Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission - Roam Transit

Bus did not stop or pull over so I could hop on. I ensured I was at the stop 10 minutes early due to the companies irregularities of actually being on time. Had to wait an additional 30 minutes in -24 degrees for the next bus.

Why even offer an app that tracks if it’s never accurate, some buses disappear completely, unsure if they don’t turn theirs on or the mountains cut out their location while traveling on the #3, I understand that there’s no cell service in certain areas on the highway, but I’ve boarded buses that aren’t showing their location at all.it’s extremely unreliable, better have nothing better to do than wait for 30 mins at times. Can you guys at least have your staff provide updates online? I do understand road conditions are poor at times, so be transparent and give up to date data and help people out who are waiting in the -20 temps. Again- I understand this is public transit but stop trying to be ahead of technology and act like you’re current, making intelligent decisions-when you prioritize bike racks and ski racks over people (bike rack is never used as there’s one on outside of bus, ski racks I’ve never seen anyone use as they would prefer to hold their gear close)
Improve please! I do appreciate the versatility but let’s clean it up and add more seats, buses, updated information!

The bus was so great, I hope they add more frequency in the future. Especially when it's cold.

Can the bus drivers in winter please check that all the people intending to get on the bus get on in winter? Just had a guy go to drive off when I was outside the door so I had to tap on the glass with my phone while it was moving forward. Ended up dropping a glove in panic lol.

The lady in charge of queuing riders up was less than friendly. A very poor first impression. She talked quickly and negatively to an Asian tourist who looked bewildered. While lined up I watched a couple approach with a dog. They inquired about bringing the dog. They were told no. Disappointed they asked for clarification. The employee responded. As the couple walked away she made a face at them. At 15 minutes before departure another couple arrived. She was abrupt in telling them they almost missed their booked time. Gave them a short lecture and checked them in. On a poaitive note the employee was efficient. However, this is a position that deals with the public, and in many cases tourists. Her demeanor was in no way acceptable regardless of who was riding that day.

It has been 5 months since I wrote the complaint letter but they completely ignored it. Ridiculous company.

Terrible customer service re: Natasha. I had reserved two tickets for 12: 45pm and was told one of my tickets was for 10am and the other was 12: 45pm but I purchased both tickets in the same transaction and the transaction time was 10: 16am… How do I purchase a 10am ticket at 10: 16am? It didn’t make sense. Instead, Natasha kicked me off the bus and told me to get to the back of the “no reservations” line despite having two reserved tickets that both stated a 12: 45 pm reservation. When I suggested it may be a system glitch on her end, she rudely told me “no glitch has happened this summer” insinuating it was my fault despite the clearly printed time stamps on my tickets. Dismissive, rude and absolutely atrocious customer service from Natasha - fortunately our bus driver was sweet and kind.

There are good things about this bus company, but, as other reviews indicate, not everything goes well.

On the plus side, they have a good network of routes covering all the main places a visitor would stay in or want to go and the employees are (mostly) very polite and helpful. The routes interconnect in the town centre at a so-called ‘hub’ (more a concept than a physical reality), but you have to work out which side of the road your particular service is going from and where the stop is.

Most services seemed to run to time.

We had a free bus pass from our hotel covering all Banff routes except Lake Louise, but including Lake Minnewanka (the bus to which was delayed due to air pressure problems).

If you did not have some sort of pass, you must tender the right money – cash only, no change. I’m astonished that there is a public bus service in a developed country that doesn’t accept contactless cards. A small and diminishing number of such companies may have existed pre-Covid (though not in Wales where we live), but I thought the pandemic had moved them all away from handling cash.

Services could be very busy and I suspect most of the experienced problems come down to too many tourists for the capacity of this region.

Our experience returning from the Banff Gondola was not great. 3 or 4 people were waiting for the bus (I think we had recently missed one), so we stood next to them. More and more people joined. There was a dispute as to where the line started. A Gondola employee tried to reorder the line causing more arguments. Why isn’t there an obvious point where the line should start? Why isn’t there a shelter at such a popular spot? Snow and other precipitation does happen in the mountains!

We waited 45 minutes - the bus was about 20 minutes late, and therefore extremely crowded. While some of the buses have working screens or announcements about the next stop, not all do and if the bus is this packed you can’t see anything.

One of the main reasons for coming to Banff was to return to Lake Louise after some 60 years. I went into the tourist and bus information office to make reservations. Astonishingly, the ROAM employee told me they aren’t allowed to make bookings for customers – why not? She was able to help me by checking availability and found the one service, a few days later, that had two cancellations. She also advised me to book them immediately, and gave me some help to do so. I was concerned that this service was to Lake Moraine, but she said we could get from there to Lake Louise - but she couldn’t (or wouldn’t) tell me how! Is this some sort of secret?

When we arrived at Lake Moraine there was no obvious transfer. I went to a little hut that was open to see if someone could advise but it was empty. Back to the bus stop, where our ROAM service driver was able to show us where to wait. There was a sail with the information, but that was blowing in a line from where we had arrived, so we couldn’t see it was informational. When the bus arrived, I was told I had to go back to the little green hut to get a free ticket, the river can't issue them! Still no one in the hut. I waited until one of a group of people standing around nearby asked if he could help. He turned out to be the relevant employee. I realise that this is the Parks service, not ROAM, but it’s chaotic and the two services necessary to complete the journey are not at all joined-up.

At Lake Louise the various shuttle stops are clearly marked. Why not at Moraine?

We were glad we had reservations – in both directions, people without were unable to board the direct bus and faced a 2 hour wait for the next service with no guarantee of a seat.

At our ages, we’ll never be in your area again, but I’m posting this to assist others to know what to expect and to identify needed improvements.

This is the worst transit option you can get in banff area. We booked day passes for lake louise and decided to park our car at Banff town as they encourage the tourists to do so. But then when we had to wait 45mins in the morning in the line. It's not even bad considering the experience we had when we are coming back. We came to the line at 5.10 pm for the bus at 6 pm and it was reasonably long. Then a large bus came and took enough people to fill the seats. Then they asked us to stay in the line for 2 more hours to get on the next bus which is at 8 pm. Funny thing is in the morning they allowed people to stand up but at 6 pm when the temperature is below 10 degrees they decided not to. There is no taxi service either. Worst experience ever.

Stood in line 40 minutes before bus arrived at Lake Louise back to Banff. Bus was full and had to wait 2,5 more hours in the freezing cold

They need to train their drivers on how to be polite and ask questions. We just had a driver (on bus 1037 at 9: 30PM) close the door on us and we were yelling try to get her attention but she still close the door and took off. Really don’t recommend riding with them.