‘Most of us think they just don’t care,’ says frustrated Access-A-Bus user

Halifax Transit’s Access-A-Bus service came under fire at a recent town hall on accessibility issues.

The city’s accessibility advisory committee held their annual meeting at Halifax Central Library on Nov. 5., and attendees voiced their concerns with the service.

“I have missed multiple classes because of the high demand that has been placed upon the Access-A-Bus transportation system,” said Gabrielle Close at the meeting. “How do you plan to resolve those concerns?”

Close, a psychology student at Dalhousie University, is blind. She relies on Access-A-Bus to get to class, but has faced challenges getting to campus reliably.

“Missing classes doesn’t look so good. People think you’re ditching or skipping, and it’s not like that for me at all, I just can’t get to class,” she said. “There are many reasons why a person might not get to class but transportation shouldn’t be one of them.

“Especially as a person with a disability, we already have challenges when it comes to acquiring a good quality education and getting employed. There’s so many things other than transportation that are challenges,” Close told The Signal after the panel. 

As of January 2025, there are 46 Access-A-Buses in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Allen Lenihan, a call centre supervisor for Accessible Transit, told town hall attendees that Halifax Transit is taking steps to improve its service. 

“At Halifax Transit our mission is to provide a sustainable, reliable and safe transit system for all,” Lenihan said.

“This can only be achieved through consistent commitment to accessibility. I can say with full certainty that all of us at Halifax Transit are dedicated to advancing and improving access to accessibility and have taken various initiatives to achieve this.” 

Access-A-Bus issues presented during the town hall included an insufficient number of buses and drivers, leading to users being put on waitlists. 

Close thinks there should be more reliable transportation for those with accommodations. 

“Obviously I know some of these things take time but, at the same time, we kind of have to get on it because some of us are kind of desperate and need these supports.”

Lenihan said the city has begun a review of the system, including booking, software and the number of buses and drivers for Access-A-Bus. 

Halifax Transit did not respond to The Signal’s requests for information on how many buses Access-A-Bus is looking to add or how many people are left on waitlists each day. A representative confirmed that while online booking was originally meant to be available by summer 2025, it has yet to be implemented. 

Carole Arsenault, a wheelchair-user (or ‘wheelie,’ as she puts it), has heard promises of a revamped Access-A-Bus system for years.

She was told in 2023 that Halifax Transit was working on an online system for Access-A-Bus users to book their appointments, as opposed to doing it over the phone, where Arsenault says wait times can be over 90 minutes. 

“It’s November 2025 and they’re still just giving us empty promises at the town hall,” Arsenault said. 

“Most of us think they just don’t care. It’s very frustrating, you go to these things year after year and ask the same questions and tell them the same problems over and over again and nothing ever gets done. It’s very frustrating for those of us who can’t walk.”

For Walter Lucas, who uses a mobility scooter and relies on Access-A-Bus because of his arthritis, the process induces anxiety. 

Access-A-Bus users choose a 30-minute window to be picked up, and if they’re not outside within three minutes of the bus’s arrival, the driver is entitled to leave. Lucas, who lives outside the pickup zone, must ride to the nearest stop on his scooter and wait outside for the bus. 

He said it’s not uncommon for a bus to be late, sometimes by up to 90 minutes, and on one occasion he was left outside in the cold and couldn’t call the Access-A-Bus booking line to get back home, as they close at 5 p.m. on weekends and holidays. 

“An off-duty cop came by and asked if I was all right. I said ‘Oh yeah, I’m just waiting for my Access-A-Bus.’ She asked if it was normal for me to have to wait in the weather, and I said ‘yes,’ which it is.”

Lucas said the off-duty police officer called Halifax Transit and eventually he made it home.

“It’s stressful trying to depend on the bus,” Lucas said. “It shouldn’t be that way.”