Urgent Appeal: VIA Rail Long Distance Fleet Renewal

Dear TAA Members and Followers,

VIA Rail’s services across Canada are nearing a critical point. The fleet that supports VIA’s long distance services, including the Ocean, VIA’s last remaining service in Atlantic Canada, is rapidly approaching the end of its serviceable life. If VIA is not able to launch procurement for new equipment as soon as possible, this could mean the end of all Canadian long distance passenger service in the early 2030s.

Transport Action Atlantic and our national and regional affiliates are working hard to tell the federal government that action is needed immediately.

There are two things that you can do today to help:

  1. Sign the House of Commons petition, which calls for both long distance fleet funding and other critical VIA improvements
  2. Fill out the Budget 2024 survey to voice your support for funding for VIA’s long distance fleet renewal.

Please read on below for more details on how to take action today, and please share this message with those you know who also support the future of passenger rail in this country.

As always, your support is critical to keep passenger rail on track in Atlantic Canada and beyond!

Sincerely,

Tim Hayman
President, Transport Action Atlantic
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House of Commons Petition

A campaign is underway to help VIA Rail maintain its services and increase on-time performance as well as make other improvements to ensure it can deliver sustainable rail transportation across Canada, through a petition to the House of Commons.

Created by Transport Action Canada (www.transportaction.ca), a national public transportation and passenger advocacy group (TAA’s national affiliate), the petition asks that the government ensure funding to renew VIA Rail’s long-distance fleet is provided in the 2024 federal budget, to avert service cuts in Atlantic and Western Canada.

VIA is entering a second federal budget cycle asking for funding to replace its aging long-distance fleet. Engineering reports show that the fleet is nearing the end of its serviceable life, with many cars at 70 years of age. Given the timeline for ordering and manufacturing, if funding is not provided this spring to order a new, fully accessible, modern fleet, VIA will no longer be able to provide train service beyond the Quebec-Windsor corridor by the early 2030s.

This would mean the demise of ‘The Ocean’ between Montreal and Halifax, the world-famous Toronto-Vancouver ‘The Canadian’, and all other routes that serve smaller cities, remote, and Indigenous communities across the country, as well as the tourism sector.

The public rail operator also often suffers greatly from delays beyond its control, as new CEO Mario Peloquin made clear in an op-ed in the Globe and Mail in October. VIA’s on-time performance has declined to only 60% on railways where freight trains have right of way, while it is 90% on tracks owned by VIA — unfortunately VIA only owns 3% of the tracks it runs on.

The petition therefore asks the government to restore right of way for passenger trains, as envisaged in NDP MP Taylor Bachrach’s private member’s bill C-371, to ensure passengers arrive on time and reduce the padding in train schedules, which would also result in substantial cost savings.

“It’s not just a few hours. Three whole days have been added to the time it takes to travel from Halifax to Vancouver.” says Terry Johnson, President of Transport Action Canada

Advocates are also asking that the government and transport minister Pablo Rodriguez implement several other measures to help VIA Rail provide reliable and environmentally friendly transportation from coast to coast. This would include providing VIA Rail with a legislative mandate to maintain and expand passenger rail service in Canada, which the Crown Corporation has lacked since its creation in 1978; providing for passenger and worker representation on its board of directors, which contributes to the success of other national carriers in Germany and France; and addressing outsourcing concerns by ensuring the public operator’s continued role in the High Frequency Rail project.

The petition is open for signatures until April 7th, whereupon it will be presented in Parliament, and the government will be required to table a response. The House of Commons petition can be found at: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4754.

Backgrounder – click to download

Budget 2024 Submissions

The federal government is currently accepting submissions from Canadians with their priorities ahead of Budget 2024. This is a key opportunity to provide your input and voice support for public transportation issues that matter to you.

TAA will be making a formal pre-budget submission covering both passenger rail and other key transportation issues in the region (intercity buses, ferries, and freight rail), but we also encourage you to fill out the survey to voice your support. You can access the “Let’s Talk Budget 2024” form here: https://www.letstalkbudget24.ca/let-s-talk-budget-2024

The deadline to make submissions is Feburary 9th (this Friday), so please take a few minutes to fill out the questionnaire in the coming days.

If you’re looking for guidance on your submission as it relates to VIA Rail’s long distance fleet renewal, please see the sample below from TAA’s draft budget submission. Please also add your own perspectives on why maintaining and improving passenger rail service is important to you!

The federal government needs to immediately provide the funding for VIA Rail Canada to proceed with a formal procurement process to replace the entire train fleet used on its long distance, regional and remote services. 

Critically, this funding should support an order for enough trains to provide at least daily service on long distance routes. In the case of the Ocean, this would mean sufficient equipment for 3 full trainsets (with appropriate spares). It is critical that VIA be able to use this opportunity to ensure a return to former levels of passenger rail service nationwide. 

It’s time for Canadians across the country to be provided with a rail service that is modern, reliable, sustainable, and fully accessible.

Atlantic Transport News – Summer Round-up

Welcome back to Atlantic Transport News! We’ve been quiet through the last several months, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been lots going on, both in terms of regional transportation news developments and ongoing advocacy work from our members throughout the region.

As an all-volunteer organization, keeping these monthly newsletters going has always been a challenge, and through this summer we simply haven’t had the bandwidth to keep them going on a monthly basis. We’re always looking for help with submissions and assistance to keep these newsletters alive and going – please see the last item in this issue for more information, and consider if you or someone you know might be able to assist.

Here’s the run-down of what you’ll find in this “catch-up” issue:

VIA RAIL NEWS RECAP – NEW EQUIPMENT RFI, A NEW PRESIDENT, AND SUMMER SERVICE DISRUPTIONS

VIA 15, with its now standard bidirectional consist, approaches Moncton early in 2023. (Photo – Tim Hayman)

There has been a fair bit of news on the VIA Rail file over the past several months.

In May, the results of the testing of VIA’s HEP fleet finally came out, and the much maligned “buffer car” requirement was dropped. This had never had a significant impact on the Ocean’s current configuration, aside from restricting the ability to carry pets in the baggage car; but the need to use otherwise serviceable equipment as “buffers” had an impact on fleet availability.

At the end of April, VIA formally issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFI) to potential suppliers for its long distance fleet replacement program, marking a more formal step in this procurement. We were disappointed that the federal government did not provide funding for this much needed long distance fleet replacement in the last budget, but the fact that VIA continues to do the ground work on moving this program ahead is encouraging. Given the timeline for new

You can read more about the RFI, as well as funding that was provided for repair work on the existing HEP fleet, from Transport Action Canada here: https://www.transportaction.ca/topics/intercity-rail-and-bus/long-distance-train-fleet-replacement-rfi-issued/

Refurbishments to VIA’s HEP fleet have spruced up these cars and will keep them running a while longer; but work on a replacement fleet for these, and the Renaissance cars, needs to get moving. (Photo – Tim Hayman)

The launch of VIA’s much-anticipated and oft-delayed new reservations system continues to be pushed off. One unfortunate and unanticipated impact of this pending new system, which we discovered to great dismay earlier this year, is that all intermodal ticketing has been dropped by VIA. The new system, apparently, will not (at least initially) be able to accommodate this function, so interline ticketing with partners including Maritime Bus and the REGIM bus shuttles to Gaspé were dropped earlier this year. Even though the reservations system still hasn’t launched as of this fall, the REGIM shuttle was dropped for the entire summer. There was undoubtedly room for improvement in the intermodal partnerships, but this is a huge step backwards, and not the sort of “improvement” we hoped for with the new system.

As of June, VIA has a new president – Mario Péloquin was appointed to a 5-year term: https://www.transportaction.ca/national-news/mario-peloquin-appointed-to-lead-via-rail/

TAA is generally encouraged by Péloquin’s background and what we’ve heard about his work in the VIA c-suite so far. We extended our congratulations to him on his appointment, and have also requested a meeting when the opportunity arises. We will be sure to update if and when we have such an opportunity.

At the end of August, VIA released their second quarter report for 2023. The news was generally positive, and for the Ocean, revenues for the quarter were up 55% over the previous year, with ridership up 46.4%. This is of course in part due to the fact that the train’s frequency for much of that quarter in 2022 was still only at 2 departures each way per week, increasing back to 3/week shortly before the end of the quarter. By contrast, the train has operated at the full 3/week frequency for all of the equivalent quarter in 2023. You can read the full report here: https://media.viarail.ca/sites/default/files/publications/VIA%20Rail_Second%20Quarter%20Report%202023.pdf

One additional bit of relevant news for this region was the announcement of funding for several “heritage” stations on the VIA network, including Halifax. The exact scope of the work to be done at Halifax is not clear, though it is presumed that much of the current ongoing work to the exterior facade and interior at the station are included in this funding: https://www.transportaction.ca/national-news/via-rail-announces-80m-investment-in-heritage-stations/

Locally, the Ocean has continued to operate in its new incarnation as usual this summer. Anecdotally, ridership appears to be consistent, though capacity on the trains continues to be less than what was offered pre-2020. This summer has once again been plagued by chronic delays, as a CN track work program on the Mont-Joli sub, compounded by heat related speed restrictions, has resulted in both trains 14 and 15 experiencing delays in excess of 2 to 3 hours (and on occasion as much as 6 to 8 hours) on the regular throughout this summer. This has resulted in the loss of early connecting trains in Montreal, and frequently late evening arrivals in Halifax. These issues are no doubt made worse by the ongoing long-term slow orders along many parts of the Newcastle Subdivision, for which there is no clear remedy in sight.

Train service was disrupted a few times by extreme weather events. In July, parts of Nova Scotia received unprecedented rainfall, with a number of washouts of the rail line including a major washout between Truro and Halifax. All service on the Bedford Subdivision was curtailed for nearly a week, while CN crews worked to repair the washout. VIA service was truncated at Moncton for several trips. Though VIA provided buses for the first trains affected by this washout, passengers going beyond Moncton were left to fend for themselves on the following trips. Fortunately, Maritime Bus stepped in to offer additional buses from Moncton to help accommodate passengers, a good move on their part and something we would have hoped to see coordinated by VIA.

VIA’s pending new reservations system has severed the intermodal ticketing arrangements with Maritime Bus; but the carrier still stepped in to cover a gap for passengers when train service was disrupted. (Photo – Tim Hayman)

Further train cancellations took place in September, with the arrival of post-tropical storm Lee. CN suspended all train operations in the region on Saturday, September 16th. VIA initially indicated that trains 14 and 15 would be delayed by 24 hours to avoid the storm, but they then cancelled both trains instead. Passengers were refunded, but offered no alternate transportation.

Both of these service interruptions highlight a change in VIA policy that TAA finds particularly troubling: a shift to cancelling trains with no accommodation for passengers, aside from offering refunds and in some cases additional travel credits. VIA once had a reputation for going to great lengths to accommodate disrupted passengers, but their current attitude seems to have shifted to a “sorry, you’re on your own” approach. While it’s entirely understandable that trains sometimes have to be cancelled due to extraordinary circumstances, the new approach to customer service seems more likely than ever to leave affected passengers thinking twice about returning to the rails.

NEW TRANSPORT MINISTER

There was a major cabinet shuffle this summer, and the transport portfolio was among those in the mix. Pablo Rodriguez, former Minister of Canadian Heritage, has now assumed that role: https://www.transportaction.ca/national-news/pablo-rodriguez-takes-over-as-minister-of-transport/

PEI – FEDS TO PURCHASE NORWEGIAN FERRY REPLACE MV HOLIDAY ISLAND

The MV Fanafjord will be making its way to PEI next sprint, to replace the MV Holiday Island (Photo: LMG Marin)

After the MV Holiday Island burned last year, PEI has been borrowing a ferry from Quebec to provide a second vessel on the Caribou – Wood Islands service. In August, the federal government announced that they will be purchasing the Norwegian ferry MV Fanafjord as a replacement for the MV Holiday Island. This will allow the service to continue with two dedicated vessels starting in 2024 and until the Holiday Island replacement vessel is built and delivered, which won’t be earlier than 2028.

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/minister-of-transport-announces-advance-contract-award-notice-to-acquire-an-interim-replacement-for-the-mv-holiday-island-ferry-859925599.html

CHIGNECTO ISTHMUS – SQUABBLING OVER FUNDING CONTINUES

Extreme weather events in the region this summer once again highlighted concerns about the future of the Chignecto Isthmus, and in particular, the critical road and rail corridors that cross between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia at this point. The federal government has indicated they’ll support the project, but are pointing to the need for the provinces to step in: https://www.transportaction.ca/regions/atlantic/canada-ready-to-fund-chignecto-isthmus-protection-if-provinces-match/

The provinces haven’t been on board. The latest iteration of this story has New Brunswick’s senate pushing for the federal government to shoulder the entire cost: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/chignecto-isthmus-senate-bill-1.6971212

Meanwhile, as the respective parties bicker, the isthmus remains vulnerable and major work to protect it for the future continues to be put off.

HALIFAX TRANSIT – NEXT ROUND OF SERVICE CHANGES IS MORE POSITIVE, BUT ELECTRONIC FARE PAYMENT DELAYED AGAIN

Halifax Transit has announced their next round of service changes, coming November 20, and after a series of scale backs to routes due to shortages of drivers, it seems recruitment and retention efforts are finally starting to bear some positive fruit. The new changes include several added and adjusted routes, as well as the return of many departures that were previously cancelled due to low driver availability.

https://www.halifax.ca/transportation/halifax-transit/service-adjustments

In less positive news, the long awaited roll out of some form of electronic fare payment for Halifax Transit has been delayed once again, with no clear timeline in sight: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/halifax-transit-s-electronic-ticket-system-delayed-again-1.6946752

TRANSIT SYSTEMS AROUND THE REGION SEE CONTINUED PASSENGER GROWTH, PILOT NEW INITIATIVES

Municipal transit systems throughout the Maritimes have been continuing to see growth in passenger numbers, due to a combination of returns to pre-pandemic commuting patterns, population growth, and perhaps some shift to transit with increasing fuel prices.

St. John’s Metrobus has been struggling to keep up: https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6971117

Cape Breton Transit is adding new routes, as a boom in international students in Sydney drives high demand: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/expanded-transit-services-coming-to-cape-breton-1.6948086

Codiac Transpo ridership is up considerably over pre-pandemic levels: https://globalnews.ca/news/9726264/moncton-codiac-transpo-public-transit-increase/

Saint John continues to experiment with electric on-demand buses: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/electric-bus-on-demand-service-1.6946154

Fredericton could be closer to seeing Sunday service, with a new collective agreement with transit employees: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/fredericton-transit-sunday-bus-transit-1.6898574

In PEI, the provincial and federal governments announced investments to electrify Charlottetown’s bus fleet: https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/news/the-governments-of-canada-and-prince-edward-island-invest-in-the-expansion-and-electrification

WE NEED YOUR HELP! CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

We at TAA feel that these news updates are a useful way to keep our members and supporters updated on important transportation news in the region, and we’ve heard from folks who enjoy reading and following along. Unfortunately, this work is time consuming, and as an all-volunteer organization we are often stretched for bandwidth to keep these going, while also trying to focus on our core advocacy work.

We can always use help with this work. Do you have a particular story you’re interested in and following closely? Can you write up a short description of the issue, an update on developments, or some local perspective on what’s happening? As you can see from past issues, this doesn’t have to be lengthy or in-depth, but it always helps to have a bit of perspective from someone who has been following the issue. This doesn’t have to be a regular recurring contribution either – anything you can contribute in a given month is welcome!

We also have a publication for our membership, The Bulletin, which is focused more on longer-form content, analysis, and opinion pieces. We’re also always interested in submissions for this publications. If you’re interested, have a look at some recent past publications for ideas about what that content looks like, and please reach out if you have something you’d like to contribute.

If you have ideas for stories for either this newsletter or The Bulletin, feel free to reach out any time. You can email your stories, ideas, and any other feedback to atlantic@transportaction.ca

We are also always looking for volunteers to support our advocacy work, and to potentially join our board of directors. If that’s something you’d be interested in and feel you could contribute to, please let us know.

Atlantic Transport News – January 2023

Welcome to the first edition of Atlantic Transport News for 2023!

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

HUNDREDS OF HOLIDAY TRAVELLERS STRANDED ON VIA’s OCEAN

VIA’s eastbound Ocean sits parked in Montreal’s Central station on Dec. 23, as a snow storm rages outside. VIA Rail’s abysmal performance over the Christmas travel period has become the subject of a probe by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. PHOTO – Tim Hayman

The 2022 holiday travel season descended into chaos just before Christmas, as a massive winter storm on December 23 shut down already overcrowded airports, closed highways, and brought much of VIA Rail’s network to a grinding halt. Though much media attention was focused on the Corridor, where several trains were stuck for many hours and all trains were cancelled for several days over Christmas, passengers travelling to and from the Maritimes for the holidays on board VIA’s Ocean found themselves stranded after many hours of uncertainty and little forward progress. After an initial delay due to a late arriving connection, passengers on board VIA #14 (scheduled to depart Montreal at 19h00 on December 23) were surprised to find their train returning to the station shortly after departure. Passengers were informed that a section of the line ahead, near Mont-Joli QC, was impassible due to the impacts of the storm.

After discussions between VIA operations and Canadian National (CN), a decision was made to delay departure until 06h00 the following morning, with assurances from CN that this would provide sufficient time for the line to be cleared and re-opened for the train to pass. The train coming from Halifax was held at Campbellton for the night, expecting to be ready to depart by later the next morning as well.

The next morning, VIA 14 departed and proceeded as far as Rivière-du-Loup, now running more than 13 hours behind schedule. After a further wait, passengers were informed that contrary to their initial assurances, CN would not now have the line cleared in time. Repair crews had reportedly ended their shift and wouldn’t return until sometime on the following day. With no other option, short of an overnight layover in Rivière-du-Loup, train #14 was then sent back to Montreal, arriving in the early hours of the morning on Christmas Day, exactly where it had started some 30 hours after its initial departure.

Passengers on the westbound train #15 from Halifax fared little better. Their train was left stranded for just as many hours at Campbellton, before being sent back to Halifax.

With little confidence in CN being able to open the line within their next promised window, Transport Action Atlantic President Tim Hayman, who was a passenger on train #14, was fortunate enough to find a flight home late on Christmas Day, but many passengers simply saw their plans to visit family for the holidays forfeited entirely, and were in some cases also stuck in Montreal over Christmas due to the train cancellations in the Corridor. Passengers were refunded in full for the affected trip, and also provided with travel credits; and those arriving back in Montreal in the wee hours of Christmas morning were put up in a hotel for the remainder of the night.

Weather delays and issues are entirely understandable, particularly in severe winter storms, but the entire ordeal raises serious questions about the resiliency of VIA’s operations, and highlights the ever-present issue of VIA being reliant on the “infrastructure owner” or “host railway” – i.e. CN – to move its trains in a safe and timely manner.

There are several key questions raised by this situation:

  • What was the exact nature of the issue making the line impassible, and why were CN crews unable to clear the line as expected?
  • What efforts did CN make to prioritize opening the line and avoiding stranding these trains and their passengers?
  • What contingency planning does CN have in place for these scenarios, and how did their efforts here compare to the efforts that would be made to clear a high priority freight line?
  • Was there any consideration of alternative routings for the trains (i.e. over the Napadogan Subdivision through New Brunswick)?
  • Does VIA have recourse within their track access agreements with CN to seek compensation for a failure to move its trains in a timely fashion, or to their destinations at all?
  • What considerations did VIA management give to alternative transportation for passengers?

Transport Action believes the abysmal performance of Canada’s tattered passenger rail system this holiday season should be grounds for a full independent enquiry, to determine where government, VIA Rail management, and the host railways (CN) have failed, and to recommend immediate action to address this national embarrassment.

TAA has been invited to appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities on January 26, and will take the opportunity to press the committee to look further into these issues, and identify ways to ensure that passengers aren’t left stranded in similar circumstances in future storms.

-Tim Hayman

WESTJET DITCHES HALIFAX TRANSATLANTIC HUB

WestJet launched its new overseas service from Halifax Stanfield to Glasgow amid great fanfare in the spring of 2015 – including decorating the aircraft tail with a custom-designed corporate tartan. That flight, along with all the airline’s other transatlantic offerings from eastern Canada, is now history. SUBMITTED PHOTO

The management at Halifax Stanfield International Airport had held out some slim hope until the last, but in the end it was not to be. WestJet’s new corporate strategy of returning to its roots in the western provinces has brought down the curtain on the transatlantic hub at YHZ. The final confirmation came not by way of any formal announcement from the Calgary-based carrier, but in a story published by an international online trade journal. Simple Flying reported on December 20 that the new western focus would eliminate not only all WestJet overseas flights from Halifax, but from Toronto as well.

https://simpleflying.com/westjet-cuts-non-calgary-europe-routes/

The airline made its first step into the transatlantic market in 2013, when it introduced a non-stop flight from St. John’s to Dublin, using an extended-range Boeing 737. The initiative was widely hailed as the most successful new route in the airline’s history – but the honeymoon was soon over. Just five years later the Dublin flight was relocated to Halifax, with the airline announcing that it made better operational sense to adopt Stanfield as its hub for all its European destinations, which also included Glasgow, London Gatwick, and Paris. That strategy evidently wasn’t a success either. Some industry analysts have suggested that Air Canada is so firmly entrenched in eastern Canada that no other carrier can effectively compete. In any event, WestJet’s newly-minted CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech lost no time in beating a westward retreat shortly after his appointment.

“We think the West has more room for growth for us that the East,” he told the Globe and Mail following a quick strategic review. Management at Stanfield International kept trying to persuade the carrier to retain at least some of its overseas services, but to no avail. Airport spokesperson Tiffany Chase confirmed following publication of the Simple Flying story that the only regularly scheduled transatlantic service from YHZ next summer will be a daily Air Canada flight to London Heathrow. Air Canada plans to continue operating that route year-round with a reduced off-season frequency. There will also be seasonal summer flights to and from Frankfurt several times weekly in 2023 by leisure carriers Condor and Eurowings Discover.

“Our Air Service Development team continues to connect with other carriers to promote the Halifax Stanfield advantage and business case,” Ms. Chase said, “but it’s unlikely we’ll have another new non-stop European service announced and operating for summer 2023.”

IN OTHER AIRLINE NEWS…

Mayor Mike Savage (l.) was on hand with airport officials and other dignitaries to celebrate the return of direct flights from Halifax Stanfield to Liberty International Airport in Newark on December 16. SUBMITTED PHOTO

The news isn’t all bad for Halifax Stanfield. Air Canada has resumed direct flights from YHZ to New York (Newark), which had been missing from the departures board since the pandemic began. The service began with four departures a week effective December 16, and ramped up to daily as of January 8. The U.S. preclearance facility at YHZ provides an advantage for departing passengers who can pre-clear customs in Halifax. They then arrive in Newark as domestic travellers, where they can conveniently connect to other American destinations with minimum delay.

And one more domestic travel option will be available from Halifax in February, when Porter Airlines introduces a new direct service to and from Toronto Pearson, using its new 132-seat Embraer E195-E2 aircraft. This rapidly growing airline officially took delivery of the first two of a planned 50 medium-range jets from the Brazilian manufacturer on December 21. Porter is the first North American carrier to introduce this model, and has chosen to configure the cabin with 132 seats – 14 fewer than the maximum the plane is designed for. In addition to more personal space, the airline says the E195-E2 will offer every passenger an elevated economy experience that includes no middle seats, complimentary beer and wine served in real glassware, a selection of premium snacks, and free, fast wifi.

In sharp contrast to WestJet, Porter appears intent on expanding service in Atlantic Canada. While WestJet has suspended flights between Halifax and St. John’s for nearly four months between January and late April, Porter will continue to ply the route offering at least one departure on most days during the slow season of the year. By May, there will be three round trips daily Sunday through Friday between YHZ and YYT. And Porter is also continuing to provide winter service between Moncton and Ottawa/Toronto. We’ll provide further details on Porter’s plans in a future issue of this newsletter.

Meanwhile, PAL Airlines is continuing its service between Newfoundland and New Brunswick through the winter. Although Fredericton has been dropped from the route map until spring, PAL still is flying St. John’s-Deer Lake-Moncton and return five days a week on the schedule that began in January.

-Ted Bartlett

T3 TRANSIT BREAKS THE ONE MILLION MARK

Charlottetown’s T3 Transit carried its one millionth rider for 2022 on New Year’s Eve, crowning a record-breaking year. PHOTO Saltwire Network

Just before 2022 passed into history, Charlottetown’s T3 Transit proudly reached a milestone – breaking yet another record after months of successive, phenomenal growth. On the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, the system boarded its one millionth passenger for the year – a truly impressive total for a small urban community.

“We woke up Saturday morning needing 1,100 more rides,” said Mike Cassidy, whose company operates the system on behalf of the City. By mid-afternoon, we hit the one million mark, coming right down to the wire as 2022 was coming to an end,” he told the Guardian.

“This is a significant milestone for T3 Transit and public transit in our province,” Premier Dennis King told the newspaper. He attributed the growth in transit ridership to such government initiatives as discounted fares for adults and free transit for children and students.

T3 Transit commenced operation in September 2005 with just four vehicles, but now employs a team of 43 people and operates 35 vehicles. As part of its ongoing expansion, the system plans to introduce new electric buses in the coming year. The vehicles are expected to be tendered in March.

Meanwhile, an extra round trip per day has been added on rural public transit routes between Tignish and Summerside and between Charlottetown and Summerside, effective December 29.
“Going from two round trips per day to three will improve options for Prince County residents using public transit to get to and from work, school and essential services,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Cory Deagle. “We are aligning our schedule and routes based on demand and rider feedback. We will continue to make changes to our service over time to ensure that using our rural public transit service is easy and convenient for Islanders.”

Since launching in October 2021, Transit PEI has provided 57,733 one-way trips across Prince Edward Island. For November 2022, Transit PEI averaged 340 passenger fares per day. The fare for a one-way trip is $2. Monthly transit passes for all transit routes on Prince Edward Island are available for $20 for adults and $10 for seniors and post-secondary students. This offer was recently extended to the end of the current fiscal year which ends on March 31, but many observers are anticipating that it will be renewed.

TRANSIT IN NEWFOUNDLAND’S CAPITAL IS LOOKING UP, BUT SOME SOUR NOTES IN THE FANFARE

Metrobus carried an all-time record number of people in October 2022. However, critics say the St. John’s transit system abandoned its growing customer base by shutting down for nearly 60 hours over Christmas, and ending service early on New Year’s Eve. PHOTO Jeremy Eaton/CBC

The city of St John’s has been taking important steps in recent years to address decades of decline in the bus service it provides. Ridership figures in October 2022 were the highest since records began – 16.9% up from 2019 before COVID hit, and in response the city’s latest budget included a nearly 10% increase in the city’s subsidy – some of which will go towards adding three buses to the most used routes during the summer months to offset some of the cuts normally made to service over that period.

Some of the rise in numbers could be attributable to the extension of a provincially co-funded pilot program that gave free bus passes to people on income support and was broadened this year to include low income seniors and youths receiving services from the Youth Services Program. But there were some stumbles along the way.

In 2020, free transit for young children was extended to the under-12s but in reaction to bus driver complaints about fare dodging and abuse, the service announced in August that children would need to come to Metrobus’s offices in person with photo ID to be issued passes that would cover them until they turned 12. Ironically those offices are located a 45 minute bus ride from downtown. When I checked in mid-October, fewer than 100 such passes had been issued but Metrobus’ manager said at the time the program “has gone smoothly” and that no targets for numbers to distribute had been set.

Also in the Grinch column, once again Metrobus Transit stopped service at 18:00 Christmas eve and over Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. It also stopped service New Years Eve at 18:00 and on New Year’s Day. Halifax does better, as do most large cities in Canada, although this is also a problem in PEI which made a well-publicized push to improve transit in 2022 and in Moncton and Saint John, New Brunswick. Considering the weather, taxi shortages, the need for those without easy car access to reach friends and family and the dangers of seasonal drunk driving, we hope St John’s and other Atlantic cities will reconsider this next year.

-David Brake

IN OTHER TRANSIT NEWS…

Halifax Transit is showing a steady recovery, but its ridership isn’t yet up to pre-pandemic levels. The system recorded a total of 23,267,150 boardings in calendar 2022, compared with 17,011,739 a year earlier. The corresponding figure for 2019 was 30,732,930 boardings.

Moncton’s Codiac Transpo didn’t have complete final numbers available, but operations manager Alex Grncarovski said 2022 was a very good year with boardings exceeding 1.7 million. “It’s a positive trend that we hope to continue in 2023.”

MARITIME BUS SEES STRONG RECOVERY WHILE CELEBRATING 10th ANNIVERSARY

The 1:00 pm departure leaves the Charlottetown terminal as Maritime Bus marked its 10th anniversary on December 1. The company reports that ridership is recovering close to pre-pandemic levels. SUBMITTED PHOTO

December 1 was a red-letter day for Maritime Bus. It marked the tenth anniversary of the pivotal moment when the fledgling Charlottetown-based carrier stepped in to fill the void created by the foreign-owned Acadian Lines/Orleans Express. It hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park for founder Mike Cassidy, but he proudly looks back at a decade of reliable service.

COVID-19 was a massive challenge – one that cost his company millions. But Maritime Bus kept going through the darkest days, albeit on a reduced schedule, carrying small numbers of people and lots of packages throughout the three provinces. Although the schedule still isn’t quite back to pre-pandemic levels, traffic is now showing strong recovery, and service has been running seven days a week since September.

Ridership has now returned to 85% of what it was before COVID struck, Mr. Cassidy reported in early January. In December 2022 the buses handled some 14,000 passengers, as compared to 17,000 in the same month of 2019. And in the first ten days of January they did ever better: 5000 fares – just 300 short of the ridership for the same period pre-pandemic.

“Very pleased!” he said. But there’s still a way to go. There’s still no interlining with motorcoach services to the rest of Canada. Maritime Bus stops at Edmundston, so it’s not yet possible to ride or ship a package into Quebec or beyond as in pre-COVID times, with no indication as to when that might change.

PATIENCE WEARING THIN ON CHIGNECTO ISTHMUS MITIGATION

These CN tracks and the Trans Canada Highway over the Chignecto Isthmus between Amherst NS and Sackville NB form a vital but tenuous link that is under increasing threat by rising sea levels resulting from climate change. PHOTO – Robert Short/CBC

Potential disastrous consequences for a vital transportation corridor connecting Nova Scotia with the rest of Canada have been recognized for years. The massive tides of the Bay of Fundy are being increasingly influenced by climate change, with ever higher water levels being recorded during major weather events. A study released last year, jointly funded by the federal, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick governments, confirmed the risk that both the CN rail line and the Trans Canada Highway across the low-lying Chignecto Isthmus are in danger of being eventually overwhelmed by rising waters. That would sever a critically important link that carries millions of dollars worth of commerce each and every day.

The report identified three possible strategies to address the issue, with the most elaborate one having an estimated price tag in excess of $300 million. The recommended timeline for completing the project as ten years, something that appeared reasonable at the time. In fact, back then Amherst Mayor David Kogon told CBC News he viewed the plan as reasonable and realistic.

But the mayor has apparently changed his tune, and so have many others. September’s devastation caused by hurricane Fiona caused them to think again.

“Hurricane Fiona scared the bejeebers out of the people in our area,” Mayor Kogon said in an early January interview. Fiona mostly brought high winds and downed trees to the Chignecto Isthmus, but had it struck at a slightly different angle at high tide, he added, Amherst and vital trade routes in the area certainly could have been seriously affected.

“That storm surge is a potential problem here, depending on the state of the tide. Quite honestly, we were lucky and I don’t want to rely on good luck to protect us going forward,” he told the CBC. “We dodged a bullet.”

There’s been no indication, however, that either level of government is revisiting the timeline. There is no agreement yet in place as to how the cost of the project would be shared. Both provinces, not surprisingly, are adamant that Ottawa needs to take a leading role.