be dispatched to places where a problem arises, he added.
With 36 sports and some 6,100 competitors, the Games are the largest sporting event Canada has ever hosted.
More than 700 Canadians are competing in the event, which runs through July 26.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2015