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Omaha. NE (WOWT) — Passengers and drivers are feeling the heat on city buses. 6 News has learned Metro is having a tough time keeping up with mechanical failures.
“If you can’t open the windows on a hot day on a bus that doesn’t have air conditioning, it’s torture,” said passenger, Henry Knight.
A Metro representative said they are aware of the problem. The air condition systems are in the roofs of the buses and with the heat pounding down, it causes them to fail.
“Sometimes I feel like the sun is burning my back it’s so scorching and there’s nothing I can do about it,” said Hannah Asaolu, who’s training to be a chef. She rides the bus to her classes.
Ten to 15 of the approximately 130 Metro buses are without air conditioning as of Tuesday afternoon. While drivers didn’t want to be named, they said it’s rough being on these buses eight hours a day.
“They need to work, if something is wrong with the buses then they need to fix it,” said Maria Garza, who used to ride the bus in Colorado, and said there was never a problem with the heat.
As for Henry Knight, he said he and others he’s met on the bus, try to keep a good attitude.
“We all just kind of talk about it, joke about it, and deal with it until we can get off at our stop,” Knight said.
A Metro representative said they’ve contracted two outside companies to help meet the demands for repairs, and they’re working nearly around the clock to make the fixes.
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