Category: Transit

Atlantic Transport News – November 2021

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Welcome to the November edition of Atlantic Transport News!

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

VIA TO ADD SECOND OCEAN FREQUENCY – BUT TRI-WEEKLY SERVICE WON’T RETURN UNTIL NEXT SUMMER

Passengers head down the platform to board the Ocean at Moncton. With an increase to 2/week frequency in December, travelling by train around the holidays will be just a little bit easier. PHOTO – Ted Bartlett

The return to service for VIA’s services in Atlantic Canada has continued to be painfully slow coming, but there is finally a clearer roadmap for when the Ocean will get back to “normal” service levels (even if 3/week service is still far from adequate). On October 18th, VIA announced the final phase of the railway’s service resumption plans, which would see the Ocean expand to a twice a week service in December, and finally to the full thrice weekly service ahead of the 2022 peak season (i.e. by June 2022). This week, VIA confirmed that the first departures on the expanded 2/week service will take place on December 8, 2021, with departures from both Montreal and Halifax on Sundays and Wednesdays moving forward. This will require the return of a second train set, with a meet between the trains overnight.

It is notable that none of VIA’s other non-Corridor services (with the exception of Winnipeg-Churchill) will see any expansions beyond their current once a week service until next spring. It seems evident that the decision to expand the Ocean to 2/week operation in December is an effort to capture the heavy Christmas holiday traffic that the train typically carries. Indeed, the press release announcing the date for the second frequency quotes VIA President and CEO Cynthia Garneau as saying “The return of this second frequency of the Ocean is good news for our passengers who now have more travel options in time for the holiday season.” At this time, it’s not clear how much additional capacity VIA may plan to add for the holiday season. There will be no extra trains beyond the 2/week schedule, but adding cars to the consists would be consistent with past practice and should help capture more ridership – indeed, some trains around Christmas are already close to being sold out, as riders have been returning to the service despite the long hiatus and limited departures.

The on-board environment has also been slowly returning to more normal, with VIA once again allowing passengers to make use of the Renaissance service cars, and returning full dining car service for Sleeper passengers, with a full hot menu and the traditional dining car environment, as of October 24th. This will undoubtedly have made the on-board experience more welcoming than it was in the earliest days of service resumption, but there is still no word on any suitable replacement for the Park car, lost to history with the new bidirectional operation of the train.

-Tim Hayman

COVID NUMBERS SLOWLY IMPROVING IN REGION – BUT TRANSPORTATION CHALLENGES REMAIN

Maritime Bus is maintaining its six-days-a-week modified schedule with extra weekend trips, despite sluggish traffic numbers driven by the uptick in COVID cases. PHOTO – Ted Bartlett

The so-called “circuit-breaker” public health measures to combat COVID-19’s alarming fourth wave were still in effect across much of New Brunswick as the calendar rolled into November. Even though the surge in cases that struck all four Atlantic provinces to varying degrees had shown encouraging signs of retreat, the travel industry’s recovery from the pandemic was clearly inhibited.

Maritime Bus reported a daily average of 270 passengers in October, while maintaining its six-days-per-week reduced operating schedule, with extra weekend departures on Saturday and Sunday. It represented a slight improvement over the same month in 2020, when the buses were running only four days a week, but well short of where the company had hoped it would be at this point. Nevertheless, management feels it would not be wise to reduce service at this time. And, on the bright side, reduced travel has produced an increase in the parcel business, which helps offset the drop in passenger revenue.

The check-in area of Halifax Stanfield International Airport was largely deserted on the afternoon of November 4.
PHOTO – Ted Bartlett

Two New Brunswick cities are once again without air service to and from Halifax. St. John’s-based PAL Airlines had stepped in to partially fill the void last summer when it became apparent that Air Canada would not be resuming the local services it had provided pre-pandemic. PAL began offering flights five days a week connecting Stanfield International with Fredericton and Saint John. But while passenger loads were encourging during the summer, the airline reached the conclusion that the service wasn’t sustainable through the fall and winter months. The same situation arose with a service between Halifax and Charlottetown that lasted for only two months. A PAL spokesperson says they hope to be back in those market eventually, and meantime plan to continue their services to Ottawa, St. John’s and Deer Lake from Fredericton and Moncton on alternate days. Those routings have been using a larger Q-400 aircraft since last summer. A separate Halifax-Moncton-Wabush flight continues to offer service between YHZ and YQM twice a week.

Both airlines and airport authorities are hoping that the mandatory vaccination requirements for both passengers and crew now in effect will improve the level of public confidence in flying. Halifax Stanfield Airport reports that passenger traffic in August and September 2021 remained at about 40% of pre-pandemic traffic volumes, but officials are optimistic that the vaccine mandate will improve the picture. They are also looking forward to upcoming non-stop international services being added by various airline partners as the “sun season” approaches, when many Canadians enjoy travelling south. New or reinstated non-stop destinations from YHZ in the coming months include Cancun, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Punta Cana, Varadero, and Montego Bay. Direct Air Canada service to Toronto’s downtown Billy Bishop Airport is also scheduled to resume in December. Still awaiting confirmation are resumption of service in 2022 to several US and overseas destinations.

Meanwhile, St. John’s International was on the list of a limited number of Canadian airports that will be once again permitted to handle cross-border and overseas flights as of November 30. In a CBC interview, YYT’s CEO Peter Avery said no routes have yet been confirmed, but they are hoping that at least some of the direct flights to sun destinations will soon be back. He welcomed the Transport Canada announcement as a good first step toward eventual resumption of overseas flights as well. He noted that while international flights accounted for only about 10% of the airports traffic in pre-pandemic times, they mean a lot to the business community and the province at large.

YYT reported handling a total of 76,046 passengers in September – three times as many as the same month last year but well short of the 134,387 travellers that passed through the terminal pre-pandemic in September of 2019. There were 1107 arrivals and departures during September 2021, versus 707 a year earlier and 2007 in 2019.

Interestingly, both Marine Atlantic and Maritime Bus are exempt from the mandatory vaccination requirements. Spokespersons for both carriers said they are considered essential services. However, Marine Atlantic is continuing to observe extensive public health protocols.

And the Campobello ferry has been granted yet another one-month extension to its operating season. The link to the New Brunswick mainland via Deer Island will continue until the end of November, avoiding the challenges inherent in travelling through the US. The most critical issue for islanders at this point is the requirement to produce proof of a negative COVID test when entering Canada through the border crossing at St. Stephen NB.

PEI TAKES FIRST STEP TOWARD ISLAND-WIDE PUBLIC TRANSIT

Prince Edward Islanders in outlying communities are one step closer to escaping their dependence on private automobiles under a new provincial government initiative that launched in October. This 14-passenger vehicle is one of two serving the eastern portion of the province on two separate routes, each running three round trips daily, Monday through Friday. PHOTO – Cassidy Group

There’s been a game-changing development on the rural transit front in Prince Edward Island. Two new routes linking communities on the eastern end of the island with Charlottetown launched on October 12. The so-called “toonie transit” makes three trips a day Monday through Friday on each route, serving the Montague, Georgetown, Souris, and St. Peter’s areas. Riders pay just $2 each way, and seats can be reserved online.

The service is officially branded Island Transit, and is a division of the Cassidy Group which also operates Maritime Bus, the T3 Transit system in Charlottetown, and a link to Summerside several times a day. The provincially-funded initiative is the first step in what Premier Dennis King says is a commitment by his government to an island-wide public transit system, that will be extended to include communities west of Summerside in early 2022. He calls it an “easy decision to make”, and one that will help reduce the province’s carbon footprint.

Mike Cassidy, founder and CEO of the transportation company, says the response to date has been very encouraging, with the primary users so far being students and commuters. Feedback has been very positive, he says, while recognizing that it will take time for the public to become fully aware of the benefits and the full potential the system offers. With the very affordable fares, he anticipates considerable use by seniors and family groups, as well as for school outings.

The two separate routes each normally use a 14-passenger vehicle, but the company has the flexibility to substitute a larger bus seating 24 people if the online booking system indicates a need on a particular run.

-Ted Bartlett

TRANSIT RIDERSHIP GROWING IN NB’S LARGEST TOWN

Codiac Transpo offered an alternative to commuters while Riverview was reduced to a single crossing to Moncton. The new bridge is now open, but the enhanced transit option proved so popular it will remain in place. PHOTO – City of Moncton

The bedroom community of Riverview NB has a long-standing reputation for being very car-dependent. But that’s finally beginning to show signs of change, and transit ridership is at last showing significant growth. By an interesting twist of fate, it’s largely thanks to a new bridge across the Petitcodiac River.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity arose last spring, with the removal of an environmentally-controversial causeway dating from the 1960s. The final completion and commissioning of a $60-million bridge replacement that would fully restore the free flow of the river meant that the town’s 20,000 residents would have to make do with a single river crossing for an estimated six months, beginning in April 2021.

Planning to alleviate anticipated traffic congestion included an enhanced public transit offering that would encourage Riverview commuters to leave their cars at home. And it worked – so much so that the Town Council and Codiac Transpo have agreed to leave it in place, at the current service level pending further evaluation. The new bridge opened on budget and ahead of schedule in September, but bus ridership remained high. Codiac Transpo’s director of operations Alex Grncarovski says the numbers are still about double what they were before the causeway closed, describing the outcome so far as “fabulous”, with the qualifier that it’s still too early to draw final conclusions. It’s likely that ridership will improve still further once office employees complete the transition back to their downtown work locations.

Director of operations Alex Grncorovski says for a small transit agency Codiac Transpo is doing very well indeed.

Meanwhile, across the system, improved technology will soon offer greatly improved monitoring of ridership. New fareboxes combined with back-office software are expected to yield a wealth of data for future planning purposes. Mr. Grncarovski noted that Moncton City Council recently approved additional service hours, effective November 7, that brings a number of routes another step closer to what they were before the pandemic struck.

“We’d love to be back to where we were pre-covid,” he says, adding that it’s hoped there will be evening and Sunday service extensions in place by February. “Of course, we can’t please all the people all the time, but for a small transit agency we’re doing very well indeed.”

Having worked in a supervisory role at the Toronto Transit Commission before moving to Moncton eight years ago, he was quite surprised on arrival that Codiac Transpo offered wifi on all its buses – something the TTC still doesn’t have. And Codiac users can now use their smartphones to find out exactly where their bus is. Another big-city innovation coming soon is an automatic annunciator, which will give an audio and visual message to passengers to alert them to their stop.

Atlantic Transport News – October 2021

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Welcome to the October edition of Atlantic Transport News!

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

A NEW LIBERAL CHAMPION FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION?

Newly re-elected Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin says she’s really passionate about climate-friendly transportation, and isn’t shy about saying she’s like to be invited to join the Trudeau Cabinet. She told the Daily Gleaner recently she’d love to be minister of transport. PHOTO – John Chilibeck, Brunswick News

It’s most unusual after an election for MPs on the government side to comment on any hopes they might have for a cabinet post. Even those who may have good reason to anticipate a call from the PMO would normally be reluctant to talk about it to anyone – much less the media. But Jenica Atwin, who narrowly pulled off a second electoral victory in Fredericton after switching sides from the Green Party to the Liberals, has never been shy about speaking her mind. In an interview with the Daily Gleaner just days after tabulation of mail-in ballots confirmed her win, she made her aspirations abundantly clear.

When asked by journalist John Chilibeck, she did not hesitate. “I would love the post of status of women, or families and housing,” she said, adding that she has a lot of concerns about the environment and transportation, and her desire to upgrade Canada’s rail system is one reason she’d jump at the opportunity to be transport minister. Whether Ms. Atwin was promised a reward for switching her allegiance we may never know, but some political pundits are suggesting that just might be the case.

Significantly, she made it clear in the Gleaner interview that she hasn’t lost any of her enthusiasm for passenger rail – despite being silent on the subject since joining the Liberals. She said that she plans to take the train to Ottawa for her swearing in ceremony expected sometime in November, just as she did after being first elected in 2019. This time she thinks that instead of driving to Moncton to catch the train she may drive to Rivière-du-Loup to avoid the snail’s pace rail journey through northern New Brunswick, even though it will not get her to Parliament Hill any earlier, and would mean boarding in dead of night.

In any event, it would seem there may now be a strong and effective voice for sustainable transportation within the Atlantic Liberal caucus. Ms. Atwin says she’s really passionate about high-speed rail and electrifying bus fleets around the country. While it may be questionable whether high-speed rail would be practical in this thinly-populated region, a return to the much faster and more frequent schedules of 25 years ago would by itself represent significant progress.

“I think that’s the way we go after greenhouse gas emissions, and that’s the way we transform our cities to be more accessible to people,” she said. “I think it’s one we don’t (see as) having a big impact on the environment, but I absolutely know it does.”

-Ted Bartlett

NOVA SCOTIA SET TO COMPLETELY ABOLISH HIGHWAY TOLLS

The minister responsible for transportation in Nova Scotia’s new PC government has apparently been mandated to fast-track the complete abolition of tolls on the Cobequid Pass highway – a step well beyond what the previous Liberal government had promised to do if it was re-elected. PHOTO – cobequidpass.com

Nova Scotia’s only toll highway is apparently going to be free of charge to all users in the near future. The 45-kilometre Cobequid Pass section of Highway 104 between Oxford and Masstown has had a toll plaza since it was completed as a public-private partnership in 1997. Passenger autos are currently charged $4.00, while commercial and other vehicles pay based on the number of axles.

In this year’s provincial election campaign, the Liberals dusted off an earlier unfulfilled promise to grant free passage to passenger autos bearing Nova Scotia licence plates. But the victorious PC government of Premier Tim Houston is evidently planning to go much farther.

The mandate letter to Public Works Minister Kim Masland reads, in part “As Minister of Public Works, you will…remove the tolls on the Cobequid Pass, starting the process immediately.”

No definite timeline for actual closing and removal of the toll booths has been spelled out, but the announcement will undoubtedly come as good news for the commercial trucking industry, which has continually maintained that the Trans Canada Highway should be completely free to all users. It will not be so welcome to advocates for sustainable transportation, who hold the view that those who use the roads – and particularly vehicles that account for the major portion of maintenance costs – should pay a larger share than is currently collected through fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees. 

NO IMMEDIATE EFFECTS ON TRANSPORTATION AS  4th COVID WAVE HITS REGION

Most transit agencies are now back to full occupancy, despite the uptick in COVID cases, but obligatory masking by all passengers is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. PHOTO – Ted Bartlett

Public health authorities say it was not unexpected, but the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit Atlantic Canada with a vengeance in September, and rising case numbers continued as the calendar turned into October. The rapidly growing active caseload in New Brunswick was particularly alarming, with the Province acting quickly to reinstate certain restrictions that had been lifted at the end of July. In a late-breaking development, a 14-day “circuit-breaker” set of restrictions has been imposed, effective at the start of the Thanksgiving weekend.

Also on the increase was the percentage of the region’s population that was fully vaccinated, which might help explain why there did not appear to be any immediate significant impact on the numbers of people using public transportation so far during this fourth wave. Despite its concerns, the NB government hasn’t imposed any occupancy limitations on public transit, and that decision came as a great relief to Greater Moncton’s Codiac Transpo.

“That would have been devastating for us, as we have shown a steady increase in our ridership numbers,” said operations manager Alex Grncarovski. He added that a slight decrease was noticed when the mask mandate was reintroduced, but it wasn’t really a serious concern. The effect of New Brunswick’s new round of restrictions announced on October 5 remains to be seen.

Essentially everywhere in the region, masking is compulsory for transit riders, and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.

Intercity busing tells a similar story. A snapshot from Maritime Bus shows 380 tickets were sold on Friday, October 1 – down slightly from 420 a week earlier. Owner Mike Cassidy sees that as encouraging given the circumstances, but adds that there’s a long road to travel to get the company back to where it was pre-pandemic. On a typical Friday in the fall of 2019 the norm would be about 650 passengers. Again, the effect of Thanksgiving weekend restrictions. which apply to all of New Brunswick, are still an unknown. Mr. Cassidy says these are very challenging times for the bus business, but his strategy is to stay in the marketplace, because people still need to travel, and time-sensitive packages need to be delivered.

An early October departures board at St. John’s airport shows an increasing number of flights, but there’s still a long way to go on the runway to recovery. Masks of course are still required, and the terminal remains off-limits to non travellers. PHOTO – St. John’s Airport Authority

Meanwhile, air travel is also seeing the effects of the fourth wave. Janine Brown, director of business development for PAL Airlines, says they are certainly seeing the impact of the rising case numbers, and will continue to monitor demand. But for the time being, at least, there are no changes in the growing airline’s new services linking St. John’s and Deer Lake with Moncton, Fredericton and Ottawa.

At St. John’s International Airport, passenger numbers for August 2021 were three times what they were a year earlier, reaching an inbound and outbound total of 85,221. But that’s still a long way from the pre-pandemic level of 179,784 in August of 2019. Spokesperson Laura Thomas says they don’t yet have sufficient data to identify possible effects of the rising case numbers, but adds that COVID can change things on a dime and the airport is learning to adapt. 

“We still anticipate a peak in Christmas travel and are cautiously optimistic that air service will continue to recover,” she said. “We are working closely with our airline partners and airport stakeholders to navigate any and all challenges.”

CAMPOBELLO SEASONAL FERRY EXTENDED AGAIN, BUT NO LONG-TERM FIX IN SIGHT

The seasonal ferry that plies between Campobello and Deer Island will continue to run until at least the end of October, but island residents are still denied basic transportation access that is taken for granted by almost all other Canadian citizens. PHOTO – Justin Tinker

The 800 residents of New Brunswick’s Campobello Island are still no closer to a permanent solution for their long-term transportation challenges, despite an ongoing campaign that has drawn support from all corners of the political spectrum and attracted a fair share of national media attention. The island’s only year-round link to the rest of Canada involves using an international bridge to Lubec, Maine and two international border crossings – which have been effectively closed since the arrival of COVID-19.

The seasonal ferry to Deer Island NB continued to run during the past fall, winter and spring, and the provincial government is still footing the bill for extended operation until at least the end of October. But it remains a tenuous connection, by a vessel that was only designed for summer operating conditions, and the Province has made it pretty clear that this is just an interim measure that will end once the border reopens. The island will then once again be subject to the not-so-tender mercies of the US Homeland Security authorities – an obstacle which makes it a huge challenge for residents to access services other Canadians take for granted.

The federal and provincial governments don’t appear to be even discussing the issue, although it seems clear that this should be a shared responsibility. While the feds continue to look the other way, the Province is digging in its heels. In a recent interview with the Globe and Mail, NB Transportation Minister Jill Green showed scant sympathy for the islanders’ plight, insisting that they do have year-round transportation to the rest of Canada, even though it runs through another country.

“They actually have a linkage, they have a bridge,” Ms. Green told the newspaper. “The residents there have been very good at expressing their concerns … But I don’t have enough funds to take care of all things for all New Brunswickers, so I have to make some difficult decisions.”

Latest efforts in the campaign take the shape of a constitutional challenge, focused on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Sections 7-10 (regarding freedom of the person and protection against unreasonable search, seizure, forfeiture and arbitrary detention), in hopes that the federal government will provide year-round Canadian access as a response to these rights being routinely violated.

-with files from Justin Tinker

NL PROVINCIAL FERRY ACQUISITION PANNED BY AUDITOR GENERAL

The acquisition of the local ferries MV Veteran and MV Legionnaire was badly mismanaged by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, according to a report by the Province’s auditor-general. PHOTO – NL Government

The process of purchasing two new vessels for Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincial ferry fleet has been handed a failing grade by Auditor General Denise Hanrahan. The audit began three years ago at the request of the Legislature’s public accounts committee, and was prompted not only by the acquisition of MV Veteran and MV Legionnaire, but by the two ships’ troubled performance record once they entered service beginning in 2015.

The just-released report blamed mismanagement by the Transportation department for “significant operational delays, service disruptions and substantial unplanned costs during the construction, operationalization and initial operations of the vessels.” The two ships were built in Romania, and the project cost taxpayers about $120 million, including terminal upgrades. They currently serve on the Bell Island and Fogo-Change Islands routes.

The report said there was a lack of proper oversight in both the construction of the two vessels, and the provision of appropriate docking facilities for their operation. It suggested too much reliance was placed on shipyard progress reports, rather than completing internal project management reviews. There were also problems identified with the adequacy of personnel training for the sophisticated new ships. The two ferries were out of service because of technical issues for a combined total of 607 days in their first three years, and equipment failures and vessel damages resulted in unplanned costs of about $4.2 million.

The report’s recommendations include the establishment of a project management process for all future fleet acquisitions, with attention paid to risk management, onsite supervision, document management and training. For its part, the department acknowledged that there were significant shortcomings in the project in question, but said that a new public procurement framework was already in place. The official response, included in the report, insisted it was “committed to continuous improvement in this area.”

Atlantic Transport News – September 2021

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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:

SCANT ATTENTION TO TRANSPORTATION IN FEDERAL CAMPAIGN

The 2021 federal election campaign that supposedly nobody wanted is in the home stretch, but there’s so far been very little mention of transportation issues – much to TAA’s disappointment. PHOTO – Ted Bartlett

OUR TAKE ON THE FEDERAL ELECTION TO DATE

Transport Action Atlantic is a strictly non-partisan advocacy organization, but we do not hesitate to get involved in politics when the need or opportunity arises. This election is no exception.

Apart from the highly dubious need for a national vote at this time, it has been an incredibly short campaign. The electorate has had little time to examine and/or challenge the hastily prepared party platforms. TAA has therefore had limited opportunity to confront parties and candidates on the issues we believe to be important – matters of convenient, affordable and sustainable public transportation for Atlantic Canadians. Be that as it may, it is certainly disheartening that neither of the three major parties has so far been paying much – or any – attention to our agenda.

In the final week of the campaign we are attempting to stimulate some critical thinking, focusing particularly on certain closely-contested ridings where transportation issues just might make a difference on polling day. The matters where the federal government has jurisdiction or influence that are of ongoing concern to TAA are well-known to most of our readers:

  • The sorry state of passenger rail in the Maritimes, and the gross neglect of our one remaining train by both VIA Rail management and their masters – the Government of Canada.
  • The excessive cost recovery demands placed on Marine Atlantic’s Newfoundland ferry service – demands that Justin Trudeau referred to as “unreasonable” while in opposition.
  • The federal government’s refusal to honour a written commitment to continuing rail service for Cape Breton made on its behalf three decades ago by the head of then Crown corporation CN.
  • Ottawa’s reluctance to take leadership in rebuilding an integrated coast-to-coast motorcoach network for passengers and packages, and to assist existing operators through the pandemic.
  • The absence of a commitment to the people of Campobello Island who must travel through the US for most of the year to access the Canadian services to which they are entitled. 

Given that transportation is a major contributor to climate change because of carbon emissions, one might reasonably expect strong commitments to green transportation to be popping up like election signs. But that has not been the case. It’s almost as if the parties and candidates generally are consciously avoiding the subject. Perhaps, though, they sense that green initiatives don’t build the same kind of political capital as public spending to support the big climate culprits – highway and air transportation. 

In the past several months, Ottawa has paid out well over $50 million to airports across Atlantic Canada to help offset their pandemic-related losses. At the same time, the two line-haul motorcoach companies in the region, Maritime Bus and DRL Coachlines, have come up empty-handed. Collectively these two for-profit operators have lost millions over the past 18 months, but are being told by the federal government that the newly-created Rural Transit Fund is not intended for them. The fact that the privately-owned buses kept providing essential public transportation services for both people and parcels through most of the pandemic while operating at a substantial loss doesn’t seem to matter.

“Everybody’s green – but they’re not sorting the garbage properly!” was the wry comment from Maritime Bus founder Mike Cassidy, who has become increasingly frustrated in his efforts to gain political support for his industry. Over the past several months he says he’s pursued every possible avenue in search of assistance, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, there’s been no indication of any pandemic funding for VIA Rail in Atlantic Canada. As reported elsewhere in this issue, the Ocean will remain on a token once-a-week schedule until at least November 15 – presumably with the approval of the Crown corporation’s political masters.

The Liberals are steadfastly refusing to address the Marine Atlantic cost recovery requirements imposed by the Harper Conservatives, despite commitments made during the 2015 campaign. Now they apparently only want to talk about a far-fetched proposal to build a tunnel under the Strait of Belle Isle, while ignoring the very real issue of today’s excessive ferry charges. And, surprisingly, the NDP – which championed the ferry rates issue as recently as last spring – has been strangely silent about it during this campaign.

Regardless of the election outcome, the reality is that TAA will need to work with new or re-elected members of the House of Commons of all political persuasions to advance the above agenda items, and others that may arise during the life of the new Parliament. That will be our priority throughout the fall and winter. Hopefully the threat of COVID-19 will wane as vaccination becomes widespread, and the opportunity for more in-person meetings will return.

-Ted Bartlett

RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRANSPORTATION POLICY UNCLEAR FOLLOWING NOVA SCOTIA ELECTION UPSET

Nova Scotia’s new premier has reorganized the structure of the provincial government, but there’s no department with the word “transportation” in its title. (PHOTO from CBC.ca)

Nova Scotia Liberal Premier Iain Rankin gambled and lost by calling a summer pandemic election. On August 17 the Progressive Conservatives under Tim Houston pulled off an upset victory and won a majority mandate. The new government with 18 ministers was sworn in on August 31 – but not one of them carries the word “transportation” in their title.

TAA had been active in the campaign, asking parties and candidates to state their positions on various issues of concern. Unfortunately, the PC party was the only one that did not respond to a pre-election questionnaire, so the views of Premier Houston and his cabinet on such matters as the Cape Breton rail line, public transit, and reducing emissions from transportation remain unclear. In seeking to initiate dialogue with the new administration, there is some uncertainty at this point as to where actual policy responsibility on transportation matters resides in the restructured cabinet.

VIA WALKS BACKWARD ON SERVICE RESTORATION PLAN

Passengers swarm toward the Renaissance cars at the rear of VIA’s westbound Ocean on September 1. The bare-bones once-a-week schedule has now been extended until at least November 15. PHOTO – Ted Bartlett

Would-be travellers who were expecting VIA Rail’s Ocean to be back on its usual tri-weekly schedule by early October are in for a big disappointment. The train returned as a bare-bones, once-a-week operation with reduced onboard amenities on August 11, after an absence of nearly 17 months. The plan, according to VIA management sources in mid-July, was to resume the normal pre-COVID schedule at the beginning of October, in the hope that pandemic restrictions would be sufficiently relaxed to permit restoration of the usual onboard food and beverage options by that time.

It was not to be. On September 2 Transport Action Atlantic was advised in an e-mail that the corporation is now intending to continue with just the single weekly trip until at least mid-November – with no promises for after that either. The was no public announcement, but the VIA website was updated shortly afterwards to reflect the change in plan.

The decision was blamed on ongoing COVID concerns. However, TAA says the excuse just doesn’t stand up to close scrutiny, coming just days after VIA restored nearly full pre-pandemic service levels in the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City Corridor, where the average daily per-capita count of new cases is far higher than in the Maritimes.  It would appear that there may be other factors at play, and lack of demand certainly doesn’t seem to be one of them. The day before the news broke, the crowd of passengers waiting to board the westbound Ocean at the Moncton station was similar to what one would expect to see at the peak of the Christmas travel season.

It might be a shortage of personnel, or maybe there are equipment challenges. There is only one train set in service at present, and perhaps all that’s VIA has available because their roster of rolling stock overall is in such bad shape. But that one trainset could easily make two round trips a week, or even five over a two-week span on an adjusted schedule. TAA is speculating company management may simply want to minimize their operational and/or payroll costs, without any consideration for the needs of Atlantic Canadians.

“This is just not good enough,” says TAA president Ted Bartlett. “Quite frankly, we are growing rather tired of excuses. Are we expected to believe that the smaller presence of COVID in the Maritimes represents a greater threat to public safety than the much larger per-capita case numbers in Ontario and Quebec?

“Presumably as a Crown corporation VIA would not be shortchanging Atlantic Canadians without the approval of the current federal government – which is rather astounding in the midst of an election campaign. But this cavalier attitude to anything east of Quebec City is unfortunately typical of VIA management and Transport Canada. We really have to make a public issue of it, and would be very interested to hear from election candidates on where they stand with respect to passenger rail in this part of the country.”

TRAVEL INCREASED IN AUGUST – DESPITE COVID CHALLENGES

Concern over rising incidence of COVID infection in New Brunswick caused Nova Scotia to reinstate border checkpoints in late August, slowing vehicle traffic between the two provinces. PHOTO – Ted Bartlett

Although dark and ominous clouds remain on the horizon, non-essential travel to, from and within Atlantic Canada showed signs of continuing recovery last month. Active COVID-19 caseloads in all four provinces showed upticks, especially in southeastern New Brunswick – prompting Nova Scotia to require all visitors entering from the west to show proof of vaccination at reinstated border checkpoints. Generally, though, the consensus from the tourism industry was that business in this challenging summer was exceeding expectations.

The travel restrictions continued to present challenges to the motorcoach industry, but even so Maritime Bus reports that ridership climbed to a daily average of 322 in August – considerably higher than had been anticipated, but still a long way from putting the beleaguered company in the black. Rather than add service on Saturdays, they chose to add extra departures on Fridays and Sundays, geared to weekend demand but with the travel needs of students particularly in mind. Apparently it worked, as 541 people bought tickets for Maritime’s coaches on the Friday preceding Labour Day weekend.

The airline industry likewise remains a long way from full recovery.  By early September Halifax Stanfield Airport – the region’s busiest – was handling as many as 7000 passengers on some days. While that was a significant increase from a peak of 4000 at the beginning of August, it was still far behind the pre-pandemic daily average of about 12,000 travellers. The number of daily flights had reached 65 on average, a slight improvement month-to-month but a long way off the average of 200 arrivals and departures per day of two years ago.

Condor Airlines began a shortened twice-weekly seasonal service between YHZ and Frankfurt, Germany, on September 9, marking the first international activity in over 18 months. However, there’s no sign of any other international or trans-border flights returning in the immediate future.

“Air Canada has not announced resumption of any non-stop European routes to/from Halifax Stanfield, and their winter seasonal schedules, which would include sun destinations including Florida, has yet to be published,” reported airport spokesperson Tiffany Chase in an e-mail. She added that WestJet had just announced their intention resume non-stop service between Halifax and Glasgow in spring 2022, but there was apparently no mention of resuming service to Dublin or London Gatwick. Likewise, WestJet service to southern destinations this winter from YHZ has yet to be revealed.

TRANSIT IS ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

PEI’s T3 transit is showing an encouraging recovery in ridership numbers, which are now approaching the point where they were prior to the pandemic. PHOTO – City of Charlottetown

Transit users throughout the region appear to be growing more and more comfortable with the idea of taking the bus, and ridership numbers in most areas are continuing to show improvement. In some communities, schedules have still not returned to pre-pandemic levels, and the rules or recommendations regarding wearing of masks by both passengers and operators vary by location or province.

One system that is showing a strong post-pandemic recovery with very encouraging numbers is Charlottetown’s T3 Transit. On one red-letter day in early September, the number of fares passed the 2800 mark – the highest since the CVID-19 outbreak began. That number – impressive for a small city – compares very favourably with the average ridership of 3000 people per day in September of 2019.

Greater Moncton’s Codiac Transpo is one of the agencies that has still not resumed full service. With about 75% of what existed in early 2020 now being offered, there is still no firm plan in place for complete restoration, and a multi-step phased recovery approach has been adopted.

The tri-communities of Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe are now seeking the input of transit users to help guide their decision making. An online survey has been launched, and residents have until September 18 to submit their views.

Transit union spokesman Sheldon Phaneuf says asking the passengers for their views on how the system could be improved is a great idea – but he questions whether an online survey can fully cover the demographic that regularly rides the buses. He suggests that a grass-roots approach of meeting people face-to-face to get their opinions might be more effective.

MARINE ATLANTIC FERRY PLAN HITS ROUGH SEAS

The massive state-owned and highly-subsidized Jinling Shipyard in China has been tapped to build Marine Atlantic’s new ferry. The news has touched off a bit of a political firestorm. (Internet file image from ESL Shipping)

At first glance it seemed like a win-win situation, but the devil was lurking in the details.

In July, Marine Atlantic announced a five-year charter agreement with Stena North Sea Ltd. to supply a new Ro-Pax vessel for its Newfoundland fleet. Following the initial agreement, the federal Crown corporation will have an option to purchase the ferry. However there is no obligation to exercise that option, and should the new ship not meet expectations it can simply be returned to the owners after the five years have elapsed.

Problem is, Stena Line is planning to have the ship built in China’s state-owned and highly subsidized JinLing Shipyard, a detail that wasn’t mentioned in the initial media release. It’s no secret that this country currently has a particularly troubled relationship with the Chinese over the three-year imprisonment of two Canadian citizens on dubious espionage charges.

The story broke on the front page of the Globe and Mail on August 25, and very quickly became embroiled in political controversy. Canadian ship-building interests were quick to protest that the new ferry could have been built here at home. Whatever the merits of that claim, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quickly distanced himself from the decision, saying he was troubled by the deal.

“We are concerned with this situation,” he told the newspaper, adding that his goal is for federal government purchasing to “align with our values.” But he also tried to deflect blame to the former Harper Government, suggesting that his predecessor should have made it a requirement of his national shipbuilding strategy in 2010 for Crown corporations to buy Canadian-built vessels.

Meanwhile, Shane McCloskey, policy director in Transport Minister Omar Alghabra’s office denied any responsibility in the matter. “The minister did not approve the contract…the minister was informed by the department as the procurement process was completed,” he wrote in an e-mailed statement to the Globe.

Likewise, Marine Atlantic denied any direct responsibility for the choice of shipyard. Communications manager Tara Laing said the ferry contract was open to domestic and international bidders and was overseen by an independent fairness monitor. “The ownership of the shipyard selected by Stena was not considered within the procurement process,” she told the newspaper in an e-mailed statement.

For their part, Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives vowed they would cancel the deal immediately if elected, and ensure the contract went to a Canadian shipyard.

Other media outlets also jumped on the story. The Toronto Sun editorialized that awarding the contract to China “is galling to any Canadian who supports justice, freedom and human rights,” while Saltwire columnist Teresa Wright wrote that “(Michael) Spavor and (Michael) Kovrig are political prisoners — Ottawa calls it ‘hostage diplomacy’ — in an increasingly tense showdown between Canada and China. So why does China get to benefit from hundreds of millions of dollars of our hard-earned tax dollars and build a ship for Marine Atlantic?”

Stena is a Swedish-based company, and is a major and widely-respected player in the European ferry industry. Marine Atlantic and its predecessor CN Marine has had a long-standing and largely amicable business relationship with them dating back nearly 50 years. Stena does not build ships, but contracts the construction to builders with established expertise in ferries, generally to Norwegian or German shipyards. That’s where three of the four vessels in Marine Atlantic’s current fleet came from. The Chinese connection – not Stena Line – is evidently the key issue in the uproar.

-Ted Bartlett