‘None of us were prepared’: TransLink passenger had to trek through adverse conditions after coolant leak

Several people on a bus bound for the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal had to trek through adverse conditions without warning after they were sprayed with leaking coolant on Sunday.

A video posted online shows the liquid raining down, and people scrambling to get off the 257 bus. Megan Nelson-Vassart tells CityNews she was on board and says everyone had to spend 30 minutes hiking down to the terminal.

As she explains, the group had to walk along a busy road, onto a bridge, and through a steep trail to get to the terminal.

“We had no idea what the walk would be like … if we had been ready for a hike, wearing proper footwear, expecting to walk, and also all physically able to do the walk comfortably, it wouldn’t have maybe been as big of an issue but none of us were prepared,” Nelson-Vassart said.

“There were multiple people who were drenched in coolant and then had to do the kilometre walk and then an hour and 40-minute ferry [ride] covered in coolant.”

Nelson-Vassart says she has mobility issues so it was a difficult and frustrating situation that almost made her miss the ferry home.

She claims that there was no alternate transportation offered to those on board the bus terminal.

“On the part of TransLink, it was really frustrating … it felt like there was no plan B.”

In a statement to CityNews, TransLink says “Standard safety procedures were followed,” and the bus was taken out of service while another bus was sent to the area to transport passengers.

“However, customers walked the remaining distance instead, given the proximity to the ferry terminal,” it said.

Nelson-Vassart says one positive from the situation came from the actions of an “off the clock” employee who helped lead the group of passengers down to the terminal.

“The employee who was taking care of us, she was amazing,” Nelson-Vannart said. “She even stayed behind with someone who had hurt themselves falling.”

TransLink says no injuries or complaints had been reported as of Monday.