Halifax Transit

Halifax Transit

Founded	February 1979
Headquarters	200 Ilsley Avenue, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Service area	Halifax Regional Municipality
Service type	bus service, paratransit and ferry
Routes	67 total
Stops	Over 2,211
Fleet	At least 312 buses 4 ferries
Fuel type	B20 biodiesel, some hybrid
Operator	Halifax Regional Municipality
Website	www.halifax.ca/transit

Halifax Transit is a Canadian public transport agency operating buses and ferries in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Formerly known as Metro Transit, the agency announced on July 15, 2014, that it was changing its name to "Halifax Transit" in reflection of the city's new brand.

Owned by the municipality, Halifax Transit's operations area is the urban core in the western part of the municipality, namely the Halifax and Dartmouth Metropolitan Areas, and the adjacent outlying neighbourhoods and communities. It is the largest transit agency in Atlantic Canada, carrying 27 million passengers in fiscal year 2012/13.

History

File:Metrotransit logo.svg

Former Metro Transit logo

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.

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 and the start-up of the Halifax City Railroad Company (HCR). 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.

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.

A single transit agency serving all of the greater metropolitan area of Halifax began operations in 1981. The system was created by the Metropolitan Authority, a common-services agency representing the cities of Halifax and Dartmouth and suburban Halifax County, to consolidate the transit operations inherited from four immediate predecessors: Nova Scotia Light and Power Company, Limited (March 1895-December 1969) and Halifax Transit Corporation (January 1970-February 1979) in Halifax, and Dartmouth Transit Service Buses Ltd. (April 1957-February 1978) and Dartmouth Transit (February 1978-February 1979) in Dartmouth. Halifax and Dartmouth transit agencies merged their services to become Metro Transit in March 1981. The system expanded in 1994 to take over the Halifax Harbour ferry services formerly operated by the City of Dartmouth.

On July 15, 2014, the agency announced it was changing its name to Halifax Transit in reflection of the city's new brand.

The Burnside Transit and Maintenance facility, is the agency's headquarters, located on Ilsley Avenue in the Burnside Industrial Park, with a satellite garage known as the Rapid Transit Garage also in Burnside Park on Thornhill Drive. This is the only open facility to the public for the lost and found attributes to this location.

In January 2014, Halifax regional council approved a study to look at a major re-design of the city's transit system.

Bus service

Bridge Terminal, which opened in 2012

There are 312 buses in the fleet, 273 of them low-floor vehicles (but 13 are not wheelchair-accessible due to mechanical defects), and 16 of them are wheelchair-accessible using a lift mechanism. In addition, Halifax Transit operates a separate fleet of wheelchair-accessible buses for its Access-A-Bus service. The primary conventional service operates on 65 routes, including three Community Transit routes, two express routes operating as "MetroLink" which began service in August 2005, and three rural express routes operating as "MetroX" which started in August 2009.

Regular service

Halifax Transit operates 57 conventional transit routes within 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.

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.

Fare structure

Category	Cash Fare	MetroPass	10 tickets
Adult	$2.50	$78	$20
Senior/Child	$1.75	$58	$14.50
Student	$2.50	$70	$20

In addition, 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. The Halifax Transit fare structure can be found on the Halifax Transit website.

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.

Transit routes

Halifax Transit bus

Active

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.
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.
402	Sambro		South Centre Mall	Ketch Harbour fire station, highway 349	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

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

Express service

Main article: MetroLink (Halifax)

MetroLink is Halifax Transit's BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) express bus service that operates Monday to Friday. 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.

Rural express

Main article: MetroExpress (Halifax)

MetroExpress, or MetroX for short is Halifax Transit's rural express bus service. There are three MetroX routes, 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.

Community transit

Halifax Transit supervisor car on the waterfront in Dartmouth, with the Dartmouth ferry in the background

Halifax Transit runs a Community Transit service, allowing residents in some suburban and rural communities access to the regular and express bus system operated by Halifax Transit.

There are three Community Transit routes:

• 400 Beaver Bank, offering daily service between the new Sackville Terminal and Beaver Bank Villa in Beaver Bank via the Beaver Bank Road.
• 401 Porters Lake, offering Weekday service between Portland Hills Terminal in Dartmouth and the communities of East Preston, Lake Echo, Porters Lake and Grand Desert via Portland St, Cole Harbour Rd, Ross Rd, Highway #7, and Highway #207.
• 402 Sambro, offering weekday service between South Centre Mall in Spryfield and the Ketch Harbour fire hall Ketch Harbour via the old Sambro road and hwy 349. This route uses the same buses as the Metro X service does, and all buses have bicycle racks.

The fare structure and transfer policies for these routes is identical to the conventional service. Tickets and transfers from other routes are accepted, Monthly bus passes and U-Passes are accepted. Transfers are issued on request on these routes that allow passengers to continue their travels on other Halifax Transit routes.

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 .

GoTime and Departures

Bus stop sign on Alderney Drive

GoTime was the name of Halifax Transit's automated vehicle locater (AVL) system. The final generation of the system (unveiled over the winter of 2007/2008) used Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to track buses throughout the system, providing information on location and schedule adherence to the transit control centre. This information was also used to update Halifax Transit's partially real time bus departure system available to the general public.

Concept

Each bus stop sign had a blue 4-digit GoTime number on it. A passenger could dial 480- plus the 4-digit number to hear an automated message telling them exactly when the next bus on each route servicing that stop will depart, based on the information calculated above. Also, GoTime monitors are placed at every transit terminal, and a few major stops, listing each of the routes that service that stop and when the next two buses on those routes will arrive at that stop. This information is continually updated as the central GoTime system recalculates bus departure times, using the data collected from the buses. In addition to this, each bus is equipped with an onboard computer which continually updates the driver on exactly how many minutes ahead of or behind schedule they are, to ensure schedule adherence. A web-based component was developed to provide departure times information via the internet in both standard internet and mobile internet formats, however rollout of this service was unadvertised and was subsequently shut down.

Technical difficulties and limitations

Halifax Transit publicly announced the web-based GoTime system in the Winter of 2007–2008 utilizing a pamphlet distributed in buses that had an incorrect URL (http://halifax.ca/metrotransit/gotime) to the service. This component, which is now unavailable to the public, was never correctly or officially released to the public.

As of January 2012, Halifax Transit stated that "over 80% of buses" were reporting live GoTime information " as system testing continues."

History

The new GPS-based system replaces an older system originally designed by the former City of Halifax between 1984 and 1987, one of the earliest real-time passenger information and transit management systems in North America. The previous generation system used wheel rotation sensors to calculate the distance traveled from the start of the route, which was then transmitted back to the transit control centre. This data allowed the system to calculate the buses position along its route, as well as exact departure times for each bus stop ahead of it. In addition to wheel sensors, door sensors were used to determine when the bus was at a stop, and a series of electronic transmitters mounted to power poles along each route allowed the system to further calculate the buses position along its route. As with the current-generation system, the previous system also had a call-in system where a user could call the 4-digit GoTime number on each bus stop and hear an automated message telling them when the next two buses on each route servicing that stop would depart, monitors at all terminals displaying real-time departure information, and onboard computers displaying information to drivers on how far ahead or behind schedule they are.

The hardware to support the previous-generation GoTime system had been steadily deteriorating over time, as the last major overhaul to the system was completed in 1996. There is reference to funds being allocated in 1998 for a GoTime upgrade, however, it is believed that the companies that were contracted to perform the upgrade, failed to do so when they each went bankrupt. Due to the instability of the system, it is believed that sometime between 2004 and 2005, the "real-time" functionality of the GoTime system was disabled, as phoning the system seemed only to tell the scheduled departure times, not actual departure times; the original system's phone-in component used the words "scheduled to depart in" when real-time data was unavailable, and either "estimated to depart in" or "will depart in" when data of less or more reliability was available.

Future advancements and Departures

In August 2013, Metro Transit released a Request for Proposal for an off-the-shelf AVL/CAD system to integrate with the existing GPS hardware on the buses. The contract was awarded to Trapeze Software Group in January 2014. The system will improve the availability of bus locations and allow for greater integration with online trip planners. The system will also increase Metro Transit's ability to monitor bus performance and employee activity. It will also accommodate future technology upgrades, such as proposed farebox technological improvements.

In early 2016, Halifax Transit publicly released their next-generation AVL-based system called Departures. The system was first launched on May 15th, 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.

Departures Line

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.

Fleet

Manufacturer	Model	Model Years	Fleet Numbers	No. Purchased	No. Remaining in Service	Notes/History
MCI	TC40-102N Classic	1990	948 – 952	5	3	Gradually being retired as replacements are purchased. 949 is considered to be the Nova Classic prototype.
NovaBus	TC40-102N Classic	1994 1995 1996	953 – 966 967 – 974 975 – 985	14 8 11	4 5 9	Gradually being retired as replacements are purchased. 975 & 976 were propane-powered test buses. The fuel provided less power than expected, and the engines were converted to diesel.
NovaBus	LFS	1999 2000	986 – 996 997 – 1000	11 4	9 4	Originally designated for use on low floor routes, but now are also commonly used on non-accessible routes because of malfunctioning ramps and “kneeling” mechanisms.
New Flyer Industries	D30LF	1999	505 – 507	3	2	Assigned to the Beaver Bank and Porters Lake Community Transit service, but are sometimes found on conventional routes. 506 was retired due to being wrecked in a fatal head-on collision in on its 402 Sambro run.
New Flyer Industries	D40LF	2002 2004 2005 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009	1001–1032 1033–1060 1061–1082 600 – 619 1083–1107 1108–1130 1131–1153 1154–1159	32 28 22 20 25 23 23 6	31 27 22 20 25 23 22 6	600 – 619 are branded for use on the MetroLink service, but are occasionally pressed into service on conventional routes. After discontinuing route 165, some MetroLink buses were rebranded for full-time conventional service, but retain their original fleet numbers and MetroLink's enhanced interior design. 600 – 619, 1083–1159 have air conditioning. 1022 & 1054 were destroyed by fire. 1141 is currently out of service due to a mechanical fire. Potentially may regain service.
New Flyer Industries	DE60LFR Articulated	2009	715 – 716	2	2	Hybrid diesel-electrics. Intended for use on planned Downtown Shuttle, however that project has been cancelled, and are now used on conventional routes.
GMC/Glaval Bus	C5500/Titan	2009	516 – 525	10	10	Branded for, and usually operate on, the MetroX Transit service, but also occasionally provide service on conventional routes.
NovaBus	LFS Artic	2010 2010 2012	717 – 731 732 – 741 742 - 761	15 10 20	15 10 20	717 – 731 entered service on August 30, 2010. 732 – 741 were delivered December 2010 and entered service in February 2011 during the Canada Winter Games.
NovaBus	LFS	2012 2012	526 - 534 1160 - 1161	9 2	9 2	526 - 534 exclusively for the Fall River/Airport MetroX service. 1160 - 1161 are for branded and used conventional service. They were implemented after the loss of 1022 & 1054.
Freightliner/Glaval Bus	S2C/Legacy	2013	535 – 540	6	6	Branded for, and usually operate on, the MetroX 330 & 370 service.
New Flyer Industries	XD40 Xcelsior	2013 2014 2015	1162 - 1183 1184 - 1198 1199 - 1207	22 15 9	22 15 9	1162 - 1183 are branded Metro Transit, but later in August 2014, 1184 and higher are branded Halifax Transit's new BOLD Attitude livery.

Ferries

Halifax III Ferry

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. The characters of Phillip and Phillmore, the ferry twins from the children's TV show, Theodore Tugboat are modelled after these vessels.

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