While Halifax Regional Municipality has reduced its transit services and cut routes during the COVID-19 pandemic, local transit union president ken Wilson says more and more people are getting back on the bus and it’s creating health concerns for staff and riders.
Wilson is calling on the city to restore busing services back to the level it was operating at pre-COVID days.
“There’s more people every day is what we are hearing,” said Wilson. “Our ferry is case in point. We were carrying less than 10 people per trip and now we’re carrying almost 20 to 30 people per trip and so we’re starting to increase our load capacity and that’s why we need full service.”
Come Monday, Wilson says the city will restore some routes, increasing service levels to 84 per cent, but that’s’ not enough, he wants the service fully restored back to 100 percent capacity.
“It allows the traveling public to space out on more buses and we get more frequency,” said Wilson. “So with full service, we’ll have more of our busier routes running more frequently.”
Scott Edgar is chair of the transit advocacy group More Than Buses and agrees the transit service should fully be restored.
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“That’s the way to keep people safe and keep the drivers safe,” said Edgar. “As more people start riding the bus, there needs to be more buses on the road.”
Wilson has been calling on the city to make it mandatory for riders boarding a bus or ferry to wear a mask while commuting, a policy he points out, that other cities have implemented for increased safety during the pandemic.
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“I think masks, unfortunately, have to be the new norm,” said Wilson. “At least until we get a vaccine.”
Wilson says HRM staff need to make a decision or reach out to Dr. Robert Strang, the Nova Scotia chief medical officer of health for a recommendation on masks.
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“I don’t think (HRM) council is getting all the information,” said Wilson. “Council was lead to believe that Dr. Strang was not mandating masks when Dr. Strang said he wasn’t asked.”
Global News has reached out to HRM staff with an interview request but have yet to receive any information about transit plans and if making masks mandatory is a policy that will be looked at.
Making masks mandatory for riders isn’t the right approach, but is a way to encourage riders to wear one if they can.
“I don’t think now is the time to be putting barriers in place that is going to stop people from taking public transit,” said Edgar. “But I think it would make a lot of sense for HRM to provide masks for people who need them.”
Lynn Richards is a frequent transit user, less so during the pandemic, but still uses the bus service at least twice a week and says most passengers aren’t wearing masks.
“I guess to each their own, but I don’t feel like it should be mandatory or the law that we should have to wear a mask,” said Richards. “Personally for me it’s a health issue, I can’t breathe while wearing one.”
More to come.
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