Tag: Maritime Bus

Atlantic Transport News – November/December 2022

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Welcome to the November/December edition of Atlantic Transport News! With the holidays quickly approaching, this may well turn out to be our last newsletter for the year. All of us at TAA wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!

Here’s a look at what you’ll find in this edition:

VIA 3RD QUARTER REPORT SHOWS RIDERSHIP RECOVERY, BUT HIGHLIGHTS DIRE EQUIPMENT SITUATION

VIA train 14 pauses at Campbellton NB in mid-October. The HEP equipment that forms part of the Ocean’s consist is rapidly nearing the end of its serviceable life, and a replacement is badly needed. The Renaissance equipment at the other end of the train isn’t in much better shape either! PHOTO – Tim Hayman

VIA Rail Canada recently released its 3rd quarter report for 2022. The overall ridership picture is positive. For the Ocean, ridership this quarter was up to 23,000, a whopping 505.3% increase over 2021, thanks, no doubt, to the increase from 1/week and then 2/week service back up to the full 3/week service in 2022. Revenues also increased by 514.3% over 2021. VIA’s figures put the increase in capacity in terms of seat miles at 429% for the quarter.

Comparing figures to pre-pandemic ridership, the Ocean carried 29,500 passengers in Q3 2019, and 29,000 in Q3 2018. By this comparison, Q3 2022’s figure of 23,000 is lower than pre-pandemic totals. It’s difficult to determine exactly what is behind this relative figure; a slow return to pre-pandemic travel patterns may be one factor, but limited capacity may be another. The new bidirectional Ocean consists offer less passenger capacity than the previous configurations, in part due to equipment constraints, but also due to staffing shortages that prevented running longer trains. Many trains through the summer months were sold out, and it’s hard to say how many more passengers VIA could have carried had they been able to run longer trains and offer more space for sale.

The Q3 report is otherwise light on details, but the Risk Analysis section is notable. “Asset Management” is highlighted as an increasing risk, and the report states “The Corporation’s HEP rolling stock equipment has essentially reached the end of its operating life. Its reliability has deteriorated in the past few years, resulting in delays and additional operating costs to maintain a state of good repair. Maintenance costs are projected to increase significantly in upcoming years until a replacement fleet of equipment is introduced, both in the Corridor where the Corporation counts on 31 HEP2 coaches representing more than 25 per cent of current Corridor capacity and non-Corridor services, as reliability of the aging fleet will continue to deteriorate, as well as all of the non-Corridor services who depend on HEP equipment to provide services to communities.” This follows on comments made in recent VIA annual reports and corporate plans, and comes on the heels of recent developments that have shone an even greater spotlight on the dire situation facing the bulk of VIA Rail’s equipment fleet.

Thanks to an Access to Information request, railway blogger Eric Gagnon was able to acquire and publish a copy of the summary report provided by Hatch Engineering, which prompted the most recent inspections and tests of HEP equipment, as well as the “buffer car” policy. Eric posted the report in full on his Trackside Treasure blog.

Here are a couple of notable excerpts:

“As fleetwide inspections continued during the Heritage Program, the findings suggested that all HEP cars likely have some degree of structural degradation of the strength of the car body.“

“The conditions identified on the HEP fleet do not affect the structural performance of the HEP cars under normal operating loads, meaning that they will not fail in regular service….Unfortunately, in most cases, the remaining car body strength of the HEP fleet cars is likely less than original design standards.“

“Considering the age of the current fleet and the planned operation until 2035, Hatch has provided VIA Rail with key recommendations around fleet replacement, a structural reinforcement program for the current fleet, temporary operational mitigations and updates to VIA’s risk assessment to support decisions around proposed mitigation measures.“

Perhaps most notable is this first of the key recommendations:

“Initiate a replacement program for the HEP fleet. By 2035, most of VIA’s HEP fleet will be greater than 80 years old. Considering the age of the fleet, continued deterioration due to corrosion is expected despite any further mitigations taken in the interim. The only long-term solution is the replacement of the fleet.”

In the interim, Hatch also provided recommendations for inspection and repair work to ensure that the HEP fleet remains in safe operating condition. “Buffer cars” will remain in place while this work is being done, and can hopefully be removed once suitable repairs are complete. In any case, it is becoming increasingly clear that VIA is in urgent need of a replacement for its long distance fleet. The HEP fleet can simply no longer be rebuilt indefinitely, and the Renaissance fleet that makes up the balance of the Ocean’s equipment pool is also past its initial planned withdrawal date. Train services from coast to coast are in severe jeopardy if no replacement is sought in as timely a fashion as possible. VIA has reportedly already submitted a business case for the fleet replacement to Transport Canada. It’s well past time for the federal government to take note, and provide VIA with the go ahead to launch this desperately needed procurement.

Meanwhile, day to day on time performance of the Ocean has finally improved from the routine delays during the late summer and fall, as track work programs in Quebec are complete. With train 15 routinely back on schedule, VIA has restored the earlier connection to Ottawa on train 35. For Toronto or southwestern Ontario bound passengers, VIA is still only guaranteeing a connection with the later train 67, which requires a 3 hour layover in Montreal. The connection to the earlier train 65, which would require only a 57 minute connection and arrive in Toronto over 2 hours earlier, is shown as returning as of January 12, 2023. It’s not clear why the return of this connection has been delayed.

The Christmas holidays promise to be a busy travel time in the Maritimes, as usual. There are no extra trains for the holidays this year, and no schedule adjustments either, as even the trains scheduled for Dec. 25th will still run on their usual day and schedules. However, after having only 2 trains a week running by this time last year, the return of the full 3/week service still marks an increase over the past season. There is evidence that VIA has added additional passenger capacity to these trains, based on increased inventory in the reservations system, but even with added equipment several trains are fully sold out for end-to-end travel several weeks in advance. This was no doubt aided by a recent “Black Friday” sale, which included holiday-time travel (with no blackout dates) for the first time in several years. Bus shuttle service continues to be provided to connect passengers in the Gaspe via Campbellton. In any case, it is encouraging to see that passengers are coming back to the train, even after the hiatus of service – hopefully, VIA will take note!

-Tim Hayman

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! MARITIME BUS MARKS 10 YEARS IN OPERATION

December 1, 2022 marks 10 years since Maritime Bus picked up the remnants of Acadian Lines, and embarked on the path to building today’s intercity bus network in the Maritimes. PHOTO – Courtesy of Maritime Bus

In the summer of 2012, travellers in the Maritimes were shocked by the news that Acadian Lines, the sole intercity bus service in the region, would be shutting down operations entirely after November 30th. Coupled with news that VIA’s Ocean service would be cut in half (from 6 to 3 days a week operation) at nearly the same time, this marked a staggering blow to the intercity public transportation network in the region. Mike Cassidy, owner of Coach Atlantic, was similarly shocked by the news – but also saw an opportunity to step in to fill the void. Thus, Maritime Bus was born, and officially started operations on December 1, 2012.

This December 1st marked 10 years of operation for Maritime Bus. The road hasn’t always been smooth, especially through the recent years of the pandemic, but the carrier has continued to provide bus service through New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI, and has worked to continue expanding their network as opportunities arise. Key to that success has been Cassidy’s commitment to providing scheduled bus service through the region. Speaking with CBC News, Cassidy said of his decision to launch Maritime Bus: “We just said … busing is needed in the region and we are the ones to do it, and that’s how Maritime Bus started.”

Here’s to the next 10 years!

MARINE ATLANTIC REPORTS SUCCESSFUL SUMMER

Marine Atlantic CEO Murray Hupman says the Crown corporation carried far more passengers this past July and August than it did in the pre-pandemic summer of 2019. PHOTO – Terry Roberts/CBC

Was it the relaxation of public health restrictions, the Come Home Year promotion launched by the provincial tourism department, or simply an explosion of pent-up demand by ex-pat Newfoundlanders? Whatever the reason, passenger traffic on Marine Atlantic ferry service showed a dramatic recovery in July and August. The Crown corporation accommodated nearly 160,000 customers during that two-month period this past summer. That’s almost 20,000 more riders than the service carried in the same period in 2019 – the last pre-pandemic tourist season.

The figures were given at the company’s annual public meeting on October 20, at which the Annual Report for the fiscal year ending March 31 was released. CEO Murray Hupman was clearly pleased at the resurgence in traffic, but wasn’t entirely sure why the summer was so successful.

“Is it the new normal? We’re not certain. But it definitely was a rebound from the previous two years,” he told CBC News. Whether this summer’s impressive ridership will enable the corporation to meet the controversial 65% cost recovery target set by Transport Canada remains to be seen. They failed to meet the target in 2021-22, as expenses increased and traffic continued to be affected by the pandemic. The federal subsidy requirement for the year was $131 million.

Interestingly, ferry traffic to Newfoundland is rebounding at a much higher rate than air travel, according to Colin Tibbo, Marine Atlantic’s chief information officer, who also holds responsibility for the customer experience portfolio. The often-chaotic conditions experienced at some of the country’s busier airports this summer may help explain why. But there are other factors at play, including the severe shortage of rental vehicles this year – a factor that’s especially critical at a destination where having a car is considered a necessity to enjoy the full visitor experience.

Marine Atlantic’s customer satisfaction ratings are showing a slight decline this year compared with 2021 scores, but that was not unexpected, Mr. Tibbo said. The levels recorded during the pandemic were “unrealistically high” he noted, and maintaining ratings received under such unusual circumstances wasn’t a reasonable expectation. Nevertheless, the most recent scorecard from Narrative Research shows that 78.7% of customers are “highly satisfied” with their crossing, and 95.2% say they would recommend Marine Atlantic. Not surprisingly, the lowest rating went to “value for money” with only 64.1 % of respondents viewing it positively.

You can view Marine Atlantic’s 2021-22 Annual Report here:
https://www.marineatlantic.ca/sites/default/files/2022-10/Annual-Report-2021-2022.pdf

In a late development, Marine Atlantic announced a ground-breaking five-day Black Friday sale on passenger and passenger vehicle fares, with a 50% discount offered on every sailing between Port aux Basques and North Sydney from November 24 through January 8. This includes the entire Christmas-New Year travel period, with no blackout dates. Onboard accommodations, meals, fuel surcharges and security charges are excluded from the discount, but the sale is strong incentive to travel in what is largely a slow period for passenger travel on the ferries.

CHARLOTTETOWN’S T3 TRANSIT CONTINUES TO SET RECORDS

T3 Transit is reporting record-breaking performance in 2022, with ridership growth in Charlottetown running far in excess of national and regional averages. SUBMITTED PHOTO

While urban public transportation across Canada is at long last winning back significant slices of traffic lost because of COVID-19, Charlottetown’s T3 Transit is showing phenomenal growth in 2022. The city-funded but privately operated service just set another new monthly record for ridership with over 106,000 trips recorded in October. That’s an increase of nearly 38 percent from July – just three months previous. Canada’s smallest capital city is riding the crest of a nationwide trend, but appears to be leading the pack both nationally and regionally.

According to data released by Statistics Canada on November 21, transit services countrywide in September had recovered ridership to about 73.5 per cent of what it was in the corresponding month of 2019. The agency reported that the number of urban transit passenger trips in Canada hit a pandemic-era high, reaching 120.6 million for the first time since the COVID alarm sounded in March of 2020.
More employees returning to the workplace, along with schools reopening, were suggested as the reason behind the positive results.

The StatsCan data showed a total of 120.6 million riders on urban transit coast-to-coast in September 2022, an increase of 25.4% from May. Atlantic Canada overall showed a significantly stronger resurgence than the national average, with the region reporting 2.5 million passengers carried for the month, up 31.6% from May.

Meanwhile, the PEI Government will continue to subsidize both urban and rural transit on the Island until at least the end of the current fiscal year. Transportation Minister Cory Deagle announced the extension of the $20 monthly pass on October 27. The incentive to wean Islanders away from private automobile use has been in effect since June. The cost of a monthly pass for seniors and post-secondary students is just $10, while children and students from K-12 ride for free.

PAL AIRLINES ENCOURAGED WITH NB-NL SERVICE

PAL Airlines is flying from Moncton to St. John’s with a stop in Deer Lake six days a week on its fall schedule. The regional carrier is encouraged by traffic growth between NB and NL. SUBMITTED PHOTO

PAL Airlines sees plenty of traffic potential on its routes between Newfoundland and New Brunswick – even though it has temporarily discontinued service to Fredericton. The regional airline’s fall schedule shows service six days a week between Moncton and St. John’s, with a stop at Deer Lake. This frequency remains in effect up to and including the Christmas travel period. The same aircraft provides service between Moncton and Ottawa three days a week, and runs to Mont-Joli and Wabush on alternate days.

Janine Browne, director of business development and sales, says there’s a strong demand for service between the two provinces with both YYT and YDF generating significant traffic. Not sufficient, evidently, to justify at this time of year the non-stop routing between YQM and YYT that was part of the summer schedule. But although the exact schedule for the new year hasn’t yet been announced, indications are that PAL will continue to offer service consistent with anticipated demand through the winter.

BARK AND FLY AT HALIFAX STANFIELD

While there may be a dark cloud of uncertainty hanging over Halifax Stanfield International Airport about the future of WestJet’s seasonal overseas services that may or may not be back in 2023, there’s a new business at YHZ that has tails wagging.

Air Buddies Pet Services is an overnight pet boarding facility located conveniently in the terminal building. It’s billed as a unique service for both travellers and those employed at the airport. Additional services are coming soon, including dog daycare, grooming, and retail.

NOVA SCOTIA TRANSIT OPERATORS RECEIVE COVID RELIEF FUNDING

Transit systems reeling from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are seeing some financial relief, as a joint federal-provincial funding program will provide one-time payments to transit operators to help compensate them for lost revenues. The $10.9 million grant will be distributed to a total of 28 transit operators across the province, with $8.6 million going to Halifax Transit, $359,809 to Cape Breton Transit, $332,392 to Kings Transit, and the remainder going to a variety of fixed route and community operators.


 

Atlantic Transport News – September 2022

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Welcome to the September edition of Atlantic Transport News.

Here’s a look at what you’ll find in this edition:

MARITIME BUS RESUMES 7-DAY/WEEK SERVICE

The gradual return of Maritime Bus services across the region continues, after the dramatic scaling back that took place during the pandemic. Heading into September, Maritime Bus announced that Saturday service would be returning on routes that normally ran daily, bringing the operation up from 6 day a week to 7 day a week service. The move was prompted by strong response to the return of Saturday service for the Labour Day weekend, and sees travel options on routes throughout the region now back to near what they were before the pandemic.

PEI TRANSIT SEES RECORD RIDERSHIP, NEW FUNDING EXPECTED

PEI’s transit service has seen a record year for ridership in 2022, a surge buoyed by a general return to workplaces, high fuel prices, and no doubt PEI’s ambitious “Toonie Transit” program. T3, the transit service’s operator, saw 77,000 passengers fares for July in Chalottetown, the highest since October 2019 when they saw around 74,000. Ridership in rural areas across the island has also seen a surge, and the operator has found challenges in accommodating the volume of passengers on the existing fleet.

Now, it seems the government of PEI is poised to announce increased funding for the transit service, and new larger buses are on the way: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-bus-transit-high-demand-1.6575207

MARINE ATLANTIC – VESSEL ISSUES CAUSE CANCELLATION OF SOME ARGENTIA CROSSINGS

Mechanical issues with the MV Highlanders have caused Marine Atlantic to cancel several North Sydney-Argentia crossings through September, leaving passengers scrambling to find alternative travel options. With the MV Highlanders out of service, Marine Atlantic has moved the MV Atlantic Vision to the Port aux Basques service, typically the busier of the two routes. Ferry passengers have been forced to shift to available crossings on the Port aux Basques service, a challenge with busy traffic continuing, or make different travel plans. It is not yet clear when the Highlanders will return to service, and with limited time left in the seasonal Argentia service, it’s quite possible that the remainder of the season will end up scrubbed.

WESTJET SUSPENDS SOME DIRECT FLIGHTS TO ATLANTIC CANADA

Air traffic into Atlantic Canada has slowly built back up over the last year, but recent news from WestJet will once again limit the number of options available to travellers in the region. WestJet has announced that flights between Halifax and Montreal will be suspended as of Oct. 28, and flights to Ottawa and St. John’s will be suspended in early January. This follows a previous announcement that WestJet would not be providing winter services Charlottetown, Fredericton, and Sydney. These decisions follow part of WestJet’s effort to concentrate more of their fleet on services in western Canada, part of a refocusing effort that the airline announced earlier in the summer. The decision will leave passengers in Atlantic Canada with fewer options, and raises questions about the future of some of WestJet’s seasonal services, like their direct trans-atlantic services from Halifax – particularly as the airline has paused acquisitions of wide-body aircraft, focusing instead on narrow-body regional planes.

TRANSIT STAFFING WOES CONTINUE – HALIFAX FERRIES SCALE BACK SERVICE

The continuing combination of labour shortages, absences, and challenging working conditions have left transit agencies across the board facing ongoing issues with maintaining sufficient staffing levels to operate their full services. In the latest such development, Halifax Transit was forced to scale back afternoon service on the Halifax-Alderney (Dartmouth) ferry service, operating on a half hour schedule instead of the normal 15 minute frequency.

The head of the union representing Halifax Transit employees warns that this trend is likely to continue, as operators are forced to work excessive overtime to compensate for staffing shortages: https://halifax.citynews.ca/local-news/transit-union-head-warns-that-service-disruptions-likely-to-continue-5733069

TAA HOLDS FIRST EVER NEWFOUNDLAND MEETING

On September 12, TAA past-president Ted Bartlett was able to arrange a first ever in-person meeting of TAA’s “Newfoundland caucus”, with a lunchtime meeting in St. John’s. Those in attendance discussed Newfoundland issues including gulf ferry rates, transit in the NE Avalon, trans-island motorcoach service, and lack of overseas flights from YYT. Here’s hoping this is the first of more such meetings to come!

Atlantic Transport News – May 2022

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Welcome to the May 2022 installment of Atlantic Transport News!

Here’s a look at what you’ll find in this edition:

TRANSIT AGENCIES STRUGGLE AMID RECORD FUEL PRICES

Public transit – just recovering from devastating COVID deficits – faces another budget crisis amid soaring prices for diesel fuel, and there’s apparent reluctance on the part of most provincial governments to come to the rescue. SUBMITTED PHOTO

The soaring price of diesel fuel is having a severe effect on already-struggling municipal and urban transit systems and intercity bus operators in Atlantic Canada.  In most areas, the price per litre is at least a dollar higher than it was at the beginning of the year. In both New Brunswick and Newfoundland cities are calling on their provincial governments to take advantage of federal joint funding offers to help transit.

In St. John’s alone, Metrobus is predicting fuel costs will push the system $1.4 million over budget unless fares are raised or service reduced – which neither the agency nor City Hall wants to do. So far there’s no sign the Province is prepared to respond favourably. In fact, even though private autos and light trucks are getting a 50% rebate on registration renewals to help offset fuel costs, no such offer has been made with respect to transit vehicles.

A similar situation exists in New Brunswick, where the Premier Blaine Higgs has reached an agreement with Ottawa, under which federal contributions earmarked for transit and matched by the Province can be used for purposes other than what was originally intended. For NB, that means investment in highways and bridges, including highway twinning. Transport Action Atlantic views this as a most unfortunate turn of events – one that can only strengthen the car culture in a place where residents spend a far higher proportion of their income on motor fuel than any other Canadians.

PEI’S ISLAND TRANSIT REACHES MILESTONE AS ROUTES EXPAND WESTWARD

Funded by the provincial government and operated by Maritime Bus, PEI’s Island Transit now operates from Souris in the east to Tignish in the west. Soaring motor fuel prices are encouraging many islanders to park their cars and use the low-cost subsidized transit service instead. PHOTO – Maritime Bus

Canada’s smallest province continues to be a leader in public transportation. PEI’s Island Transit network was extended to the western end of the province effective 19 April. Residents are now able to effectively travel from one end of the island to the other for just a $2 fare, which includes a transfer to the T3 Transit service in Charlottetown.

Island transit reached a significant milestone on May 10. For the first time, the early morning bus arriving in Charlottetown from Souris had every seat occupied – a strong indication that Premier Dennis King’s transit-friendly policies are having the intended effect. Service in eastern PEI began in October 2021, and ridership has been growing steadily to the point where additional equipment may soon be needed.

Meanwhile, Mike Cassidy of Maritime Bus says the daily average of paid fares on their system continues to climb, from 266 in March, through 300 in April, to 349 for the first eight days of May. The fuel surcharge is set jointly by the regulators in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick based on a three-month weighted average, a process in which the company plays no part. It is currently 9.5%, but will increase for the next period based on the current price of diesel. Mr. Cassidy notes that base fares haven’t increased in ten years, because of the automatic adjustment for fuel costs. He says his corporate value philosophy is to keep fares affordable, and his biggest fear is overpricing the service.


VIA RAIL CEO RESIGNS ABRUPTLY

After just three years on the job, VIA Rail resigned – effective immediately – on May 20. PHOTO – theglobeandmail.com

Once again there has been a change in command at VIA Rail Canada. In a tersely-worded statement just before the May long weekend, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced the immediate departure of Cynthia Garneau, after just three years on the job and two years before her order-in-council appointment was due to end.

“I would like to thank Ms. Garneau for her service and her work over the past three years in contributing to the modernization of VIA Rail, and adapting VIA Rail operations during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, while always ensuring the health and safety of employees and passengers,” the minister said, adding “I wish Ms. Garneau the best of luck in her future endeavours.”

No reason was given for the sudden resignation, with the former CEO saying only that her train had arrived at its destination, and she was leaving with a sense of accomplishment.

Ms. Garneau faced a difficult challenge from the day she arrived at VIA. She was new to the company and its culture, she had no railroad background, or any experience in an organization carrying passengers or with a need to appreciate customer relationships on a large but very personal scale. She’d been at VIA only ten months when COVID struck.

Her tenure will not likely be remembered as being positive for Atlantic Canada, or anywhere else outside the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City corridor, where her focus had been clearly concentrated. Transport Action Atlantic was not able to obtain a meeting with her – not even a virtual one – during those three years, further reinforcing the perception that, in VIA’s view, Canada ends at Quebec City.

VIA board chair Françoise Bertrand announced that Martin Landry, who has served as the corporation’s chief commercial officer for the past eight years “will ensure business continuity”. Mr. Landry, who previously served in various senior roles at IBM, was recruited by former VIA CEO Yves Desjardins-Siciliano.

Martin R Landry, VIA Rail’s chief commercial officer for the past eight years, has been named interim CEO at the Crown corporation. SUBM ITTED PHOTO

 
VIA TRI-WEEKLY SERVICE RESUMING – BUT AMENITIES REMAIN UNCERTAIN

VIA’s Ocean consist for the peak travel season in 2022 is expected to resemble this view from last summer, with a mix of Renaissance and Budd stainless steel cars. However, there’s still no indication of anything to replace amenities no longer offered to sleeper class passengers with the loss of the Park-series observation dome cars. PHOTO – Tim Hayman

Restoration of pre-COVID service frequency by VIA Rail’s Ocean is just a few weeks away. The Crown corporation confirmed in a mid-April media release that the tri-weekly schedule would resume effective June 3, with departures from both Montreal and Halifax on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However, it’s still unclear what the summer consists will look like. The online reservation system indicates that additional sleeping car capacity is on offer, using Chateau stainless steel cars, but there has been no word on what, if anything, will replace the Park-series observations cars which can no longer operate because the train cannot be turned in Halifax. Unless this issue is addressed, it will represent a significant downgrading of service quality for the higher-revenue sleeper-class passengers – one that will clearly make the product less attractive than it previously was.

Although dining car service is now available to sleeper passengers, other safety measures in response to COVID-19 remain in effect. Those include a continuous masking policy on trains (except in enclosed sleeper accommodation) and in stations, as well as mandatory vaccination as required by the federal government.

NS AIRPORTS GET GOVERNMENT CASH AS TRAFFIC REBOUNDS

Halifax Stanfield International is now a much busy place than it was just a few months ago. Overseas flights by both Air Canada and WestJet have resumed, and more transborder routes will reopen in June. PHOTO-Ted Bartlett

Activity at airports across Atlantic Canada is slowly rebounding, as people gradually regain their confidence about travelling. Although horror stories abound about excessive security and customs delays at some of Canada’s larger airports, this region appears to have been spared most of the grief, which has been generally attributed to staffing shortages. Schedules are slowly becoming more frequent, as both airliners and airport authorities look ahead to summer with cautious optimism.

Governments generally appear to be more focused on encouraging people to fly than on promoting greener forms of transportation. As a case in point, on May 6 the Nova Scotia government handed out nearly $20 million in funding to help airports in Sydney and Halifax recover from the pandemic and attract new airlines and flights. Of this $6.3 million goes to Sydney and $13 million to Halifax. In the latter case, the money will be spent on attracting U.S. and international flights, and also to re-establish domestic services that were cut during the pandemic. However, as reported last month in this space, both overseas and transborder operations at YHZ are already showing encouraging signs of recovery.

Meanwhile, at annual meetings held recently both the Moncton and Saint John airport authorities reported a much improved outlook for their respective bottom lines. Even the smaller airports are seeing increased numbers of arrivals and departures, with new flights being introduced at bargain prices by low-cost carriers.

LIVELY DISCUSSION EXPECTED AT TAA’S ANNUAL MEETING

Veteran NL politician Gerry Byrne believes the answer to the Marine Atlantic ferry rates paradigm may be “hiding in plain sight.” He’ll be discussing his theory as one of the confirmed speakers at TAA’s AGM on May 28.
PHOTO – NL House of Assembly

The agenda is almost finalized for Transport Action Atlantic’s annual general meeting, to be held virtually using the ZOOM platform on Saturday, May 28, beginning at 1400 ADT (1430 NDT). In addition to the required business, there’s extensive discussion planned on three major issues that TAA has been closely following over the past year – public transit, passenger rail, and Marine Atlantic ferry rates. Confirmed or tentative speakers and panellists include Newfoundland and Labrador cabinet minister Gerry Byrne, Maritime Bus founder Mike Cassidy, New Brunswick transit advocate Yves Bourgeois, long-time Trains magazine passenger rail columnist Bob Johnston, and Deatra Walsh, policy and advocacy director for the NL municipalities federation.

The business agenda includes annual reports and financial statements, appointment of an auditor, election of a board of directors, and any other organizational matters that may arise. This is expected to require about 45 minutes, after which the discussion portion of the meeting will begin.

As always, our AGM is open to the general public and the media. Non-members who’d like to attend should request credentials by e-mail to atlantic@transportaction.ca.