Less than two weeks after a bus strike was narrowly avoided, the union representing SkyTrain workers has issued a strike notice. Unless labour talks change this, trains will not run on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. While my commute entails using the train and the bus, I would argue not having the trains running is worse than if the buses weren’t running.
The capacity of the train system far exceeds the bus network. Those who usually take the train will now look for bus routes to get them where they need to be. Even with increased service, the buses can’t make up for extra demand. In some cases, bus routes were eliminated once the SkyTrain was built, since the trains were faster and were more frequent. So for some people, a bus route won’t even be there for them.
From a personal standpoint, I can take a bus that will get me pretty much to work, with a 15 minute walk the rest of the way. I can wait for another bus which will made that walk just a quick 5 minute ride. All told, a bus only commute will add about 20 minutes to my normal train and bus commute. That’s actually not bad considering they are people whose commutes could double or triple or not even be possible with just buses.
I am hoping that a last minute agreement will be reached on Monday because it will be chaos on the bus system otherwise.