The reason the Metro Transit strike hasn’t been settled is that the bus and ferry service isn’t essential enough to enough people.
Not to say the nearly 96,000 daily trips taken each day by people using Metro Transit isn’t a large number for a city the size of Halifax, but it seems the traffic congestion since the strike started isn’t as much as had been anticipated when the drivers walked off the job.
That’s not to say there isn’t additional traffic. But the loss of bus and ferry service hasn’t caused the type of gridlock that would tie up the city, so there isn’t the kind of public pressure needed to bring about a settlement.
Like most people living in Halifax, I have been personally affected by the strike. Although I don’t take the bus, I know people on restricted income who rely on the bus and they are now relying upon me to help move them around.
I’m going on the assumption that a better transit system would encourage even more people to use the bus and ferry to get around. So it’s hard to say who is responsible for the loss of the transit service not having a more devastating economic effect on the city. I’m guessing it should start with city council and, of course, management at Metro Transit for not running a better service.
Everyone likes to point out that driving a bus isn’t the easiest job in the world and, for the most part, the drivers do a good job and are good-natured about it.
But there are also stories about drivers driving past people waiting at a stop, or a driver who closes the door and pulls away from the stop even though someone is obviously running to catch the bus. Such anecdotes do nothing to encourage people to start taking the bus instead of driving their own vehicle.
The transit strike shows the union and management aren’t on the same page and haven’t been for some time.
John Pearce, a director with Transport Action Atlantic, says his organization doesn’t want to interfere in labour disputes but it believes transit is an essential service for all and hopes a settlement will be reached soon.
He is applauding, at the very least, the fact the Access-A-Bus service for disabled people who don’t have any other option for getting around was restarted on a limited basis Monday with managers behind the wheel.
Transport Action Atlantic is a citizen advocacy group that promotes “sound transportation policies, practices and services.”
While he doesn’t believe the city has completely failed when it comes to transit, Pearce says it could be doing more to promote transit, even if it means making driving a car more inconvenient.
For example, in Montreal, he says, the city charges a tax on shopping malls based on the number of parking spaces in their lots.
Pearce says Halifax also needs to increase population density and discourage greater urban sprawl. The introduction of a well-managed commuter rail system could also help the city reduce the number of vehicles in the urban core.
At a time when the transit system should be playing a greater role in the development of the city, the strike is actually setting back growth in ridership by at least a couple of years.
The theory goes that once people get used to finding new ways to get around, they’re not likely to migrate back to the bus — not immediately, anyway.
After the strike is settled, it seems logical to me that municipal politicians, the city planning department, Metro Transit and other interested groups should work together to figure out a way to make the transit system in Halifax indispensable.
And then the provincial government should establish it as an essential service, removing the right to strike.
