Two weeks after fatal Halifax bus crash councillor asks for more data on collisions

CITYnews halifax / By Mark Hodgins

Halifax councillors have asked staff to do a deep dive into collisions involving Halifax Transit buses.

The motion seeking the report was put forward on Tuesday by councillor Kathryn Morse, who said it was prompted by the death of a 24-year-old woman who was struck by a bus on Spring Garden Road in October.

“Also we’ve had a number of other transit-related collisions in the last few months, and I thought it would be timely given we have a new council to establish a bit of a baseline,” Morse said. “So I’m asking for this report so going forward council will have this as background information for anything we review involving transit.”

Morse’s motion was seconded by councillor Shawn Cleary, who agreed the data would be helpful.

“Hopefully we can learn some things, not just about pattern of collisions if there is any, but what that means for vehicle design. Maybe our buses have blind spots, maybe our drivers need different training, maybe the patterns are related to the actual roadways,” Cleary told council.

The motion was passed unanimously by council.

Tuesday was the first meeting for the newly elected council and mayor Andy Fillmore.