Angry transit users staged protests throughout Halifax this morning in response to the Metro Transit strike.
Transit users stood at bus stops and held signs slamming the public transit stoppage Friday morning.
The protestors are from a newly-formed group called the Halifax Transit Riders Alliance and they say they are confused by the city's refusal to send the dispute to binding arbitration.
"Peter Kelly mentions he is standing up for taxpayers by refusing to go to arbitration, but what people need to know is if the city had agreed to arbitration, the buses would be on the road today," said transit user Scott Gillard. "So, Peter Kelly is standing up for taxpayers? I'm not sure which ones, certainly not those who use the bus."
Riders have been scrambling to find alternative modes of transportation since transit workers parked their buses and ferries and took to the picket lines Feb. 2.
Many transit users have had to endure long walks in the cold to get to work and appointments and some say they have missed important appointments entirely.
People with disabilities, such as Alex Peeler, say they have been completely put out by the strike, which is also affecting many Access-A-Bus users.
Peeler is a screen arts student at the Nova Scotia Community College in Dartmouth and he uses a wheelchair to get around. He typically uses an Access-A-Bus to get back and forth from school but now he has to rely on his parents to transport him.
"It's a lot harder to get to class, especially with the ice and snow," said Peeler.
The city announced this week that some Access-A-Buses would roll out again Monday and that limited service would be made available to more than 1,800 registered users who need it to it make their medical appointments.
Access-A-Bus service ended Feb. 2 along with regular Metro Transit services, but an exception was made for dialysis patients, for whom the service continued.
The city says Metro Transit managers will be behind the wheel of the Access-A-Buses Monday but the president of the Local 508 Amalgamated Transit Union says that's not a good idea for safety reasons.
"The training right now is six weeks, plus two weeks minimum mentorship for Access-A-Bus operators," said Ken Wilson.
Wilson also said picketing transit workers plan to block the buses from leaving the parking lot Monday.
"Oh, we're going to block them, we blocked Burnside and Ragged Lake since the strike started," said Wilson.
Pressure has been growing for the provincial government to intervene in the two-week-old strike and get the bus drivers back to work, but Nova Scotia's deputy premier says the province won't interfere.
"For us to get into anything beyond that would be intruding into the bargaining between the two parties and we're not willing to comment on that," said Corbett.
More than 700 Metro Transit workers walked off the job Feb. 2 after negotiations between the city and the union fell through.
Transit workers voted in favour of settling the dispute with binding arbitration but the city rejected the offer, instead suggesting conciliation.
Roughly 96,000 passenger trips were taken daily on Metro Transit buses and ferries before the strike.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Ron Shaw
