GO bus commuters: You'd better start making contingency plans for your Monday commute (all 60,000 or so of you). GO Transit's bus drivers are set to walk off the job as contract talks between their union and Metrolinx near a Sunday night strike deadline.

The strike by 1,800 members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587, including roughly 800 bus drivers, would bring bus traffic across the entire GO network to a screeching halt. Most trains, however, will not be affected (though weekend trains to Niagara and Barrie would be suspended), and GO officials say non-union staff will be ensuring stations are kept open.

In case of a strike, GO is recommending riders make alternate arrangements to bike, drive or carpool into downtown (or just get ready to sardine yourself onto a packed train). On the flipside, in its 47 years of operation, GO Transit hasn't had a single strike yet. Maybe we can all just cross our fingers.

Photo by Roger Cullman from the blogTO Flickr pool.