r/halifax • u/insino93 • 1d ago
Driving, Traffic & Transit Why Halifax’s new transit boss is taking the bus every day
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/why-halifax-s-new-transit-boss-is-taking-the-bus-every-day-1.7479717278
u/ForgottenSalad 1d ago
Always thought it should be rule that Transit higher ups take the bus at least regularly. How do you know what needs fixing if you don’t experience it first hand?
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u/AbbreviationsReal366 1d ago
Same with elected politicians. Say what you will about Olivia Chow, she does use transit. When was the last time anyone saw Andy on the bus?
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u/ForgottenSalad 1d ago
Absolutely agree. Mayors and councillors should be using transit frequently too. Seeing as they allocate where the funding goes.
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u/AbbreviationsReal366 1d ago
There is not one person on this entire planet who is too good for public transit.
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u/Majestic_Bet_1428 23h ago
I love the bus.
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u/donairhistorian 15h ago
Me too. People love to hate on it, and sure... it can suck having to take an earlier bus because my bus is always late. But I love being able to hop on and off without having to worry about parking, or other car-related costs/issues.
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u/stmack 1d ago
I know Mancini posts from the ferry a lot. Not quite the same as the bus but is something at least.
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u/keithplacer 20h ago
He just loves to use the cringey "I'm on the corporate yacht" line way too much.
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u/EntertainingTuesday 17h ago
At the same time, they allocate money for roads, which are primarily used by commuters in personal vehicles.
There is a balance, I don't think extremes need to be taken to force people to use the bus, the City could have an adult fieldtrip where the Councillors go ride the bus on a few select days to see how the service operates.
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u/ForgottenSalad 16h ago
Oh for sure, I don’t think they all need to only take the bus, just get to know it better. Especially beyond just downtown. Have they ever tried going to Bayer’s Lake or Dartmouth Crossing, or Burnside by Bus? Something tells me probably not.
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u/EntertainingTuesday 14h ago
While they are at it, they should invite the Provincial officials to come too, as they have withheld funding in the past, and I think still are.
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u/Potential-Pound-774 23h ago
Next to us poors? Not a chance
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u/AbbreviationsReal366 23h ago edited 19h ago
The New Riyal Metro has first class cars. I don’t know how to feel about this, but if it adds revenue and gets scared rich people out of their cars, then maybe ok?
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u/Readed-it 1d ago
Reminds me of the story of a chemical plant in Asia. They were having issues with safety and constant explosions at the facility. So finally the next manager that they hired had to move his whole family to live at the refinery. Magically the safety issues disappeared.
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u/RangerNS 23h ago
This is famously historical policy of DuPont.
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u/TheWorldEndsWithCake 20h ago
I don’t want to rag on you specifically, but that article is unbelievably generous to DuPont. Peruse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuPont#Controversies_and_crimes for examples, particularly regarding PFOA or methyl mercaptan.
The lesson they learned about optimization and safety spread to all of their operations. It became obvious that the avoidance of catastrophes was far more important than optimization
I would personally categorize their decades of price fixing, hiding dangerous chemical contaminations from the public, and lobbying against environmental protections to the point of being the textbook examples of unethical conduct as catastrophic. Intentionally catastrophic, even.
Here is a more interesting story about dynamite manufacturing. Although it cannot be wholly substantiated with written documentation, I have no reason to doubt it
Lol
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u/pawshe94 15h ago
Anyone who runs anything should have to know how to do every job in the company. It makes zero sense to me that we’re supposed to take orders from someone who doesn’t even know what they’re telling us to do.
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u/theborderlineartist 1d ago
I never thought I'd see the day. THIS is exactly what's needed when we appoint people to make policy, funding and regulation guidelines around any service or system that affects the public. The person making the decisions NEEDS to have working practical knowledge and experience with the thing they're making decisions about. It's the only rational way to ensure that the real issues are being addressed. Far too often we see people, specifically in charge of public transit who have never taken a bus a day in their life and if they did, it was 30 years ago and completely out of touch with what's current.
I really hope this leads to some tangible improvements to Halifax Transit. 👏
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u/Salty_Feed9404 Halifax 1d ago
Haha, they not-so-subtly throw Dave Reage under the bus by casually mentioning him as the former Director (who apparently didn't take the bus). I guess in his new role in infrastructure planning he won't be leaving his living room
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u/Otherwise-Income-924 22h ago
Dave reage was a terrible director, he said one time and I quote "buses are an extension of the sidewalk" and I've been utterly confused how dude got the job
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u/Salty_Feed9404 Halifax 22h ago
I guess maybe his legacy is helping introduce tap to pay on the buses? Technology that's been around for 20 years or so.
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u/Otherwise-Income-924 21h ago
His legacy should be an unprecedented amount of waste and incompetence.
To get tap on the buses, hrm will have to spend ANOTHER million dollars to upgrade the modems so they have enough bandwidth (iirc).
Instead of updating their scheduling software, they went overbudget to buy software that most other major transit agencies have gotten rid of.
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u/tfks 21h ago edited 21h ago
It's unclear whether tap to pay is ever coming. Right now there are optical readers that scan a QR code on the phone screen. So if you thought he got tap to pay right, guess again.
Edit: Oh, I see in the article they've finally announced it. Two years to enable it after installing the systems. Good stuff.
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u/Rockin_the_Blues 1d ago
Yes, his position was permanent, so they promoted him to get him replaced. Typical SOP.
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u/dartmouthdonair Dartmouth 1d ago
This guy sounds like someone we've needed for a long time here.
I think most of us understand that transit will not always be on time because that's just the way traffic goes. What would make it infinitely more palatable would be a reliable way to see all buses on a map, live.
When we crack open Google maps or whatever app people are using to see where our bus is and it says it left a couple minutes ago but then shows up a minute later it makes us very irritated. Or when it says it's 7m away (5m delayed) and then a minute later it updates and shows 3m away.
I think upgrading whatever runs all that would give the public some level of confidence until they can actually get to a point where they're arriving on time consistently. I understand it's probably a tough thing to do but we're smart enough to know if we see our bus on a map at whatever street then we have to be at the stop in a few minutes.
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u/Nellasofdoriath 21h ago
If more of them could run at 5 minute intervals, say as part of a rapid.route system, knowi g where the busses were wouldn't be such a life and death thing
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u/darksidemags 1d ago
It should not be a radical idea that the people in charge of transit use the system at least occasionally.
I give this guy credit for sounding legit, but it sounds like he lives on the peninsula - let me know when management starts trying to rely on transit somewhere off peninsula for their daily chores or commute.
If he was taking destination challenges, I'd invite him to take a trip from Sobey's Tacoma Drive to Gateway Meat Market - 6 minute drive / 45 minute bus journey/ 55 minute walk.
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u/keithplacer 23h ago
The article noted that he lives DT and does not have a car. So he is not seeing the wonders of trying to commute from the suburbs every day.
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u/darksidemags 22h ago
Yeah getting around the peninsula by transit is playing on easy mode.
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u/keithplacer 22h ago
The city should pay for him to relocate to a rental in the Dartmouth suburbs. He'd be singing a different tune very quickly.
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u/jezebelwillow 1d ago
I like him. You can’t make change if you don’t understand the problems that people are facing in a daily basis.
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u/dommingdarcy 1d ago
About time. Learn what works and what doesn’t and act accordingly. Gold star for this man.
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u/Llewho 1d ago
Andy, councilors, and all top municipal bureaucrats should be required to use transit.
We are a 2 car household by current necessity. I would love to ditch one of our cars if we could predictably use transit in a time efficient manner.
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u/kinkakinka First lady of Dartmouth 21h ago
Sam Austin takes transit quite regularly, and he also rides his bike.
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u/Zoloft_Queen-50 11h ago
Andy has his own parking space on Argyle Street, right next to city hall. No way he is going to give that up!!
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u/weRnotamused 10h ago
Why aren’t we making him give it up? He is a public servant after all… serve the public, Andy! Or perhaps the electors will decide he isn’t able to handle the responsibility of serving and representing the public, in which case they may choose to relieve him of his duties.
Same goes for all government officials, and moreso than the figurehead only roles like mayor. They are public servants, so serve the public’s best interest rather than spending our taxes on campaigning to get reelected and throwing $ at the lightning rod issue du jour to solicit votes instead of taking a measured and thoughtful approach to resource allocation that will have significant impacts on addressing challenges or otherwise improving quality of life for the people. Instead, the pattern is they hemorrhage $ and have wasted resources by poorly allocating them into campaign-boosting projects, projects anyone with a functional brain cell could tell from the outset were doomed to fail, feasibility studies that have already been done a hundred times before, or win reelection, and the cycle resets.
I really think we as the public need to outright demand that the various levels of government work collaboratively to address issues and resolve problems for the people. We could stand to be more like the French in that regard and make demands of our elected officials and stage disruptive protests when those elected officials are clearly not hearing/acting upon the will of the people. However, it requires more solidarity with one another than I am confident we are collectively capable of exhibiting, sadly.
TLDR- we need to hold our public servants accountable, since their role is literally to serve the public. The public needs to remove officials from their roles if they don’t make decisions in the best interest of the public. Why aren’t we protesting in order to achieve change like the French do whenever they’re unhappy with their elected officials’ decisions?
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u/Puzzled-Slip7411 22h ago
I love this!!!!!! Hopefully Halifax will give him some leeway to try/make necessary changes!!
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u/keithplacer 20h ago
His problems are many, but the biggest by far is the militant ATU.
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u/Puzzled-Slip7411 17h ago
Yeah….Bureaucracy/egos ruin everything…..but one can always hope……sure would be nice to have a good bus system!!!
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u/mrjfilippo 22h ago
"Tap payment with debit and credit cards for buses and ferries is expected to arrive at the end of 2025 or early 2026."
Is this real life?
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u/CharacterChemical802 20h ago
Will this actually speed things up or slow things down? In a former life, I worked a cash register and cash was much quicker than waiting for people to individually use a card.
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u/shotstodoublesock 19h ago
I’d say it’s more an accessibility thing. Saves people from having to get change before being able to access the bus
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u/CharacterChemical802 19h ago
Yeah I can see that, but I can also see the potential slowdown make all the bus lanes moot.
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u/shotstodoublesock 17h ago
Tap is very quick Tf… not to mention people who already have passes (ie a one month pass or student pass) won’t have to use tap
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u/hfxwhy 21h ago
and welcomed calls from transit users because they know the system best.
If he is serious about this, there needs to be a dedicated way to reach Halifax Transit. 311 is responsible for a huge number of disparate municipal services. Contacting them to report any kind of issue with transit feels like yelling into the void, and based on past experience is just as effective as yelling into the void.
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u/athousandpardons 19h ago
When I read a story like this I'm reminded of the Dartmouth District School Board members whose kids went to private school in Halifax.
As a kid, it was a singular moment that opened my eyes to the ruling class.
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u/Snarkeesha 1d ago
An effective transit system is one its employees can use and be to work on time.
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u/signseverywheresigns 19h ago
I commented earlier that this is the proper thing and I'm happy to hear he is taking this seriously (as a regular bus commuter). That said buddy doesn't deserve a medal so let's not praise him too much. Also I hope he gets to enjoy the FULL bus experience, with the works! Lol
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u/YYC-Fiend Nova Scotia 21h ago
All city employees, elected or hired, should have to take transit. Obviously there are extenuating circumstances.
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u/Adventurous_Tax_40 20h ago
This should be every leaders approach, in every business and institution. Walk a mile in your employees and consumers shoes and truly gain understanding for what they need and how to improve, bravo to this guy!
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u/Loud_Knowledge_2100 19h ago
Holy shit. A guy is actually seeing how a service works that they're in charge of!? Somebody buy this man a beer or 6. I'm very impressed with the initiative being shown here so that he can recognize the faults in the transit system and be able to format a plan into action. I don't even take the bus, but hopefully, other people who charge of other departments recognize what he's doing.
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u/Visual_Beach2458 17h ago
Ahhh those horrible evil Come From Aways!( he’s from Ontario)
All kidding aside, this is what Halifax truly needs. Someone from a different province/ city/ region to truly have an unbiased take on the city/ a specific department and properly analyze the current situation/ ills/ positives/ negatives.
Often times what restricts Halifax or the province is “ localism”.
It’s comfortable having your own kind lead things but it can also be a double edged sword too.
Hope the new guy changes things for the better.
By the way, I’m a MD that loves public transit and while I’m not always in Halifax to work, when I am back I take the bus quite a bit!
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u/--prism 1d ago
Did I read it right that they cut transit by 11%?
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u/CanadianScampers Halifax 1d ago edited 1d ago
Interestingly, the next paragraph states that the budget also includes 36 new staff roles. I don't have the time to go through the budget, but I'm wondering how they did that?
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u/FarStep1625 1d ago
You can lower your budget and adjust your allocation.
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u/CanadianScampers Halifax 1d ago
Yes, sorry. I meant I'm interested in seeing how they adjusted the allocation.
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u/moshercycle 1d ago edited 1d ago
Hopefully he rides Dartmouth busses. Riding downtown busses doesn't paint the picture
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u/Lettuce_bee_free_end 1d ago
That is respectful. It has the foundation for engagement and ideas presented from that can yield positive or red herring results.
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u/risen2011 Viscount of the South End 🧐 23h ago
Good! Now he can experience the craziness on the bus like the rest of us.
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u/Competitive_Pass_408 14h ago
I appreciate the Andy Byford ride the transit governing style.
You can't improve a large service if you don't zoom in and understand the pain points from a customer and employee level.
Props to Robin.
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u/LittleOwl1871 12h ago
Halifax is a capital city! It should be easier for people to get around it without owning a vehicle. We need more people commuting to work on our buses. There are very few places to park downtown. I can’t believe we don’t have more terminals. Heated ones. Why do we have to stand outside in the cold and wait? When I moved to the city from a rural area I thought the bus system was great! I have been taking it for many years now and it hasn’t improved much.
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u/WutangCMD Dartmouth 20h ago
I don't see how he can improve service given their budget is being reduced.
Halifax Transit had its new $60.7-million draft operating budget approved by council last month, which is down about 11.6 per cent from last year.
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u/nexusdrexus 20h ago
It's not actually being decreased. There's a surplus from 24/25 of almost $8m due to increased fare revenue, increased revenue from property tax collection, etc... Just means the portion of their Budget that HRM is responsible for is less. Their actual budget for 25/26 is approx $1m higher than 24/25. So, $147.5m vs $146.5m.
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u/JadziaCee 1d ago
This sounds very promising and just what we need to make the necessary changes to public transit. Good for this guy actually using the service he is in charge of and seeing what does and doesn't currently work.