Report made several recommendations, including a reduction of assets, lowering its operating expenditures, and transferring the ERR to an independent commission. Several changes were made to accounting practices, but key recommendations, such as the standing of an independent commission, were not implemented. The ERR was paralyzed by a severe blizzard on January 30, 1916; the poor conditions were exacerbated by reductions in track inspections due to budget cuts, and only one of the two snow sweeper cars working. All streetcar service was cancelled at noon that same day. The next day, a Monday, much of the streetcar system was still out of action, in what was called "the greatest winter crisis of the ERR to that point." Calls to privatize the ERR peaked in late 1916, but Mayor William Henry countered that newer extensions had already recouped their costs. As a concession, the city delayed planned extensions to Elm Park, Calder, and West Edmonton. The ERR began to implement single-ended streetcar operations in that same year, which entailed removing the doors on one side of the streetcars, taking the driving vestibule out of one end, and—in most cases—replacing the conductor with a farebox mounted near the entry door. The ERR believed that single-ended streetcars would be cheaper to purchase and maintain since they only required a controller and brake valve on one end, rather than both ends. Since these streetcars could only be driven from one end, turning loops were required on lines that used single-ended streetcars so that they could turn around. On August 31, 1917, ERR employees voted to strike after the city offered only minor concessions in response to their demands for increased wages, in the wake of one-man streetcar service commencing. The city refused to recognize the transit union, and it ordered all employees to turn in their uniforms, while simultaneously hiring new staff. Streetcar service was gradually re-introduced during the strike, but strikers were reportedly halting operations by grounding wires. The strike ended on September 11, when most employees agreed to the city's terms and returned to work; Edmonton still refused to recognize the union, or to negotiate an agreement with it. The labour disputes were gradually addressed over the coming year, and by mid-1918 the ERR began to generate a profit. The end of World War I brought another influx of complains about the ERR, as residents criticized overcrowding, dirty streetcars, routes perceived as