Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith P.
Transit fare should be increased and the funding resulting used to enhance service in meaningful ways - not adding unnecessary/unused service to suburban areas but to revamp the routes and equipment to make it work in a way that would make people want to use it. The last thing we need are 11 empty buses bumper to bumper on Barrington St. There needs to be a total rethink.
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I think Halifax needs some high-frequency LRT-like routes to serve the busiest corridors and get through traffic bottlenecks (Hali87's plan looks good). If such routes were implemented then bus service could be completely redesigned around transfers at key hubs and would work much more efficiently.
Halifax is getting to the point where the old lazy style of city planning isn't going to cut it. Once roads are saturated with traffic you cannot just add more buses and expect things to start moving. I hope that the political climate changes quickly so that projects like rail-based transit become viable. If that doesn't happen then quality of life in the city will suffer. It will just be very hard to get around, and as a result more people and businesses will move farther and farther out, worsening the problem. If Halifax turns into the little city with big city commute times and congestion it won't be an attractive place for people or businesses.
By the way, Tim Bousquet has shown just how out of touch he and the bus drivers are with his latest post:
http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/...rs-lose-on-pay
A bus driver emailed him to complain about how the new base pay rate of $24/hr is lower than $24.09 paid in St. John's. Talk about living in a bubble and having a sense of entitlement. You think the people working minimum wage jobs with no benefits will care? What about the people who make approximately the same wage at jobs that require a university degree that requires four years of study and tens of thousands of dollars?
I don't necessarily think that rock-bottom wages like the $20,000 figure cited for Bangor are the way to go, but I fail to see how $24/hr for unskilled labour is a wage to complain about.