Cuts to harbour ferry service to be reviewed
Posted Apr 25, 2012 05:19:51 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Cuts to ferry service between Halifax and Dartmouth are going to HRM’s transportation committee for a second look.
Metro Transit’s 2012-13 Proposed Service Adjustments states that as of the end of May, ferry service will end nightly at 10:30 instead of 11:45, operate every half-hour during the midday, and start later on Sundays.
Several councillors aren’t happy about the plan and voted to have it reviewed by the transportation committee – even though it was approved when the municipal budget was passed in late March.
Coun. Gloria McCluskey (Dartmouth Centre) led the charge to revisit the issue during Tuesday’s council meeting, saying the cuts are detrimental to the long-term growth of the downtown core.
“I think it’s short-sighted and I think that it won’t do anything toward getting more people living downtown, Halifax or Dartmouth, by reducing ferry services,” she said.
McCluskey says she was hoping for a staff report, but settled for sending the issue to committee first – and even though she’s not on the committee, she says she’ll be there for the discussion.
“You’re not always allowed to speak, but if I’m allowed to, I will certainly make a case for bringing it back,”
Coun. Jim Smith (Albro Lake – Harbourview) doesn’t know why anyone is surprised by the cuts, saying council went trhough the transit plan in detail during the budget debates.
“I brought up a couple of questions about the ferry stopping at 10:30 p.m.,” he said. “No one else brought anything up at that point.”
He says staff assured council that while not ideal, buses would be available for people who normally use the ferry after 10:30 p.m..
Metro Transit director Eddie Robar says there was a change in the way budget plans were presented to council this year, which may account for the confusion.
“We provided the documentation in advance,” he said. “However, typically we’ll sit down with each community council prior to the service and go through it line by line. We didn’t have a chance to do that this year, obviously, with the strike.”
“It’s two trips we’re cutting per night, so if we were running one, that’s $425 an hour times the 252 days a year, etc. Off the top of my head I don’t know the math, but we’ll provide the options to council.”
Transit management is blaming low ridership for the changes, and says the cuts will save about 1000 hours and more than $400,000 annually in ferry costs alone.
