Achi news desk-
Halifax councilors voted for city staff to draft a report on the transit ferry service after seeing a number of cancellations over the past few weeks.
“In the last few weeks, we’ve had real challenges with the ferry. Their service has been disrupted several times and so we really need to look at the whole situation,” said councilor Sam Austin.
The cancellation is due to staffing issues. If an individual cannot get in to work, it affects the service that the ferry can provide.
“You need at least four people on the ferry to run the service and if you’re missing anything, then it’s not like a bus where there are hundreds of people you could bring in,” said Austin. “When you lose somebody, you have to pull the service.”
However, labor shortages are not new to the ferry service. Austin said past recommendations were to increase ferry operator wages.
“When you’re struggling to provide the basic service, maybe that extra crew suddenly starts to pay off. Something I think we should look at again is how do we build that capability into the system? Is it by adding another full-time crew that you can use for special events?” he said.
The ferry service between Halifax and Dartmouth is the oldest means of crossing the harbour.
Commuters like Jasween Kaur depend on the ferry service. She uses the ferry at least three days a week as she does not have a car or licence, which means it is the fastest route to her college. However, since the cancellation, he can no longer rely on it.
“I got to the ferry terminal and realized there is no more ferry so I had to take the number five (bus) and then go to the bridge terminal and then take the number three, which took me about an extra 20 minutes,” he said. Kaur.
The cancellation caused Kaur to miss a chunk of her class. Since then, she has started taking the bus.
“I take the bus more now since the cancellations started,” he said.
This adds another 20 minutes to Kaur’s journey each way, but the trade-off is worth it.
“Even yesterday, the Woodside ferry stopped working,” he said.
According to Austin, the staff report could take months to complete.
Until then, Kaur plans to commute using the bus, but is hopeful that the ferry will offer a reliable service with no cancellations.
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