TransLink has taken more than a dozen recently-commissioned community shuttles off the road in the Tri-Cities after a smell emanating from the engine is believed to have made several drivers sick.
The shuttles were ordered from a dealer six weeks ago and were only recently introduced to the fleet when they were pulled out of service on Thursday afternoon.
Derek Zabel, a communications person with TransLink, said mechanics and the manufacturer have been looking into the matter ever since.
"We had some drivers getting headaches and feeling sick as well," he said. "Our operators have been noticing a smell and for safety precautions we pulled the fleet off the road.
In the meantime, TransLink has cobbled together a fleet of extra vehicles and backup buses to keep service running on schedule in the area.
Zabel said some delays did occur in the system Thursday night, but by Friday morning everything was running smoothly.
Mechanics at several depots throughout the Lower Mainland are looking at the buses but Zabel could not say when the vehicles will be back in service.
"We're working really hard to get to the bottom of it," he said. "We want to make sure these buses are 100%."
