So Halifax, with all their infinite wisdom, has decided that snow tires on the buses aren’t worth the investment, and therefore neither is the safety of the ridership.
Well, to that, I say that it’s time to have some fun at their expense.
There’s still plenty of winter left (and a storm forecast on Friday) so I propose an idea – any time that you spot a bus that is stuck, take a picture or a video of it. Post it to social media…all over social media.
Make sure to note the date, time, get the bus number, and the location of it.
Posting to Twitter? Make sure you tag Halifax Transit (@hfxtransit) and anyone else that you see fit – the Algamated Transit Union, the media, your friends…
Have a laugh at Halifax Transit’s expense…maybe enough shaming will encourage them to re-think their stupid decision. —Sick of the stupidity in this city
This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2015.
Well, look at it this way, OB: with all the money H^LIFUX transit is going to save when it cuts services to the bare bones (and no doubt, raises fairs to $3 a ride) with its ridiculous new system it plans on rolling out in 2016, it can finally afford tires that will ensure it won’t get stuck in areas it’ll no longer service (which, is pretty much everywhere).
I’m pretty damned sure that “safety of the ridership” has never been on the radar of either Neddie Crowbar, or Kenny Swillson. Best you can hope for is that you get an experienced long-time driver who knows what he’s doing, rather than some product of hiring “quotas” or some “When’s my next coffee break” type Mini Mussolini ,more interested in banning therapy dogs for shits & giggles or cracking down hard on transfer fraud.
That being said, the folks driving the 72s have been doing an awesome job in piss-miserable conditions this last month. Thanks.
this is shameful. good idea op. shame them.
It must be remembered that the decision is the result of a cost/benefit analysis. In the present case the cost – the price of the snow tires – far exceeds the benefit – the safety of the ridership which thereby becomes expendable. The “ridership?” Aren’t they getting above themselves? It’s time for a trimming.
Jebus, there isn’t a tire in production that will stop a heavy vehicle from a) getting stuck, or, b) sliding off the road. Its a simple matter of physics, not enough weight over the drive wheels to push or hold the vehicle on the road. The only solution is tire chains, period.
Never in the 25 years of driving heavy vehicles in winter has any company, ever, put winter tires on the steer axle and most of the time you get to run half bald, whatever the fuck you already have on the drives. This is just another page from the JJ book of fear mongering. Fuck sakes, its winter, we’re Canadian, get used to being stuck in the snow.
are chains legal here? how did those big trucks get stuck on cob pass if they had chains?
all the big trucks used chains in bc interior when I was there. chain-up places on the road.
Winter has it’s inconveniences. Part of living in a northern latitude.