'I slide off them all the time:' Halifax Transit tackling issue of slippery bus seats

Regular Halifax Transitriders who dread climbing aboard one of the fleet's newest buses because of their slippery plastic seatsareglad to hear the transit provider is planning to buy and install cushions for the worst of its blue-seated fleet.

The plastic seats on 69 Nova Busvehicles may be durable, but they're hard to stay on, say frequent users.

"Oh my gosh!I slide off them all the time," saidtransit user Carmen Chranofsky. "I have to hold myself on the bus.I don't like them at all."

Drew MacDonaldcalled the blue seats"dangerous." He said he braces himself or finds something to hold on to every time he ison one of the Nova Busvehicles.

"I sit at the front because I'm a big guy and I'm constantly trying to keep my balance or keep from sliding out," he said.

Halifax Transit issued a tender at the end of Junelooking for a company to supply it with a total of 1,242seat and back cushions. They would be installed on the 69 buses, but only on the nine seats closest to the driverthe two side-facing benches and the adjacent front-row seats.

In an email, Halifax Transit spokesperson Erin DiCarlosaid the Nova Bus vehicles with the unpopular seats were introduced into the fleet between 2016 and 2018. She said the switch to plastic from fabric "was done in an effort to reduce maintenance, time and cost, as they are more durable and easy to clean."

Where the project is out to tender, it's not clear how much it will cost to retrofit the seats.

DiCarlo said Halifax Transitchose not to retrofit all the plastic seats on the 69 buses because of the"significant additional costs."

"These nine seats were identified as highest priority, as they have no barriers (other seating, partition, modesty panels, etc.) to hold, if required," she wrote.

"The decision to retrofit some of the existing vehicles in the fleet was to provide options for those passengers who voiced concerns over the plastic seats."

3 years for retrofit work

The tender call expires Thursday. The request for quotations documentsaid itwill take untilJune 30, 2022, for all the buses to be retrofitted. The plan is to add the seat and back cushions as buses are pulled off the road for regularly scheduled preventive maintenance.

There are 334 buses in Halifax Transit's conventional vehicle fleet.The 69 Nova Busvehicles represent about21 per cent of the fleet.