A last-ditch attempt is being made to reach an agreement on a collective agreement for unionized bus drivers to avert three days of job action that could strand tens of thousands of commuters.
Monday, Unifor, the union representing Coast Mountain Bus Co.’s 5,000 bus drivers, announced it would return to the bargaining table Tuesday, although the bargaining time and location has not yet been announced.
Still, the union is advising passengers to make contingency plans for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday if an agreement isn’t reached and the system-wide shutdown takes place as previously announced.
“TransLink’s bargaining approach shows a willingness to risk a system-wide shutdown but we wanted to make a final attempt to find a compromise,” said Unifor president Jerry Dias.
Meanwhile, TransLink has promised to increase SkyTrain service if a full bus and SeaBus shutdown takes place this week, impacting as many as 350,000 riders.
“[Coast Mountain Bus Co.] continues to urge the union to resume bargaining or agree to mediation to achieve a reasonable, negotiated settlement,” said a TransLink news release. “Transportation modelling suggests as many as 36,000 additional cars will be on the road during morning rush hour due to the union’s shutdown. TransLink is encouraging businesses to allow employees to telecommute and permit more flexible work schedules.”
West Coast Express and HandyDart will still be in operation, along with the Expo, Millennium and Canada lines, and TransLink has promised more SkyTrain capacity and more frequent off-peak SkyTrain service as well as more attendants and police at stations to assist with customer flow.
Also, there will be more spots for people to pick up and drop off riders near SkyTrain stations, where designated unused bus stops can be used.
For those who wish to carpool, GobyRIDE and Liftango carpooling platforms will be increasing service and there will be designated carpooling spots at SkyTrain park and rides.
There will also be the UBC vanpool pilot project for staff and students and carshare operations Evo and Car2Go are expanding their drop-off and pick-up boundaries
As for those who wish to cycle, there will be expanded bike parking at stations and complementary bike valets at key stations to be operated by BEST (7 a.m. to 6 p.m.); as well, bicycles will be allowed on the SkyTrain all day in the last car of each train.
Plans are also to have more Mobi bikes at and near Vancouver SkyTrain stations with staff on hand to respond to the volume of bikes in high-volume locations
Monthly transit passholders who do not use any public transit during the three-day strike will automatically have pro-rated stored value credit applied to their Compass accounts.
