Many Haligonians experience the frustration of being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on a daily basis but that aggravation could soon come to an end.

Halifax councillors will consider a commuter rail study next week and proponents say it's a better option than to widen roads and add buses, because the equipment and infrastructure for a commuter rail is already in place.

Area resident Susan Tremills says she hopes that one day she will be able to hop a train into downtown Halifax.

"I think it would be a safer way to travel through the winter," says Tremills. "With the road conditions, the train will make it through without traffic tie-ups."

Tremills says she believes a commuter rail would get a lot of cars off Halifax-area roads, which would ease the traffic jams that commonly occur on the Bedford Highway during rush hour.

The proposal is to establish a commuter service with dayliners, which was self-propelled with an engine built in to each unit, on rail lines that already exist and run from Enfield through Bedford and into Halifax. The rail lines were once used for inter-city traffic in the Maritimes and the old Bedford train station still sits beside the tracks, thought it has since been converted into commercial space.

Coun. Tim Outhit says setting up the runs would be a relatively inexpensive way to ease traffic troubles.

"We have the tracks, we have some stations, we have some platforms," says Outhit. "And dayliners are being refurbished in Moncton."

Outhit says all forms of public transport are subsidized and he believes the commuter rail will cost a lot less than to widen roads and add new buses. He adds that each new Metro Transit bus costs roughly $600,000.

"It's a win-win for commuters, it's a win-win for the environment and it will help downtown businesses," says Outhit.

Meanwhile, Tremills is actively petitioning for the commuter rail service and hopes to drum up interest.

"We put an online petition on the Internet asking for people to sign it if they would use the dayliners," she says.

The online petition was only created a few days ago, but it has already received just under 200 signatures and Tremills says the number of people who say they will use the dayliners is growing.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Ron Shaw