West Vancouver bus strike shuts down service to BC Ferries at Horseshoe Bay

A full scale strike has shut down bus service in West Vancouver, including public transit to the BC Ferries terminal at Horseshoe Bay.

The strike comes after mediated talks between the union representing 149 drivers and maintenance workers and the District of West Vancouver broke down Sunday afternoon.

The Blue Bus system, which is run by the District of West Vancouver, provides about 19,500 trips a day on about a dozen routes that connect to downtown Vancouver, UBC, Capilano University and Lions Gate Hospital.

The strike halted service to the 257 bus route that connects Metro Vancouver's public transit system to the Horseshoe Bay terminal.

The cancellation of that route surprised many passengers arriving Monday at the terminal.

With no transit service operating at Horseshoe Bay, commuters who hadn't made alternate plans were forced to either take a taxi or book a seat on a private shuttle bus.

That frustrated some travelers, like Hardeep Parmar, who managed to get a ride from a relative.

"I'm getting dropped off out of my way, but it's still better than getting a taxi... a lot of people are pissed off on the ferry," he said.

Nina Skadsheim and Alison Kilpatrick were strangers before getting off of the ferry.

When they realized they were both stranded, they decided to share a taxi.

Neither was aware there wasn't any bus service today.

"I heard there was a strike last week... but I didn't know it was still going on," said Skadsheim.

BC Ferries is advising travellers to plan ahead and car pool or take a taxi.

Greyhound and Tofino Bus also run buses that connect with the ferries about four times a day from the Vancouver bus station.

Talks scheduled today

Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union were picketing at the bus maintenance yard Monday morning.

The union has been in a legal strike position for over a week. Last week an overtime ban led to the cancellation of dozens of trips each day on the West Vancouver bus service.

The union's contract with the District of West Vancouver expired March 31, 2016 and negotiations began in May.

The District and the union begandirect talks without a mediator this afternoon at West Vancouver City Hall.