HALIFAX – For people who had to get around Halifax during Wednesday’s intense snow storm, there weren’t many options.
Halifax Transit had already suspended bus, ferry and Access-A-Bus service overnight and by 10 a.m., officials decided to keep their fleet off the road for the entire day.
“Out utmost concern is public safety — safety of our passengers and safety of our employees as well,” said city spokesperson Tiffany Chase.
“We know that there are many businesses, government offices, municipal offices that are closed today. There are no schools because it’s march break and many universities are also closed so there is a much reduced demand for transit service.”
Halifax Transit had planned on resuming service on Thursday, however, the city later announced only ferry service would resume in the morning.
Conventional bus and Access-A-Bus service will continue to be suspended and a decision will be made by noon on whether that suspension will continue into the afternoon and evening.
The Burnside Transit Centre, which houses about 60 per cent of Halifax Transit’s bus fleet, was closed as a precautionary measure because of a heavy snow load on the roof. The municipality said the snow must be removed and the building deemed safe before employees can return.
Cab companies were also flooded with calls from people who were desperate for a ride. Melinda Arsenault, a call-taker with Yellow Cab, said the average wait was four hours because only a handful of cab drivers were able to work.
“A lot of people are stranded. The buses are shut down so we’re the last resort and a lot of cabs are snowed so we don’t have a lot of people working,” she said.
“I feel bad I’m just giving bad news all day.”
As of late Wednesday afternoon, Halifax Regional Police were still asking motorists to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.
Const. Pierre Bourdages said most people had heeded their warning.
“People have listened, they’re not on the roads so we had a very limited amount of collisions,” he said.
“Most businesses have closed and so have many employers. So people have nowhere to be, which is a great thing. So people are off the road and they are safe.”
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