It happens up to a dozen times every day – riders leave items behind on Guelph Transit buses.
Often it’s a pair of glasses, a glove, toque, umbrella or a bag of groceries. Sometimes it’s a wallet, jewelry or even a bicycle forgotten on the bus’ front rack.
Once, five or more years ago, it was a prosthetic leg.
“It does fluctuate a fair bit, but anywhere from two to 12 items daily,” said Courtney McDonald, Guelph Transit’s (GT) manager of business service, who provided the examples of abandoned items. “Most stuff does get claimed. The stuff that doesn’t get claimed is usually the outerwear – the hats, the mitts, the items of lower value.”
At the end of each shift, bus drivers gather any items left behind by riders and drop them off at Guelph Transit’s office on Watson Road, McDonald explained. Efforts are then made to contact the owner of “items of value” such as purses, wallets and cell phones, with other items kept handy in case someone comes looking for them.
“Whenever possible we try to locate the owner. We check to see if there’s ID in it or a transit fare card because most of our transit fare cards will be registered so we can give them a call,” the business service manager explained. “Generally, they do contact us because they want their items of value back.”
If an abandoned phone happens to ring, GT staff answer.
“Usually it’s the owner calling from another number to try to track it down,” McDonald said.
Valuable items are kept in a locked space for 30 days. If unclaimed after that, they’re handed over to the city’s bylaw department and additional efforts are made to find the owner.
“We return what we can and destroy the rest,” Scott Green, manager of corporate and community safety, said via email, noting items are kept for a year. “If there was anything of value, it would (be) immediately turned over to police as found property.”
It’s not always small items left on the bus. McDonald said she’s surprised by the number of bicycles left on the rack when riders depart.
“People forget their bike quite frequently,” she said, adding they’re kept around for 30 days before being donated to the ReCycle program offered by the solid waste department. “Those get picked up for the most part but you’d be surprised how many get donated.”
What about clothing and outerwear?
If not claimed within seven days and they’re in good condition, they’re donated to local charities.
As for the prosthetic leg, McDonald said it was returned to its owner but she didn’t have details.