Councillor Steve Streatch
District 1, Eastern Shore- Musquodoboit Valley
No bus service
“Thanks Tim, you are right I am one member that does not (yet) have bus service in my district. I did however have the opportunity last week to step into one of the buses that is scheduled to serve our rural communities for the first time, and it was in my district. The members of our district boundaries committee traveled down to Sheet Harbour last Wednesday in one of these new units. You can imagine it was the talk of the community, and it was raised at the meeting as well. It seemed to me to be a bus sized and suited to the needs of the rural areas. I was impressed as were the residents, they are looking forward to the new service and its timely roll out.”
Councillor Barry Dalrymple
District 2, Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank
Route 55 serves only the Waverley part of the district.
No response.
Councillor David Hendsbee
District 3, Preston-Lawrencetown-Chezzetcook
Routes #51, 66
“on average twice a month – and the ferry about 4-8 trips a month > higher frequency in the summer, fewer in the winter … ok ?”
Councillor Lorelei Nicoll
District 4, Cole Harbour
Routes #56, 59, 61, 65, 68, 72, 159, 165
“Thanks for the opportunity to provide you with information on how I get around this fine municipality, Tim. It is all about options, most days I car pool from Cole Harbour, some days I take the Link bus from Portland as it can get me downtown in less time than I can (and I get time to respond to emails at the same time). If I can avoid taking my car, I do. I also take the ferry from Alderney to downtown (and return) if I have business to conduct back-to-back on both sides of the harbour.”
Councillor Gloria McCluskey
District 5, Dartmouth Centre
Routes #1, 10, 16, 41, 51, 52, 53, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 68, 87, 159
No response
Councillor Darren Fisher
District 6, East Dartmouth- The Lakes
Routes #10, 54, 55
“I don’t take the bus very often, but I live to carpool. I rarely cross the bridge without 3 others in the car. During snowstorms I will take the ferry and a bus. I do ride the ferry whenever possible during the summer with my kids to different waterfront events such as Buskers. I also will Ferry to the odd Moosehead game. “
Councillor Bill Karsten
District 7, Portland – East Woodlawn
Routes #56, 59, 61, 65, 68, 72, 159, 165
No response
Councillor Jackie Barkhouse
District 8, Woodside – Eastern Passage
Route #60
No Response
Councillor Jim Smith
District 9, North end Dartmouth
Routes #16, 52, 53, 64, 66, 72, 87
” I don’t but want to…schedule is too erratic.”
Councillor Mary Wile
District 10, Clayton Park West
Routes #2, 4, 16, 17, 18, 21, 31, 33, 34, 35, 42, 52, 89
” I normally don’t take the bus. I live out in Clayton Park West and taking a bus would be quite difficult as it would take up considerable time from one transfer to another. Most cases I have to go to another meeting or appointment and need to hop into my car and either head to Dartmouth, back out to my district, or elsewhere. Councillors are like sales people, we go from one place to another and then to another. It is too difficult to try and catch buses for all these appts. Some places don’t have bus service. I do have a great car though that is easy on the gas.”
Councillor Jerry Blumenthal
District 11, Halifax North End
Routes #3, 7, 9, 21, 31, 33, 34, 35, 84, 85, 86
No response
Councillor Dawn Sloane
District 12, Halifax Downtown
Routes #1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 20, 35, 41, 51, 53, 58, 59, 61, 82, 86, 87
“My bus usage depends on my work schedule and where the meetings are being held. It’s difficult to have back to back meetings in various locations within a workday. I typically use the bus 6 to 8 times a month”
Councillor Sue Uteck
District 13, Halifax South End
Routes #1, 3, 7, 9, 14, 17, 18, 35, 41, 42
No response
Councillor Jennifer Watts
District 14, Connaught – Quinpool
Routes #
No response
Councillor Russell Walker
District 15, Fairview – Clayton Park
Routes #
No response
Councillor Debbie Hum
District 16, Rockingham – Wentworth
Routes #
No Response
Councillor Linda Mosher
District 17, Purcell’s Cove- Armdale
Routes #6, 14, 15, 19, 20, 32
“It is important to note that I work from home as much as possible. When I go downtown I don’t take the bus – in my area you require 2 buses to get to most places I need to go. I do take the ferry to go to Dartmouth from downtown Halifax. In addition, if we implement high speed ferry service I certainly would be a frequent user from Purcell’s Cove – downtown.”
Adding:
“Neglected to mention that I walk if it is about 20 minutes or less.Also if we had a high speed ferry from Purcell’s Cove – downtown Halifax it is my goal to have community shuttle buses during peak periods. So I would take a bus and then a ferry. Multi-modal 🙂 Many members of Council car pool frequently as well. Russell Walker and I have car pooled many times.”
Councillor Stephen Adams
District 18, Spryfield – Herring Cove
Routes #
No response
Councillor Brad Johns
District 19, Middle and Upper Sackville-Lucasville
Routes #80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 88, 185
“It should be noted, although I take the bus it is only the link and not traditional transit. As well, it is directly from the Sackville Terminal to City Hall. (As does my wife). My position and the expectations of me would not allow me to use transit exclusively. “
Councillor Bob Harvey
District 20, Lower Sackville
Routes #82, 84, 85, 87, 88
“I have gone to council a couple of times on 185 from Sackville in the last year.”
Councillor Tim Outhit
District 21, Bedford
Routes #66, 80, 82
“Nope, but I will take rail, hovercraft, or ferry if / when the service(s) are launched in Bedford!!”
Councillor Reg Rankin
District 22, Timberlea-Prospect
Routes #21, 23
“I use the bus from time to time ; perhaps once every 3 or 4 weeks. “
Councillor Peter Lund
District 23, Hammonds Plains – St. Margaret’s
Routes #
No response
CAO Dan English
No response
Deputy CAO Wayne Anstey
No response
Metro Transit manager Pat Soanes
No response
Metro Transit spokesperson Lori Patterson
No response
Metro Transit planner Eddie Robar
No response
God of traffic Ken Reashor
No response
Reporter Tim Bousquet
I buy a monthly bus pass, and take the bus to and from work almost every day (I drive maybe twice a month). I also often travel by bus through the day, on evenings and weekends, and of course to and from city council meetings.
This article appears in Feb 25 – Mar 3, 2010.
City council maybe should be a carshare pass and use the car to get to meetings, but bus to work.
The timely rollout that Steve Stretch talks about… is it still 2 years down the road? I really hope they consider doing a minimum 2 hour off-peak frequency with increased service during rush hours in both directions. Saturday & Sunday service is also needed out there. The current Porters Lake schedule is an example of transit planners being out of touch with the real needs of riders and will never attract new people to the service if they have an alternate way to travel.
Tim Outit sounds like a fucking asshole. “Nope, but I will take rail, hovercraft, or ferry if / when the service(s) are launched in Bedford!!” Get a fucking life, jackoff.
Its funny when you hear of how some use ‘I have to be in multiple places during the day as an excuse’. Funny because, most people only need to make it to one location during their day and even for that one stop the bus service is a fucking hassle.
Dear Mr. or Ms. Cranky,
I am sorry to hear that you do not support new and progressive forms of public transportation for Bedford and HRM. In my role as the councillor for Bedford, and as someone whom used rail and ferries when I lived in Vancouver and Toronto, I believe that I have a duty to advocate for them for HRM.
Using whatever tiny bit of influence I might have to try to “get a better life” and better public transportation for my residents is part of my job. The comment was meant to make a point and to be provocative to move HRM forward! It appears to have been successful in being provocative!! LOL Turn up your humour dial and live longer!
Cheers .
Sorry Tim, but the humor dial was broken by the time I made it to your ‘joke’ of a comment. You can thank the off the chart excuse parade above your comment.
Your wish-list of transportation alternatives comes in the wake of a litany of expense and tax controversies, so you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t appreciate your attempt at being ‘provocative’.
Tim, make a dedicated bus lane between Rocky Lake Drive and Windsor St.
Now thats a solution we can afford! Extend the bike lane while you’re at it, ‘maze well.
I love how you have gotten no response from anyone at Metro Transit… not at all surprising.
Also not surprising is the fact poor Linda Mosher is still fighting for that dead whale in the water, the fast Ferry.
Hey Linda – if you are reading this – maybe you should pay for it out of your own pocket if you want it so bad – I’m sure as hell not going to be putting my tax dollars towards that!
Councillor Mary Wile: “When I go downtown I don’t take the bus – in my area you require 2 buses to get to most places I need to go.”
Well, so what? It take 2 buses to get most places I need to go too. What’s the problem?
All city councillors and admins should be forced to travel to and from work by bus only for a week to understand how us unwashed masses feel. They should also be made to cycle over the bridge to not-downtown Halifax in order to truly appreciate how stupid the bike lane is on the bridge.
Major LOL ROFLMAO at Tim Outhit responding to Cranky’s comment.
HA HA HA HA HA!
Cool to see some politicians riding one of those swanky new busses. I’m a bit of a bus aficionado myself and personally, can’t wait! Go bus!
I’m with jgoreham. I put forth the challenge for the City Councillors of Halifax to ride the bus system to and from work for just one short week, and I guarantee they’ll see what the rest of the city has to face. With minimum wage as low as it is, who can afford a car? There are so many issues with the bus system in Halifax and it’s high, high time it was fixed.