Council says no to waiving Alderney Ferry fares amid ongoing service reduction

CITYnews halifax / By Mark Hodgins

A plan to make the Alderney Ferry free for a month amid ongoing service reduction was thoroughly rejected by council on Tuesday.

A motion from councillor Sam Austin asked for fares to be waived, as service is once again reduced to every 30 minutes on the Aldnerney route because of the need for repairs to the Christopher Stannix ferry.

Service had just been restored to its regular 15 minute intervals last week as the Vincent Coleman ferry returned after being sidelined for five months because of delays in acquiring the proprietary parts needed for repairs. Three days later, a similar issue was found on the Stannix, requiring it to be removed from service.

“I think in the short term, we need to do something at this point. The public needs some gesture from us, and I think providing people some relief on the fares is what’s available in the here and now on this,” said councillor Sam Austin.

Municipal CAO Brad Anguish said the parts needed to repair the Christopher Stannix ferry are already in transit, but issues in the past getting those parts across the border mean a timeline estimate cannot be given.

Anguish said removing the fare would result in lost revenue per weekday of about $8,000, and monthly passes for the month of June would need to be refunded.

Mayor Andy Fillmore said while he appreciated the intent behind Austin’s motion, he would not support it, preferring to wait for a more fulsome staff report on transit expected to come to council in late June.

“Given that we don’t have a clear understanding of the precedent this could create for other transit disruptions in the future, I think we ought to be waiting for the full staff report,” Fillmore told council.

Several other councillors also took issue with the plan.

“I think we should just grin and bear it,” said councillor David Hendsbee. “We’ve been providing a shuttle service as an alternative, so I think the service alternatives are there.”

“So what are future commuter expectations if this happens with another ferry? Are we going to give them a discount a couple of months down the road,” questioned councillor John Young. “I do not think we should lose the revenue.”

The final vote was 11-3 against the motion, with councillors Austin, Tony Mancini and Kathryn Morse voting in favour.