‘Cascading failure’ led to shutdown of Halifax ferry service on Saturday

Halifax drivers had to deal with a lot of traffic headaches over the weekend.

Dartmouth Centre councillor Sam Austin calls it “a bit of a cascading failure” that led to the Alderney ferry service being shut down late Saturday afternoon.

According to the Halifax Regional Municipality, the service was halted for approximately one hour due to a staffing shortage.

A spokesperson declined to say what led to the staffing shortage, but Austin says it was connected to the closure of the MacKay Bridge over the weekend.

“The ferry was delayed on the crew change because the crew couldn’t get to the ferry to run it because they were stuck in traffic,” Austin tells CTV News Atlantic.

That created the perfect storm to get across the harbour by land and water.

The bridge was closed for scheduled weekend repairs from Friday night until 5:30 a.m. on Monday; however, it reopened early on Sunday evening.

To help ease the burden on commuters, Halifax Harbour Bridges said it was covering ferry fares for the weekend.

Austin says while bridge repairs are required, gone are the days when a closure was simply an inconvenience.

“You can’t close them without gridlocking the city,” he says. “That is a challenge.”

Finding alternatives

Halifax’s new electric water taxi service, FlyeBoat, was in operation for its first full weekend of point-to-point service.

The private company heard from people when the ferry went down.

“We got people that were inquiring, wondering if they can get across the harbour,” says Topher Kingsley-Williams, a co-founder of FlyeBoat.

The 12-seater taxi offers service for tourists and helps locals get around the harbour.

Unfortunately for the business and for riders, the company had closed after a busy day of service.

“Next time, we’ll be there for them,” says Kingsley-Williams.

Mayor Andy Fillmore has been hinting at the need for a public-private partnership to help shuttle people across the harbour.

The water taxi hopes to fill a void when needed, and work with Halifax Transit.

“We want to work with them and figure out how the service can complement what they’re offering,” says Kingsley-Williams. “So, it really is around making sure that we stay out of their way and we help move people around the city.”

He says they would like to expand hours and vessels as demand grows.

Meanwhile, a third-party review of Halifax’s public ferry service is due back to city councillors next week.

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