Metro Vancouverites make plans to get around ahead of full transit strike

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Commuters who take the bus or SeaBus in Metro Vancouver are trying to come up with ways to get around ahead of a possible three straight days of no service, starting on Wednesday.

NEWS 1130 has spoken with many transit users ahead of the potential full strike, some of whom say they will bike, hitch a ride with a friend, or work from home. Others don’t know what they’re going to do, and are dreading expensive taxi rides as a last resort.

A full shutdown could still be avoided if last minute talks between Unifor and Coast Mountain Bus Company prove successful. Those are set to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

But as commuters work out their contingency plans, some are posting on social media offering rides to strangers.

RELATED: Calls grow for post-secondary schools to accommodate students in event of full transit shutdown

Burnaby RCMP Corporal Daniela Panesar says it’s important to keep safety in mind and not accept a ride from just anyone, no matter how desperate you may be.

“If you think outside the box, there might be people around you – at work, your neighbours – that will be able to provide you with a ride. I just don’t think that there’s any situation that you’d want to risk your safety,” she says. “We highly recommend that you take a ride from somebody you know, rather than just a random person.”

Panesar adds there are a few things you can do to ensure a safer ride if there really are no other options.

“Just letting people know where you are, where you’re leaving from, your expected time to arrive at a place. If you’re going to be taking a ride from anyone, try to keep it to somebody that you know.”

The transit workers’ union estimates about 350,000 would be impacted by a full shutdown, which would begin just after midnight on Wednesday morning.

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