Halifax Transit overtime costs blamed on lack of winter tires

Halifax Transit drivers racked up hundreds of hours of overtime last year while sitting in their parked buses awaiting tow trucks to free them from snow banks.

Drivers were paid a total of $5.4 million in overtime last year. CBC News recently obtained totals of all overtime paid to city staff throughout 2014. The data showed Halifax Transit had higher overtime costs than any other municipal department.

CBC News has since spoken to numerous drivers who explained how some of the overtime accumulated. One driver agreed to be quoted on the condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions at work.

The driver said it's commonplace for bus drivers to spend hours stuck each winter.

"Drivers are being paid to sit on the side of the road, doing nothing," the driver said.

"I sat at Oxford and Bayers Road right there at that corner. I sat there for eight hours in a snow storm."

Whenever a bus gets stuck, passengers are transferred to the next available one when it arrives. Drivers, however, have to stay with their bus.

"You go on a waiting list," the driver said. "You call [management] and say: 'This bus is stuck.' 'We'll get to you when we can,' they say."

The drivers said often they had to wait for an hour or two.

The argument for winter tires on city buses

Each bus driver CBC News spoke to believed winter tires would reduce the number of buses that get stuck on Halifax roads. 

This month a report to regional council outlined difficulties acquiring winter tires for Halifax Transit buses. "Winter tires are not available to the Canadian market for transit vehicles," the report found.

It instead recommended "ongoing investigation of best practices" and providing "education to Halifax Transit bus operators ... to eliminate negative perceptions."

"Every snow storm, you see a bus at the corner of Spring Garden Road and Barrington Street, jack-knifed across that street," said one driver.

The driver said there are approximately 175 buses on the road at peak times. If a snow storm hits at rush hour, many buses get stuck and overtime costs can add up quickly.

Another major source of overtime is regularly-scheduled shifts that exceed daily or weekly limits. One driver shared his schedule with CBC News. It showed up to 4.25 hours of regularly-scheduled guaranteed overtime each week.

The estimated $5.4 million in total overtime for 2014 does not include the series of severe snow and ice storms that hit Halifax in the first few months of 2015. The total overtime paid out during that time has not yet been compiled.

City staff said last week that Halifax Transit overtime is mostly blamed on coverage of unexpected gaps in the system.

Sometimes short segments need to be added to the end of a driver's route. Often, these gaps are the result of sickness, driver training, absenteeism or general scheduling constraints.

"Overtime costs are planned for during the annual budget and business planning cycle, and in recent years, planned overtime has been closely aligned with actual overtime expenditures," wrote spokesperson Tiffany Chase in an email last week.