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How come every time we get a small Canadian storm the buses stop running? People still need to get home don’t they? The world doesn’t stop when buses stop. People still need to get around, especially when there is a storm.
—Not from around here.
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2009.
13 Comments
Because this province has become a bunch of weather weinies, A flake of snow and everything shuts down. What a crock. We live in Canada, we have weather and cold and snow. Been that way for a millennia. Where’s global warming when you need it. Oh that’s right, another crock.
Well, it’d cost the city A LOT more if a bus driver or passengers got injured as a result from the weather than it will receiving complaints that they took the busses off the roads.
It’s probably a liability issue. HRM probably doesn’t want to risk a lawsuit of that magnitude.
That’s just my guess.
Really, global warming being a crock…? Come on… Back to the post, I took a bus today just to be on the safe side, and everything seemed fine, but in all honesty the weather was shit out there for most of the afternoon, and they were running where I live. Do you perhaps live on Main Ave in Fairview? If you do, you should know the buses don’t go up that street in bad storms.
As far as I am aware, the buses were running all day. If they were late, well, use your fucking sense and realize that traffic was jammed everywhere all afternoon. Buses can’t fly…
FWIW, even the worst case scenario mapped out by the IPCC for global warming, nobody at these latitudes would be able to tell the difference, temperature wise, without all sorts of instruments.
Of course, we’ve surpassed the worst case scenario, so who knows?
Dr Fever’s right: on the snow plan busses don’t run up hilly streets. The 18 won’t go up and down Flamingo — it’s redirected to Kearny Lake Rd. and I’m pretty sure the 4 doesn’t go up Rosedale and like you said, no busses will run down Main Ave.
There are probably other routes that are redirected on the snow plan, but I’m only familiar with the ones around Clayton Park/Fairview.
did taxi’s stop too? I know it’s risky, but there may have been the option. To be honest, I was shocked at how nearly everyone closed early and then it was pretty much stopped by 5, when most would have gotten out anyways.
I do know I wasn’t driving anywhere, the walk home from work was bad enough. My face hurt from the whipping snow and I’m pretty sure I looked like santa when I got home.
Yesterday I left work at 5 and was home before 6 and that was 2 buses. Hardly any traffic on the road. The only thing that was funny about the trip home was the female passenger trying to seduce the driver of the number 9 bus.
PK – I was on the 4 yesterday. It went down Rosedale and there was one coming up. The road had been somewhat cleared. I don’t know about before hand, though.
The 18 was in a jam after an accident on the BH. A guy at Lacewood Terminal had been waiting for an hour.
I was waiting for the 16 while at the bottom end of Parkland – right during the worst of it. The 16 didn’t show (probably due to the same reason as the 18), but the 89 did show up.
Sometimes the roads get so bad that the bus can’t get up, OP. Yeah it sucks, but it’s Halifax. It’s a gigantic hill in places.
Snow plan for buses? Seriously? And what secret society do I have to join to know this information? I have lived here for several years and while I have tried time and again to understand the circuitous, ridiculous bus routes, it still amazes me that, despite being armed with a bus map and schedule, I may end up waiting over an hour for a bus only to realise during a storm I should have walked an hour to get off a hilly street, find another appropriate bus stop, and wait some more just to catch it. The 62 also circumvented a part of its route due to snow and hills – I hope the people living on those side streets knew about the snow plan! Can’t they post this stuff on the bloody poles?
One of my biggest beefs with Transit is the lack of information about snow plans, either when they’re on, or even what they are. Even then, the plan is dynamic as a stretch may be cleared for a bit and then get so that buses cannot get up or down them. Usually the first streets to go are Main Av (2,42,52), Flamingo (18. 35), Sinclair (62), South (7, 41), and Mayo/Osbourne/Mountain (14), but not always. For me, the worst is in Sackville when the buses are taken off the Walker Connector and won’t go through the mall as that’s what has the most passengers waiting.
Of course, if enough people call the centre looking for snow plan info, they may just post the info on the website better. Noone should be stranded in a snowstorm due to lack of info.
See, that’s the thing. Nobody wants to call the call centre or check the website. If there’s bad weather, I assume the worst and plan accordingly. Leave early, call ahead to work and tell them I may be late.
Concerning Metro Transits snow plan, the details are on the web site right under snow plan 2008/2009. Stop the damn blame game and inform yourselves.
As for poor weather causing buses to be delayed, use common sense people. A bus can only travel as fast and as far as road conditions and traffic allow. If every other vehicle in the city is on Joe Howe or the Bedford highway and a bus is in that mess, the bus service will be delayed on both ends of the trip. BRoc was right, buses cannot fly. Get your heads out of your asses.