A Metro Transit bus driver is facing 21 charges in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a passenger on an Access-A-Bus.

Halifax District RCMP received a complaint Thursday morning that a 35-year-old Cole Harbour woman had been sexually assaulted on several occasions while travelling on a Metro Transit Access-A-Bus.

The bus system provides door-to-door service for people who are unable to use the conventional public transit system due to physical or cognitive disabilities.

RCMP allege the victim, a frequent user of the service in the Cole Harbour area, had been assaulted numerous times over a two-week period while she was a passenger on the bus.

“I can’t articulate enough how disturbed we are by the information that’s been released today,” says Metro Transit director Eddie Robar.

Police arrested a 66-year-old male driver at work Thursday afternoon. The Cole Harbour man faces seven counts of sexual assault, seven counts of unlawful confinement and seven counts of sexual exploitation of a person with disabilities.

“What I can say is that the nature of the sexual offences does not involve sexual intercourse, but again, serious charges nonetheless,” says Nova Scotia RCMP Sgt. Al LeBlanc.

The accused has been driving the Access-A-Bus for Metro Transit for 18 years and is now suspended with pay.

Robar says all drivers go through a rigorous process before being hired, and he wants the public to know Metro Transit is taking the matter very seriously.

“We also do criminal checks, child abuse registry and we also do vulnerable sector searches on all our employees,” says Robar.

“We are going to do a rigorous review of all of our policies and procedures and find out what we can do better to avoid this from happening ever again.”

The driver was released from custody and is due to appear in Dartmouth provincial court on April 16. The alleged incidents remain under investigation.

Police say the man’s name won’t be released until the charges have officially been laid against the accused.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jacqueline Foster and The Canadian Press