Metro Transit Strike Looms
Stephanie Bateman // January 31, 2012
Transportation around the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) could potentially become a lot more complicated — for everyone. In a matter of a few days roughly 300 buses, 32 Access-a-Buses and 3 ferries [1] could come to a standstill. This work stoppage, now scheduled to begin in the early hours of February 2, would not only leave around 90,000 daily HRM citizens[2] without transportation, but would affect all Halifax commuters. The increase of potential cars on the road will surely cause major delays in all parts of HRM, if nothing else.
The work stoppage or legal strike is looming after over 98% of Metro Transit workers rejected the city’s latest contract offer on January 23rd, and after negotiations reportedly totally broke down today, January 31. Union Metro Transit workers are looking for job security as their top priority, and showing much resistance against the city’s ideas of restructuring with contracting out to a private company. The last transit strike took place almost 14 years ago and lasted approximately five weeks[3]. A strike today could not even be comparable to the one in 1998. Halifax is much bigger than it used to be. Metro transit is an essential service in Halifax; it is an inherent part of every-day life for many HRM residents, including myself. Let’s not fail to mention that the last strike took place during the summer months where walking was more of an option than it would be today with Nova Scotia’s staggered winter weather conditions.
Many transit users have begun to seriously consider alternate transportation plans to work, school, appointments and daily errands. It is not surprising to hear that transit users are drawing blanks on how they will get around the HRM in event of a strike. Knowing that potentially having to pay hundreds of dollars on a taxi service would be less than ideal, here are a few tips for securing affordable transportation to reach your daily destination:
1) Ask around – Do not be afraid to ask neighbours, co-workers, and classmates. You never know who might be able to offer you a ride. You could chip in for gas, or even provide a few home baked goods in return. Many apartment buildings and residences may even come together to offer special carpooling for those who travel close in destination. Ask your landlord and they might even think of starting a system if they haven’t already.
2) Get Creative – Desperate times call for desperate measures! Don’t be afraid to reach out via social media and even set up or join an existing Facebook group for those interested in driving together. Set up a carpooling system at your school or office, or even think to put up a few posters in your area. You may even want to think about checking out CarShare HFX (http://carsharehfx.ca/) as another great option.
3) Carpooling – The city offers numerous “Park and Ride” locations throughout HRM. These are perfect for carpooling as they offer free parking in designated lots for those interested in leaving their vehicle (this is great if you plan on taking turns driving with a friend). Some of the locations could even be within walking distance, so it ‘s a great spot to grab a ride. The locations vary throughout HRM from the Halifax area to Dartmouth and Sackville (for a full list of specific locations click here.)
4) HRM Smart Trip – HRM Smart trip is a free and secure ride matching system that allows customers to search and match up with drivers in their area. It also matches by travel route, work hours and specific preferences. By signing up and entering your postal code you can see a list of people who are entered as drivers. Those interested in offering drives are also able to sign up here.
5) If you are a university student, check with your university’s public affairs office to see if they have a car pooling system set up for an emergency such as this.
As the date of a potential strike approaches, transit users are hoping for the best. Remember to plan ahead now to avoid being caught out in the cold down the road! For more information and timely updates on the potential strike, check for updates here.
If you’re a twitter user, follow @haligonia, @Tim_Bousquet (Editor of The Coast) @chronicleherald for regular updates and feedback. This article on haligonia has some useful information regarding Twitter and the transit strike as well, so you might want to check it out!
