President for Halifax's Transit Union says new bylaw will not provide safer transit

The president of Halifax’s Transit Union says the city’s transit safety bylaw will not provide safer transit, especially for drivers.

“They are still going to have to rely on a police department that is 30 or more members short as it is,” said Shane O’Leary, the president of the transit union ATU 508.

Bylaw T-1200, Halifax’s first transit bylaw, aims to enhance safety by helping transit employees deal with the uptick in bad behavior.

The bylaw includes ensuring safety barriers are installed for each of the buses, replacing the Plexiglas that was installed in response to COVID-19. The cost of having these barriers and retrofitting each of the buses with them is estimated to be around 3.4 million dollars. “We only had one bidder, and they are going to be teaching us to install it,” explained O’Leary.

The bylaw also limits the length someone can stay at a terminal or bus shelter.

Supervisors will be present at the busiest terminals throughout the day, however, they will not be able to remove or ticket individuals, which is something the union was pushing for.

When incidents occur, transit workers are required to call their supervisor first, who will then assess the situation before making the decision to call the police.

“Without having someone to enforce it, this bylaw is just a piece of paper with no consequences,” said O’Leary.

Earlier in the year, the union requested approval for $400,000 for four new supervisors who could enforce this bylaw. O’Leary said the union was disappointed to learn that the supervisors which they had the budget approved for would not be hired to do what they were hoping.

“Our supervisors should be trained, given equipment and the authority to write tickets and remove people,” he adds.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, Halifax Transit Operations, Phil Herritt, said there have been over 1,500 violent incidents involving transit employees, and that they expect that number to surpass 2,000.

CTV News reached out to the city but they were not available to comment.

Halifax commuters say more needs to be done to support transit workers.

“Often I find rowdiness on the bus or people are being super loud and not respecting other peoples’ boundaries,” said Zeyda Paul, as she waited for bus in downtown Halifax.

Frequent commuter Claudia Fortuna said safety for transit employees should be a priority.

“They work for us. That’s how we get by so the least we can do is to make sure they’re safe,” said Fortuna.

Another commuter, Chris Publicover, explained how he doesn’t believe the current system that requires supervisors to be the ones to call the police helps when incidents arise.

“They’re supposed to be driving and focusing on that so there’s definitely a lack of back-up for them,” he said.

The City of Halifax will have a second reading of the transit safety bylaw on Aug. 22.

For the latest Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.