Thieves in Sudbury steal catalytic converters from buses for people with disabilities

All of the transit buses in Greater Sudbury that transport people with disabilities were damaged over the weekend.

Missing are catalytic converters for 15 GOVA Plus buses that serve individuals with cognitive and physical disabilities.

“Every single catalytic converter from our GOVA Plus fleet was stolen so that was a significant impact on our service level delivery,” said Brendan Adair, the city's director of transit services.

GOVA Plus is a door-to-door service that provides transportation for 250 clients each day. Independent Living Sudbury-Manitoulin said the people they serve are greatly impacted by the service disruption.

“They’re not able to work, volunteer they’re not able to do groceries," said Rob Dimeglio, Independent Living Sudbury-Manitoulin.

"We depend on GOVA Plus. Doctors visits, social outings, Wolves games, they need the bus. So when they’re vandalized, our members are stuck at home they’re virtually shut in."

Catalytic converters are devices that reduce harmful emissions from vehicle exhaust systems. They are required on all vehicles in Canada, which meant the entire GOVA Plus fleet had to be taken out of service.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the city confirmed normal service will resume along GOVA Plus routes Wednesday morning. But they were left scrambling to cover the routes Tuesday.

“Through the contractor, there were other specialized transit vehicles available," Adair said.

"Also offset by some support from a cab company we’ve been able to provide a lower level of service while prioritizing response for those with medical appointments."

The contractor, Leuschen Transportation, also had eight of their mini buses targeted during the theft. Staff there have gone the extra mile to get the vehicles back on the road.

“We’ve travelled to Toronto to pick the catalytic converters up,” said GM Charles Breault.

"We’ve rented some extra equipment to be able to do this and now we’re working around the clock to be able to restore service as promptly as we can."

Despite having a state-of-the-art security system, Breault said thefts still happen.

“Typically in a year we’ll see you know maybe one or two catalytic converters disappear here and there, but never have we had 23 in one shot again," he said.

"We have security throughout the yard and they must have known where that was because they were able to access the yard in meticulous ways in that my cameras did not pick them up at all.”

Breault said the company has just hired three staff to cover night security to ensure someone is patrolling the property at all hours.

Theft of catalytic converters has become a major issue in Ontario, including Sudbury. Police said Tuesday they had reports of two being stolen in 2019. So far this year, that number sits at 54 – not including the 23 stolen from Leuschen.