More Road Widening for Halifax

Listening to the CBC, I heard the plan is now afoot to start widening Bayer's Road to accommodate more traffic into the downtown core. After last year's battle for Chebucto Road was won by the road-addicted city council, they are ready to widen another main approach to the peninsula.

I have nothing more to add to this debacle, except that Halifax seems to know no other solution than to widen roads. We haven't tried car pool lanes or car pool hours. Car after car going downtown are virtually empty - just the driver and no passengers. We also don't even know what rushhour is really about... sitting in traffic for twenty minutes is bad for the environment, but it's nothing compared to sitting on the 401 for two hours each day.

Read more on Bayer's Road in the Coast and the Herald.

What To Do When You Can't Use Public Transit

The city of Ottawa is currently in the throes of a transit strike. While I am not at all educated about this particular labour disruption, I was struck when watching the national news at the effect that it is having on commuters. Many more cars are clogging the streets, rush hour starts earlier and earlier every day, and downtown parking lots are completely full. All in all, it was nearly complete chaos.

Here in Halifax, we were very close to having a school bus strike of our own over the past few weeks. While that appears to be averted, a simple accident (or was it a water main break?) on Monday morning sent traffic into a panic.

Obviously, we are at the very edge of being able to manage our current transportation system. Our needs and wants have become completely unrealistic. We choose to live in suburban sprawl and have become dependent on our vehicles for getting to work. Those who use public transit obviously go a long way to help the situation as evidenced by how much worse Ottawa is today.

So... what to do?

First, where public transit is available, we should all endeavour to use it as much as possible. It saves wear and tear on your personal vehicle and helps a lot with GHG.

Second, we should choose to live in more appropriate locales. Walk to work if it is at all possible. If you work urban, you should attempt to live urban. (I know, this is complete impractical and unaffordable for most of us. But we need to examine why this is so.)

Third, investigate ride-share programs in your city or neighbourhood.

Fourth, explore the option of working from home whenever possible. It's a very short commute and uses no gasoline. That's better than riding the bus!

Fifth, communicate with others. Lobby for more effective public transit. Champion tele-commuting in your office.

And finally, petition the powers that be to come to a fair and equitable end to the current transit strike in Ottawa.

Do you live in Ottawa? Tell me about the effect the transit strike has had on you!