To their great credit, Halifax councillors have over the last few years made the hard political choices needed to fund an ambitious expansion of Metro Transit, resulting in the growing Link system, establishing rural routes, building bigger terminals and, most importantly, bringing 15 new articulated buses into service over each of three years, starting this year.
Now there’s another opportunity. Just one year into the job, Metro Transit’s manager Pat Soanes has left the position to return to her native British Columbia. This gives council the chance to get to the core issue preventing Metro Transit from becoming the efficient and reliable transit system it needs to be—its inept management.
In its day-to-day operations, Metro Transit behaves like a system that is run by people who don’t ride the bus, which is in fact the case. Managers don’t understand the fundamental needs of riders, and so they instead operate the system to fit into senseless bureaucratic dictates.
For instance, Halifax buses run on what I call “California scheduling.” In California, it’s always warm and sunny, and never rains. People don’t mind standing on the side of the road for a good while—they can watch the palm trees sway in the gentle breeze, they can check out the scantily clad surfer dudes and starlets passing by. Life’s good, waiting at a California bus stop.
In California, what transit riders don’t want to do is sit in a grimy bus terminal to wait for their connecting buses, so transit managers schedule all the buses to arrive at the terminals at the exact same time. Riders hop from one bus to the next, never worrying about the inside of a terminal.
But when you apply California scheduling to Halifax’s geography you get the ridiculous situation of having every bus to or from Dartmouth—routes 1, 10, 14, 41, 53, 58, 59, 61, 68 and 87—travelling essentially the same Spring Garden Road-Barrington Street-Gottingen Street corridor at the exact same time so they all reach the Bridge Terminal at the same time. Riders regularly wait 25 minutes for a bus on the corridor, only to have six buses arrive all at once. It’s absurd.
We need Nova Scotia bus scheduling. Here, it really sucks to stand on the side of the road, often in a snowbank, waiting for bus in rain/freezing rain/snow that is falling horizontally thanks to 80-kilometre winds. What Nova Scotians want is to get the hell out of the elements—they’d rather wait for a connecting bus in a warm, dry terminal. So, managers should be spreading those six buses out, having one arrive every five minutes.
Once they break out of California scheduling mindset, managers would see they don’t need to run all those buses along the same route at all. Instead, the #1 should be the only route on the corridor, running every five minutes, with all the other routes connecting to it, feeding it. And they could then turn the #1 into a signature route—say, a retro electric trolley—with a short-period shuttle bus connecting the hospitals, universities, port and ferry terminal.
Management’s California scheduling mindset is epitomized by the GO Time fiasco. The idea seems to be that you don’t have to wait on the side of the road if you know when the bus is coming. But, at least four years into the effort, GO Time still doesn’t provide real-time bus info. Even the scheduled info it does provide is relayed by screens at the terminals that are usually broken, and when not broken are unreadable.
Four years and untold fortunes have been spent on GO Time, but GPS isn’t on buses, and that information isn’t relayed through a website and cell phone apps that riders can easily use to locate their bus. Make no mistake: the GO Time failure is due entirely to management incompetence. Whatever vendor issues there are should have been sorted out long ago, and would have been had management not been insular and navel-gazing.
Council cannot—must not—let the bureaucratic staff at City Hall decide on Soane’s replacement. Instead, council should step in and see that a visionary leader is placed atop Metro Transit and charged with breaking its inept management culture.
This article appears in Oct 21-27, 2010.
The one that really gets me is pulling into the Dartmouth bus terminal on the #1. You can see all the connecting buses, but it’s like they’re waiting for the #1 as their cue to pull away. What? Does Metro Transit think that all the #1 riders live at the Sportsplex?
This is just the tip of the iceberg. It is really bad, they hire unquailified, uneducated persons to be Managers over the University degree person every time, because they are friends with someone. They are so top heavy in management now because of the new garage. Still the same amount of drivers, but they keep hiring more and more supervisor’s and Manager’s. They are losing so much money , it is pathetic. People are getting free rides on the all the times. Drivers are told to look the other way and let it go. Everthing is a joke there. City Hall has NO idea what is going on, Management tells them everthing is wonderful. The Mayor and councillers are not interested in fixing the problems. Swepy under the rug. There should be a forensic audit done on Management in Transit by an outside firm. It would scare you.
To be fair to Metro Transit, the failure of GO Time is just one example of a pervasive IT problem. Most IT projects of any size in municipal, provincial or federal government are *not* successes, even though a lot of the ones that aren’t are described that way. The problem starts with incompetent IT vendors and consultants. The fact that the majority of government IT staffs, including managers, don’t have a strong background in IT *exacerbates* this problem, but it doesn’t generally cause it.
Identify any number of IT projects carried out for government in the last few years, talk to participants in a discreet and informal setting, and you’ll find that half of the projects were expensive failures. A quarter could be described as successes only if you lower your standards and hold your nose.
In complete contrast to the current systems that obtain at the municipal, provincial and federal levels, one step in solving the problem on the government side is to have *effective* central IT agencies, staffed by people with a strong IT background (as in, they’ve got technology degrees), and who are given a strong mandate not just to counsel sections and departments but also to direct them. Business units such as Metro Transit should be responsible only for supplying subject matter experts (i.e. people who, in theory at least, understand transit), not for also trying to run an IT project management group.
Metro Transit needs help in doing this – they can’t be expected to do it all themselves.
@Realist in Dartmouth
I totally disagree. Capital Health, is a government organization similar to Metro Transit. Despite its miserable website, it has a very solid IT program, and so I strongly disagree with that generalization. Though I am not sure about their IT section either so you could be right that they are weak on that front, but to say all government IT is weak is just short sighted.
It can’t be just the vender because they ended up using the exact same system as Ottawa’s OC Transport uses, though I imagine there was some severe growing pains during the adoption/adaptation phases of the project.
It comes down to the manager to work on the flaws of the organization. Managers are like workout machines, and physiotherapists, it is their job to strengthen the parts of the organization that are weak. Strong leadership is what is required to overcome problems.
@POBD
Education isn’t everything. This rings particularly true when people fresh out of school can’t find jobs because school does not count as work experience. That being said I am not going to dismiss the roll it plays because it is very important. When it comes to management often times, managers find themselves having to through the book out the window and start from scratch. I would have to say passion, adaptability and attentiveness to detail are key to a good management roll.
@hipp5
Metro Transit needs to directly listen to folks like us more often. None of this filing a complaint with the HRM Call Centre and then maybe having a Transit Employee who is part of the bubble wrap around management reply.
@ Everyone Else
The major problem is how sloppy Metro Transit is/has been. Sloppy is the word I choose because I feel it best describes their service, that is, the service functions, but the attention to detail is very poor. It seems that management will let almost anything slide when it comes to major/minor details that involve their service.
Examples?
>> Look at the most recent update to Google Maps, apparently the number 8 drives off of terminal road, into trees, a fenced in parking lot, and a building before returning to service Lower Water Street.
>> Google Transit should be prepped to be ready to roll before any schedule adjustments are put in effect. More and more people are relying on it to plan their trips. During the last round of schedule adjustments it was taken down and took approximately two full weeks for changes to be updated and restored to proper working order.
>> One or more Access-a-buses uses the wrong font for the branding on the vehicle for both the Metro Transit Logo and the Halifax Regional Municipality Logo.
>> MetroLink and MetroX busses are being used on conventional routes daily!
>> GoTime does not work properly.
>> They allowed the displays at terminals to be so user unfriendly.
>> The website looks like it was simply thrown together with no evidence of direction or established guide for styling and content.
>> Metro Transit should have its own website external the HRM with its own domain name.
>> The ‘swish’ design on the ferries don’t really work. Once side of the ferry has the Metro Transit ‘swish’ that is intend ended to be pointing in the opposite direction that the vehicle is traveling. Every second crossing the ferries look like they are going backwards. The other side of the ferry have two Metro Transit swishes randomly placed on the side of the vessel, and look out of place. It should be noted that the ‘swish’ design should be used to complement the Metro Transit branding and not take over the branding as a second logo. An alternate branding design for the ferries should be considered or at the very least, the two swishes placed randomly on the side of the vessel where passengers enter and exit it should be removed and replaced with one large one that matches the opposite side of the vessel.
If anyone responsible for hiring in HRM is reading this I would love to throw my hat into the ring for this position. I am insanely passionate about Public Transit and am an avid user. I have management and scheduling experience. I have graphics design and branding experience. I have IT and programming experience enough to understand problems and what IT technicians are talking about. I have website development experience. I am dedicated to honesty and accountability. I have strong leadership skills and most importantly, I have an acute sense of accuracy and detail. If anyone in HRM is interested my name is Ryan Brownell, I can be reached at ryanbrownell.com.
I agree completely with the ‘California scheduling’ issue. It seems to be the case on every street with multiple routes. I’ve encountered this on Windsor and Robie as well. I really hope they are able to get GOTime up and running sometime soon. We need more managers and politicians walking, cycling, and taking the bus to understand the needs of the community. Hopefully some of them read The Coast.
So you want one inept organization to come in and save another inept organization?
ry2887: the IT problems I’m talking about have precisely zero to do with public-facing websites or graphic design or branding. With respect to a vendor’s systems working well in one deployment and not so well in another, that’s par for the course – none of these systems are drop-in turnkey jobs, and they all require lots of work by the vendor(s), maybe their resellers and local partners, and the clients. It’s the combination of the competency of all those teams, more so (usually) than the hardware and software itself, that determines success or failure.
As for Capital Health having a strong IT team, well, they’re not the worst in the HRM area, I’ll grant you that. Not by a long shot they are not. Some of their projects even work out OK. But not all of them do. And a CMM Level 5 organization they are not.
There are pockets of solid government IT, no question about it. My original post implied that maybe a quarter of all projects are ones that you can feel OK about; that’s not way off the mark. That means in turn that there *are* a few government IT sections that are competent. It’s not the norm though.
just an idea for metre transit…have all buses take secondary streets,ie.sackville street instead of spring garden,people just have to walk a block to catch their ride,thus making spring garden less congested and the buses would arrive on time to make connections…it’s the connections that i have a pet peeve about,i.e.the ferry arrives at dartmouth at 55 minutes to the hour,but my connecting bus,the number 54 leaves the ferry terminal at 54 minutes to the hour,makes NO SENSE…make metro management ride the bus for a month,betcha major changes would occur…
another idea,get rid of the new route number 8,wasted route as many can walk only one small city block to catch the number 9…take that money and have buses go to the airport,we have been waiting too long for that route,remember,over 5500 employees work at the airport…how many really take the number 8 except for cruise ship vacationers…bad planning,bad management,period
Eliminating all downtown routes but the #1 would be greatly beneficial to this city. Buses shouldn’t have to follow a schedule – they should just be frequent service.
Also, I think when it comes from Dartmouth, it should head south on Gottingen rather than Barrington.
The 5 year plan that is available on halifax.ca spells out what routes can be added and dropped. This plan should be followed along with better operation of the scheduling system.
It would benefit the entire transit scene in HRM to have this run by a regional transit authority; it is as much a provincial issue as municipal, and those needless lines could be blurred in the process.
Pardon me but, are these comments relative to Mr. Bousquet’s article? I feel most of them are pet peeves and don’t offer comments pro or con regarding the article. One comment,by POBD hits on the subject at hand and I’d like to add to that by saying that city council, over the years, has ignored well documented complaints by employees at Metro Transit that the place was operated like a separate domain across the river from council chambers.
The councillor for the area including Metro Transit needs to pay attention to what the employees and yes, the union, has to say about mis-management and how it can be resolved.
Ms. Soanes was supposedly very adversely affected by the suicide of Operator Dann Little afer his firing for “Attacking” a fake seal. The manager before her worked at the same company as she did in B.C. and quit before his contract ended. The manager before him quit before his contract expired too. How much did these “Quitters” cost the taxpayers with not one thing changed in management practices?
I sincerely hope Mr. Bousquet’s gutsy article is also read by some media people who have been told about the disaster that is Metro Transit and have ignored the reports as merely the rants of disgruntled employees.
There’s a reason for that.
Thanks to the Coast and Mr. Bousquet. Maybe there is ONE investigative reporter in Nova Scotia after all.
Thank you.
Fred Bushor
(Retired Operator-Metro Transit)
What I wish to see is more shelters especially on the #9 route around kempt rd. that is a blast zone in the winter months, also to see the #9 turned into a 30 min run all week. We do need to get places ( jobs etc. ) just like the #1 or such. Not fair there.
First off Mr. Bousquet, from what I’ve heard from other drivers and maintenance staff, and by the number of bulletin boards the article is (or was once) tacked to, your article was a hit with the drivers (and with me), so kudos Tim.
From my perch in the driver’s seat (the following is my opinion, not necessarily Metro Transit’s or ATU local 508’s), we have too much management, and a culture of promising much and delivering little.
– GoTime was supposed to be working in 2008, and was heavily advertised as such. Here we are in 2010, and the public suffers from a lack of product, or even communication
– Lots of new service added in August, but seemingly without thought to the staffing or vehicular requirements. If every bus was working, we wouldn’t be putting MetroX buses (which strollers and shopping carts are not allowed on mind you) on regular routes. I don’t think there is a transit company anywhere where every bus is working, but seemingly, that’s what planning based it on. Before August, we were overstaffed, but after ~20 people either left or were promoted, we’re now understaffed severely with this new service.
– Promising a new bridge terminal, with no thought to the potential NIMBY effect and what removing a park would do to nearby citizens. Despite that reaction, one of the proposed sites for the new Lacewood terminal would see a park razed. Smooth.
– Running buses out of Ragged Lake does reduce the cost of deadheading buses to and fro…if they’re assigned correctly. I won’t list any examples here, but I can say there were a few major brain farts as to what buses should come out of what garage. The good news is it looks like some improvement has been made for November.
So what do I want out of a boss that happens to report to the 23 clueless (about transit) ones? They should make it their duty to make sure council knows a thing or two about transit, that or find a way to go back to the way things used to be (Metropolitan authority). They should underpromise and overdeliver service improvements. They should listen more to what the public and the drivers are saying, we have good ideas because we see it every day. They should do a complete review of the schedule, leaving no overlapping bus run or timepoint unturned. Most of all, for me, LET COMMON SENSE BE YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE!
P.S. Please fix the GoTime screens and find a way to allow Transit to escape the web design constraints the rest of the city uses. The website is as useful as a chocolate teapot.
Here’s a thought… privatize metro-transit. It is not absolutely clear that government shoud be in the business of running busses!
By the way, please do not put my comments on story to print.
Buck, not a chance. Under private hands, the company would force a profit by cutting out a lot of unprofitable routes. No more 15, no more 82, no more etc… Transit by its very nature isn’t meant to be for profit, it is a service municipal governments provide to get citizens around the city who do not want to/can’t drive. Fares help offset the costs so more service can be provided.
I will grant that there is a decent privatized transit company in Charlottetown, but it works because a) it’s a small place, and b) there was no publicly owned transit before it so citizens weren’t losing anything.
An installed glass bus shelter costs upwards of TEN THOUSAND dollars, MORE in fact, this is taken from a PDF containing figures on transit costs.
That is absurd, no more of theses please, they cannot withstand the brutality of people here.
Please ******no more, NO MORE, NOOO MOOOORE***** GLASS bus shelters.
Put a LARGER roof over us, that is all we need
How about a FRIGGIN AIRPORT ROUTE ALREADY
@cptstubing: That’s an interesting point actually. I never thought about it, but glass bus shelters are kinda pointless. I assume the walls are there to shelter you from the wind, but I find they tend to just funnel the wind right to you. Where bus shelters really help is keeping you out of the rain, but unfortunately the walls make the space seem too cramped for more than two people. Perhaps the money spent on (breakable) glass walls would be better spent on providing large canopies appropriate for keeping the rain off of multiple people.
Robie St totally suffers from the bus-pack problem on an important South-North route. One of the 7, 17, 18, 42, 80 &, 81 should come by every few minutes through the heart of Robie to connect the South end to the North end, really I can take any of them and get to Young St. Robie should be the transport corridor on the peninsula, but often it can be hard to get a bus, until the pack arrives.
I live in Porters Lake. My comments relative to scheduling: I leave work 17:10-17:30, arrive Portland Hills Terminal 18:15 wait for 19:30 Community Transit, home by 20:15.
Fist of all, Ms. Soanes’ was in this position for just over two years and was responsible for many of the positive changes in the transit system. Second, many of the reasons why she left were due to council as well as being away from her children who remain in BC. She was a very competent woman in this position and FYI, her role back in BC for her former transit position was a lot more complex. She was a bigger fish in a smaller pond in Halifax so calling her inept management is bullshit.
Fuck Metro Transit, when I get my car fixed I’m gonna tell them to kiss my ass once and for all.
Suggesting the Dartmouth buses stay in Dartmouth and having to transfer to get to Halifax is a step backwards to the olden days when the transit systems were two different entities. IF you actually used the service you would know that hardly anyone on those buses in the morning get off before Duke. I take the 10 every morning and there are 4-6 people that get off between Tacoma and Duke. Riders disembark in dribs and drabs along Spring Garden, with major destinations of University and South Park, SMU and Dal. The same can be said for the 50 series, most riders are commuting directly to work. Many on these routes are not taking the bus because they don’t have cars but because the routes take them to where they need to go. Many of us would reconsider commuting via bus if it took 2 or 3 buses to get to work in the morning. Could the routes be tweaked a bit, sure. Could we use some alternate routing when there is an accident during rush hour so “all the buses” were not stuck in Halifax, you bet. But going back to the strict zone system is not the answer to the MT scheduling problems.
“In its day-to-day operations, Metro Transit behaves like a system that is run by people who don’t ride the bus, which is in fact the case. Managers don’t understand the fundamental needs of riders, and so they instead operate the system to fit into senseless bureaucratic dictates.”
Take from the article, this is true for many transit systems all over NA. Its too bad that council couldnt make it mandatory for Metro Transit Management to take the bus for say 1 month to get a feel of how things are going. This probably sounds pie in the sky, but it would force them to take a whole new look at transit in the HRM.
How about a rapid transit service to the airport (BRT, LRT or Commuter rail). There was a study on commuter rail in the HRM and it said it wasnt viable, but I doubt that very much. I feel it would work.
I live in Victoria BC and there are several things that need improvements here. Again none of the management takes the bus.
@Realist in Dartmouth:
I totally agree with adam. “Managers are like workout machines, and physiotherapists, it is their job to strengthen the parts of the organization that are weak.