I always try to support public transport in any city, whether I live there or am just visiting, but I really, really hate Halifax’s Metro Transit. I am so tired of waiting at bus stops without shelters in the freezing cold and dark for 30-40 minutes on a main street with several other equally miserable souls. In other cities the main streets have bus routes that run every 10-15 minutes.
I hate arriving at the Dartmouth Bus Terminal on the 1 Spring Garden from Halifax to see the bus I need pulling out at the same time. Some days it is there til I can get on it, some days it is not. The days I miss the bus I hate standing at the Terminal, in the freezing cold and rain, watching 9-10 Out of Service busses pull in. I want to know where Out of Service is, because it’s the only place busses go after 6:30pm.
I also hate standing at the bus terminal and having cigarette smoke blown in my face. I try to stand at the far ends of the terminal, but on rainy and windy days huddling in the shelters is really the only option. And in the shelters people smoke, despite the No Smoking signs, and I have to breath it in. It’s disgusting, especially when the bus finally arrives and a smoker decides to sit beside you, stinking up the whole bus. Surely it is your “right” to smoke when and where you want, but you stink, look stupid, and are disgusting in general.
—Moving back to California, where at least you stay warm waiting for the bus
This article appears in Oct 22-28, 2009.
You’re from California? Yeah what exactly were you thinking moving here?? Trying to “tough out” the weather here from September until May? It’s bad enough for the locals!
Out of Service… I’ve often wondered that too – they do get great service out there. LOL
Well I’m a smoker and you may have to sit next to me on the bus, but I won’t smoke in the shelter, if that makes you feel any better.
People smoking in shelters is not MT’s fault, however, their shitty service is. I’m not sure if it’s still open, but there was a survey on halifax.ca relating to your opinions on transportation in the city in general. I’d encourage everyone to complete it… perhaps the powers that be might get our message this way?
I can tell you, there’s days like today that I hate MT too. But it’s really not MT’s fault that I was 10 mins late for work. It’s traffic. Bus picks me up on time, doesn’t get to Mumford in time for me to catch any one of the possible 3 connections. It’s likely the same scenario for you, OP. Because of anticipations of traffic, or because the bus you’re on is late, the connecting buses can’t wait around. Sometimes you can ask the bus driver to honk his/her horn though, if you pull up and the bus you want is about to leave. If the driver of the other bus hears it, they’ll usually stop.
Jennier can you post a direct link to the survey? I didn’t see it on the main HRM website.
My bad, it seems as though the survey closed on the 16th. Sorry!
Gather round boys and girls, it’s time for a transit lesson.
OOS buses. Yes, a lot of buses come in OOS to the bridge terminal after 6:30pm. Why is that? The main reason is that those buses are coming in as routes that end at the bridge, like the 1, 16, 51, 53, 58, 59, 60, 61, 68, 87. Some are done for the night and going back to the garage, others have 5+ minutes until their next trip and can’t sit in the proper spot clogging up the terminal (like when the 16 gets in ahead of the 51/52, grrr…). This might improve if and when we ever see the new bridge terminal (note to HRM, get on with it!). Some of those buses are just OOS so the driver can run to the bathroom.
While smoking is prohibited at the terminal, as you might have noticed, noone ever enforces it. Again, something that might get better with a new terminal. You might be noticing a trend here. 😉
“Surely it is your “right” to smoke when and where you want, but you stink, look stupid, and are disgusting in general.”
And I suppose you are the image of perfection then?
Gosh Americans keep giving me more reasons to dislike them. My vote is for you to move back to California and quit your whining. Problem solved.
I always plan one bus ahead that would get me to my destination just on time. For example: If you need to be at place X by 9 am, plan to be there at least a half an hour in advance. Simple really, especially if you’re making a trip into or through downtown Halifax during the morning. Try the ferry if you can; it’s more reliable especially if you’re traveling from Dartmouth side to Halifax. The Sportsplex terminal is a shit-show, I have to admit. I’m glad I only have to use it every once in a while. I hope they raze that forest where drug dealers hide (whoops, I mean the wildlife) and get that new terminal in soon.
It may not be transit’s fault if I’m late for work due to traffic, but it is their fault if the bus never showed up to begin with. #10 this morning going to Halifax, was a no-show at it’s usual time. Ended up on the next scheduled bus, asked the bus driver if he’d passed the previous one and that perhaps it had broken down, but no, he hadn’t seen it. So, where’d it go? A black void in space? A giant pothole swallowed it? It’s things like that that really discourage people from riding transit. There’s no reliability. I’m supposed to be at work at 8:00, not 8:30. I shouldn’t have to take a ridiculously earlier bus “just in case” my bus doesn’t show.