This week the union representing bus drivers and SeaBus operators issued a 72-hour strike notice. That means if issues aren’t resolved, the rubber could hit the road on some kind of job action starting Friday.
Luckily, so far the union’s signalled it won’t be a full shut down.
The last time a transit strike held the Lower Mainland in a gridlock grip was 18 years ago. We hope it won’t come to that.
We like to complain a lot about transit. But when faced with the prospect that it could be taken away – even temporarily – we get a good reminder of just how critical the bus system is to both our economy and our quality of life on the North Shore.
Truth is the bus system doesn’t always get a lot of love, especially on this side of Burrard Inlet. We fantasize about the fancier, more worldly option of rapid transit – which is always just out of reach. But in the meantime, buses are the workhorses of our transit system. (When talking about the North Shore, we’ll throw the SeaBus in that category too.)
Buses carry far more passengers than rapid transit in Metro Vancouver and ridership on buses is growing faster. They don’t require massive capital outlays from government. For the most part, they do the job.
The bus system isn’t perfect. Anyone who’s had a full bus rumble on by their stop can attest to that. But not having a bus system and not working to make that system better would be infinitely worse.
Let’s hope it doesn’t take a strike to remind us how valuable this public service is.
Because while it would be bad for the Lower Mainland, it would be far worse for the North Shore.
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