Halifax Transit

Halifax Transit
From top-left: Halifax Transit bus in new livery, Lacewood Terminal at night, view of Halifax from the deck of the Stannix, warning on Halifax III railing, new entrance to Dartmouth Alderney terminal.
Overview
Area served	HRM Urban Transit Service Area
Locale	Halifax, Nova Scotia
Transit type	Bus, Ferry
Number of lines	57 bus routes 2 ferry routes 5 express bus lines
Number of stations	Bayers Road Bridge Cobequid Dalhousie Dartmouth Ferry Downsview Halifax Ferry Highfield Hubley Centre Lacewood Lower Water Street Mic Mac Mumford Penhorn Portland Hills Sackville Scotia Square Tacoma Centre Woodside Ferry
Daily ridership	96,961
Key people	Dave Reage, Director
Headquarters	200 Ilsley Avenue, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Website	http://halifax.ca/transit
Operation
Began operation	1982
Operator(s)	Halifax Regional Municipality
Number of vehicles	312 buses 5 ferries

Halifax Transit is a Canadian public transport service operating buses and ferries in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Founded as Metro Transit in March 1982, Halifax Transit provides service in the urban service and adjacent area of the regional municipality utilizing 2 ferry routes, 57 conventional bus routes, two limited stop express routes, and three limited stop rural express routes. Halifax Transit also operates Accessabus, a door-to-door paratransit service for seniors and the disabled. In 2nd quarter 2016 bus ridership was 3.96 million, ferry ridership 641,000, and Accessabus ridership was 37,300. According to the 2011 census, Halifax has the 7th highest proportion of workers taking transit to work in a city in Canada.

History

Two open (summer) horse cars of the Halifax Street Railway Co, 1894

Halifax was among first cities in Canada to be served by an integrated public transportation system, pre-dated only by Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City.

The municipality's first transit service came with establishment of the Dartmouth ferry service, first chartered in 1752. In 1816 the sail powered ferry was replaced by a horse powered boat, and in 1830 with a steam ferry. While private omnibus services are known to have begun in the city at least as early as 1854, the roots of Halifax Transit date back to June 11, 1866.

The Halifax City Railroad Company (HCR) began operations with five horse-drawn trams on rails that stretched from the corner of Barrington Street and Inglis Street in the south end to the city’s first railway station near the corner of Duffus Street and Campbell Road (now Barrington Street) in the north end.

Tram with plow attachment, 1930s

Notwithstanding a ten-year hiatus, horse-drawn street railway services continued in Halifax until April 1896 when the system, now operated by the Halifax Electric Tramway Company, completed the conversion to electric-powered operation. The street railway served Halifax until March 1949, when the war-worn trams were replaced by "trackless" electric trolley coaches.

The bright yellow trolleys, operated by utility Nova Scotia Light and Power, plied city streets exclusively until 1963, when they were supplemented by diesel buses for the first time. The system became all-diesel on January 1, 1970, the same day the City of Halifax took over the operation.

Metro Transit bus with original green and blue livery with a stylized "M"

Metro Transit, a single transit agency serving all of the greater metropolitan area of Halifax-Dartmouth, began operations in March 1981. The system was created by the Metropolitan Authority, a common-services agency representing the former cities of Halifax and Dartmouth as well as suburban Halifax County, to consolidate the transit operations of the Halifax Transit Corporation in Halifax and Dartmouth Transit.

Metro Transit expanded in 1994 with the absorption of the Dartmouth ferry services formerly operated by the city of Dartmouth. Ownership of the transit service was transferred to the newly created Halifax Regional Municipality at amalgamation in 1996. Since that time the service has been operated directly by the municipal government and since October 2010 Transit has reported though the Transportation Standing Committee of Halifax Regional Council. The municipality announced on July 15, 2014 that it was changing the services name to Halifax Transit in reflection of the city's new brand.

In January 2014, Halifax regional council approved a study to look at a major re-design of the city's transit system. The "Moving Forward Together Plan" was adopted in principal by Halifax Regional Council in April 2016. Proposed amendments to the plan were defeated in November 2016, with the exception of a change to the route of the Porters Lake Metro X (soon to be Rural Express) and a short reprieve to attempt to increase ridership to save the #15 bus to York Redoubt. A review will be undertaken involving an outside consultant in 12–18 months to evaluate the results and suggest possible route optimization.

Operations

Buses

Bridge Terminal, which opened in 2012

There are 312 buses in the fleet, all of which will be low floor and wheelchair accessible by the end of 2017/18.

Conventional bus service

Halifax Transit operates 57 conventional transit routes within the Urban Transit Service Area, broadly similar to the metropolitan region of Halifax Regional Municipality (Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford and Sackville), including the areas of Eastern Passage, North Preston/Cherry Brook, Tantallon and Herring Cove. Routes are numbered according to the region or type of service provided.

Express services

Main article: MetroLink (Halifax)

Express routes, originally established as Metro Link express bus service operates Monday to Friday. The two express routes began service in August 2005. The system consists of two limited-stop fully accessible express routes, connecting downtown Halifax's Scotia Square bus terminal, with the Portland Hills terminal in Cole Harbour on the Dartmouth side, and the Sackville Terminal in Lower Sackville.

Main article: MetroX (Halifax)

Regional Express Routes, formerly MetroX, is Halifax Transit's rural express bus service. There are three routes which started operating in August 2009 running between Halifax and Tantallon, the Airport, and Porters Lake, respectively. All routes terminate at Scotia Square in downtown Halifax, are handicap accessible and have facilities to carry bicycles.

Rural routes provide some suburban and rural communities access to the regular and express bus system operated by Halifax Transit. There are three rural routes provide service between the Sackville Terminal and Beaverbank; Portland Hills to East Preston, Lake Echo, Grand Desert, and; South Centre Mall and Ketch Harbour via the Old Sambro Road and Highway 349.

Ferry Service

The launch of the Viola Desmond in 2016

Main article: Halifax-Dartmouth Ferry Service

Halifax Transit also provides two passenger ferry routes, one connecting downtown Halifax with Alderney Landing in Dartmouth, and the other connecting with Woodside. Each route is serviced by a pair of vessels. The ferry services are integrated with the bus services; the fares are identical, and transfers are accepted between the two systems. The harbour ferries board 1.4 million passengers each year Each ferry carries up to 398 passengers. All routes are handicap accessible and have provision to carry bicycles.

Access-A-Bus

Halifax Access-a-bus

Halifax Transit also provides Access-A-Bus service which is a dial-a-ride service for elderly and handicapped residents in the region. This service was created in 1981, the same year Halifax Transit was formed. There are approximately 20 Access-A-Bus vehicles .

Services

Fares

Halifax Transit offers four main fare categories: Adult (16 years & up), Senior (65+ years), Child (5 – 15 years), and Student (Full Time Student with valid photo student ID).

Halifax Transit support truck on Sackville eastbound at Barrington.

Category	Cash Fare	MetroPass	10 tickets
Adult	$2.50	$78	$20
Senior/Child	$1.75	$58	$14.50
Student	$2.50	$70	$20
Adult MetroLink	$3.00	$94.00	n/a
Senior/Child MetroLink	$2.25	n/a	n/a
Student MetroLink	$3.00	n/a	n/a
Adult MetroX	$3.50	$111.00	n/a
Senior/Child MetroX	$2.75	n/a	n/a
Student MetroX	$3.50	n/a	n/a

Anyone with a ticket, pass or transfer for the regular or Metrolink service can pay the difference in cash fare to use a more expensive Metrolink or MetroX service.

A Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) Identification card can be used to obtain free travel on Halifax Transit's conventional buses, MetroX buses, MetroLink buses and harbour ferry service. A university student bus pass (U-pass) is available for Saint Mary's, Mount Saint Vincent, King's College, Dalhousie, Nova Scotia Community College (Halifax Campuses only) and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design students, and the cost is included in tuition fees. Halifax Transit is also piloting a low income bus pass at 50% off regular price.

Transfers are issued upon request on all Halifax Transit buses and ferries. A transfer allows the user to transfer between multiple conventional route buses and ferries traveling in any direction without having to pay an additional fare. A transfer also allows users to transfer to MetroLink and MetroExpress buses at a reduced fare. Transfers are valid for 90 minutes after the last scheduled stop on the current run of the route where it was issued. Holders of a valid MetroPass or MetroLink Pass do not require transfers.

Schedules and route information

A Halifax Transit bus stop sign with new Departures Line info, high contrast route numbers, and Halifax Transit branding. Sign shows west bound routes from stop in front of Lord Nelson arcade on Spring Garden Road east of South Park Street.

Route information can be accessed through the Halifax Transit Departures number 902 480 8000. Individual route schedules are available online at halifax.ca/transit. Most terminals have TV screens that display anticipated arrival times of buses that service the terminal.

Departures

In early 2016, Halifax Transit publicly released their next-generation AVL-based system called Departures. The system was first launched on May 15, 2016, with the introduction of the Departures Line, and as of July 2016 the rollout of the updated Departures Board that replaces the older GoTime departure displays found at terminals across the system. The Departures Board works similar to the previous GoTime-based departures display, with the exception that instead of showing the next two bus arrival times, will display the bay number and the next bus departure time, either showing the next hour and minute or the number of minutes before the bus departs, or "delayed" if the bus is behind by a certain number of minutes. It will also only show buses set to arrive in the next while, versus the older display which would show "(not scheduled)" for any route not running at that point in time.

The Departures Line works similarly to the previous GoTime IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system. Instead of dialling (902) 480- plus the 4-digit number found on bus stop signage, one dials (902)-480-8000 and following the voice responses, one would input the bus stop number to access route departure times. The system gives the estimated departure time if available, scheduled times if the bus is not reporting real-time data or is delayed by a number of minutes, adjusted time to depart when schedule adjustments are made, and will announce when a bus is arriving within the minute.

Accessibility

On December 16, 2016 Halifax Transit began piloting an automated stop announcement system on several bus routes and equipping all conventional buses with the new service by end of March 2017. The stop-by-stop announcements offer Transit riders a more accessible and user-friendly experience.

Transit routes

Route number structure

Routes in the 00s, the 10s and the 20s are primarily Halifax-based routes. Routes in the 30s are rush-hour only routes serving Halifax. Routes in the 40s are university routes serving the Dalhousie University Studley campus which normally operate only during the academic calendar (September to April). Routes in the 50s, 60s and 70s are primarily Dartmouth-based routes. Routes in the 80s and 90s are Sackville and Bedford routes. Routes in the 100s are the MetroLink routes, routes in the 300s are the MetroX routes, and routes in the 400s are the Community Transit routes.

Current Routes

No.	Name	Features	Inner Terminal	Outer Terminal	Notes/History
1	Spring Garden		Bridge Terminal	Mumford Terminal
2	Wedgewood		Water Street Terminal	Kearney Lake & Wedgewood	Used to provide service to Exhibition Park.
4	Rosedale		Water Street Terminal	Ross & Dunbrack
5	Chebucto		Water Street Terminal	Downs & Milsom	Weekday service only.
6	Quinpool		Water Street Terminal	Stonehaven & Glenmore
7	Robie		Merv Sullivan Park	Northridge Loop
9	Barrington		Point Pleasant Park	Mumford Terminal
10	Dalhousie		Dalhousie University Terminal	Invenary & Strath
11	Dockyard		Bridge Terminal	Halifax Dockyard	Partially a re-reinstatement of a former route with the same number.
14	Leiblin Park		Barrington & Duke	Leiblin & Juniper
15	Purcell's Cove		Bayers Road Terminal	York Loop
16	Parkland		Bridge Terminal	Lacewood Terminal	No Sunday service.
17	Saint Mary's		Saint Mary's University	Lacewood Terminal	Weekday service only. No evening service.
18	Universities		Saint Mary's University	Lacewood Terminal
19	Greystone		Mumford Terminal	Greystone Loop	Weekday service only.
20	Herring Cove		St Paul's & School	Barrington & Duke
21	Lakeside / Timberlea		Charles & Richard	Summer & Trollope
22	Armdale		Mumford Terminal	Exhibition Park
23	Timberlea / Mumford		Upper Water & Cornwallis	Glengarry Gardens	Weekday service only.
31	Main Express		Summer & Trollope	Lacewood Terminal	Weekday service only.
32	Cowie Hill Express		Barrington & Duke	South Centre Mall	Weekday service only.
33	Tantallon Express		Summer & Trollope	Hubley Centre Mall	Weekday service only.
34	Glenbourne Express		Summer & Trollope	Kearney Lake & Parkland	Weekday service only. Used to be the Rockingham Express.
35	Parkland Express		Via Rail Station	Lacewood Terminal	Weekday service only. Used to service Rosedale.
41	Dartmouth – Dalhousie		Dalhousie University Terminal	Bridge Terminal	Weekday service only.
42	Lacewood – Dalhousie		Dalhousie University Terminal	Lacewood Terminal	Weekday service only.
51	Windmill		Bridge Terminal	Princess Margaret & Killkee	Weekday rush service extends from Bridge Terminal to Princess Margaret & Killkee to Joseph Zatzman Dr.
52	Crosstown		Colfold & Akerley	Chain Lake & Lakelands
53	Notting Park		Highfield Terminal	Bridge Terminal	Weekday rush service extends from Bridge Terminal to Summer & Trollope.
54	Montebello		Dartmouth Ferry Terminal	Caledonia & Du Portage
55	Port Wallace		Dartmouth Sportsplex	Portobello Loop
56	Dartmouth Crossing		Portland Hills Terminal	Wright & Countryview	Used to service Westphal
57	Russell Lake		Woodside Ferry Terminal	Portland Hills Terminal	Used to service Mic Mac
58	Woodlawn		Bridge Terminal	Dorthea & Lucien
59	Colby		Bridge Terminal	Ashgrove & Cole Harbour	Weekday rush service extends from Bridge Terminal to Summer & Trollope.
60	Eastern Passage / Heritage Hills		Bridge Terminal	Caldwell & Shore
61	Auburn / North Preston		Barrington & Duke	North Preston Recreation Centre	Used to service Bisett.
62	Wildwood		Bridge Terminal	Cole Harbour Place	Used to be the 62 Cherrybrook.
63	Woodside		Bridge Terminal	Irving & Franklyn	Weekday service only.
64	Akerley		Bridge Terminal	Akerley & McClusky	Weekday rush hour service only.
65	Caldwell		Portland Hills Terminal	Caldwell & Cole Harbour
66	Penhorn		Cobequid Terminal	Gaston Loop	Used to provide service to the Woodside Ferry, and Forest Hills.
68	Cherrybrook		Bridge Terminal	Cherrybrook & Hwy 7	Weekday peak service extends from Bridge Terminal to Summer & Trollope. Used to provide service to Ross Road and Auburn.
72	Portland Hills		Portland Hills Terminal	Finlay & Shuble
78	Mount Edward Express		Woodside Ferry Terminal	Cole Harbour Place	Weekday rush hour service only.
79	Cole Harbour Express		Woodside Ferry Terminal	Colby Village	Weekday rush hour service only. Replaces former MetroLink route 165.
80	Sackville		Upper Water & Cornwallis	Sackville Terminal
81	Hemlock Ravine		Upper Water & Cornwallis	Bedford & Uteck	Weekday service only. Used to service Bedford
82	Millwood		Cobequid Terminal	Sackville Terminal	Weekday peak service extends from Cobequid Terminal to Barrington & George
83	Springfield		Sackville Terminal	Springfield Estates
84	Glendale Express		Summer & Trollope	Sackville Terminal	Weekday service only.
85	Downsview Express		Summer & Trollope	Sackville Terminal	Weekday service only. Used to be the Bedford Express.
86	Basinview Express		Summer & Trollope	Hwy 1 & Rockmanor	Weekday service only. Used to connect Bedford and Dartmouth.
87	Glendale		Bridge Terminal	Sackville Terminal	Used to service Halifax and Connolly.
88	Bedford Commons		Cobequid Terminal	Bedford Commons	Used to service Atlantic Acres.
89	Bedford		Lacewood Terminal	Cobequid Terminal	Weekday service only.
90	Larry Uteck		Lower Water Street Terminal	Larry Uteck Roundabout
159	Portland Hills Link		Barrington & Duke	Portland Hills Terminal	Weekday service only.
185	Sackville Link		Barrington & Duke	Sackville Terminal	Weekday service only.
194	West Bedford Express		Summer & Trollope	Innovation Dr. & Gary Martin Dr.	Weekday service only.
320	Airport/Fall River		Albemarle & Duke	Halifax Stanfield International Airport
330	Tantallon		Albemarle & Duke	Tantallon Rink Park & Ride	Weekday service only.
370	Porters Lake		Albemarle & Duke	Porters Lake Rink Park & Ride	Weekday service only.
400	Beaver Bank		Sackville Terminal	Beaver Bank Villa, highway 354
401	Porters Lake		Portland Hills Terminal	Grand Desert, highway 207	Weekday service only.

Wheelchair – Uses Accessible Low Floor (ALF) buses only.
Rush Hour Service Only.
Designated Bike Route.
MetroLink Service (see MetroLink section below)
MetroX Service (see MetroX section below)
University routes that only operate during the university academic calendar year (September – April).

Withdrawn

No.	Name	Started	Ended	Notes
3	Mumford	1993	2012
3	Gottingen	1927	1989	Merged with route 7.
8	Windsor	1963	1999	Discontinued due to overlapping service from other routes.
8	Waterfront	2010	2013	Discontinued due to inadequate ridership.
11	Macdonald Bridge	1955	1988	Merged with route 1, later partially reinstated.
12	Flamingo	1970	2003
16	Stanley Park	1995	1998
19	Fotherby	1990	2000
22	Exhibition Park	1993	2004	Reinstated.
26	Shuttle	1993	2008
30	Glenforest	1975	1999
34	Rockingham Express	1982	1990
35	Rosedale	1995	2000
40	Mumford–Dalhousie	2006	2006
48	Highfield	1990	1999
50	Portland Estates	1980	1996
50	BIO	2001	2004
56	Westphal	1980	1989
57	Mic Mac	1980	1989
61	Bisett	1980	1996
66	Forest Hills–Woodside Ferry	1987	1989
68	Auburn	1980	1995
68	Ross Road	1995	2000
71	Forest Hills Express	1982	1989
81	Bedford	1980	1985
85	Bedford Express	1980	1991
86	Bedford–Dartmouth	1987	1988
87	Connolly	1990	1997
88	Atlantic Acres	1993	1994
165	Woodside Link	2005	2014	Replaced by new conventional route 79
402	Sambro	2009	2017

University routes that only operated during the university academic calendar year (September – April).

Criticism and Controversy

Halifax Transit is criticised as inefficient and unreliable. Transit advocates have called Halifax Transit's "Moving Forward Together Plan" inadequate, identifying four major concerns:

1. The lack of a connective network which will result in dramatically less travel choice for transit users
2. Inefficient and redundant route design that will cause ridership to remain low
3. Missing data and analysis making it difficult to have good, evidence-based discussion
4. A five-year implementation, which will cause unpredictability for riders as routes continuously change

In addition, the "Moving Forward Together Plan" is characterised as a plan that disregards the key principles that Halifax Transit identified through years of public engagement and consultation. Business groups have also noted both the current lack of service, and lack of proposed future service, along key corridors of the region.

In 2014, a massive fuel leak spilling close to 200,000 litres of fuel at Halifax Transit's Burnside bus depot went undetected for almost four months. In addition to the cost of lost fuel, cleanup from local environmental damage and groundwater contamination as far as 1 km away cost Halifax Regional Municipality approximately $2.5 million. Before the discovery of the leak, Halifax Transit initially claimed that the excess fuel consumption was caused by higher usage during winter.

In popular culture

• The characters of Phillip and Phillmore the ferry twins from the children's TV show Theodore Tugboat are modelled after the Halifax-Dartmouth ferries.

See also

• Transportation in the Halifax Regional Municipality
• Halifax Regional Municipality

External links

• Media related to Metro Transit (Halifax Regional Municipality) at Wikimedia Commons
• Halifax Transit's official website
• Complete route map for Halifax-Dartmouth area.
• Complete route map for Bedford-Sackville area.
• Schedules, maps for individual routes, riders guide.
• hbus.ca Community-based trip-planning service for Halifax