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A blueprint for redesigned transit in Halifax was released tonight, but in case you missed the event by It’s More Than Buses at the aptly-named Bus Stop Theatre, you can read the group’s full proposal here.
As we’ve covered, the citizen-created advocacy group has been working since 2011 to try and improve what Halifax Transit offers Haligonians. According to IMTB, currently the transit authority recovers less than a third of their expenses from fares, with the difference made from public funding. So aside from actually being usable, improved transit also equals potentially less costs since there’ll be more people riding every day.
The basic plan IMTB recommends is a high-frequency network with fifteen-minute service (or better) on major corridors. Under that setup, the group predicts a trip from Mic Mac Mall to Bayer’s Lake (cross-city from the two busiest shopping centres) would go from 76 minutes to 35. Buses would also meet at the same time at transfer points, which alone would benefit anyone who’s ever pulled into a terminal while watching their connecting transfer leave a minute early.
They also recommend transit lanes on corridors like Robie and Barrington Street, as well as “queue jump lanes” and special transit signals. Those infrastructure changes may end up the hardest sell for the city, but are likely key to making any meaningful changes. The alternative of putting more buses in traffic will only add to congestion. Transit then becomes less attractive, meaning more people choose their cars, meaning more vehicles on the roads, and so on, and so on…
Halifax Transit’s own system review will be brought before the public in January. You can share your own thoughts with It’s More Than Buses on their Facebook and Twitter.
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This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2014.
Our plan absolutely provides a large amount of service to and within the peninsula. The reason for this is there is a very large number of jobs and other commuters in a very small area. Downtown Halifax, universities and hospitals collectively represent over 50,000 commuter trips every day – in about 3.5 km square. There are people travelling to, from and within this area in large numbers, all day. Parking isn’t free and is often hard to find. Add in the 7,000 employees nearby at CFB Halifax and you have by far the largest and densest concentration of jobs in the region.
By contrast, Burnside has 20,000 jobs in 8 km square. This lower density is compounded by poor road connections that make transit routes difficult. Add in the fact there’s few sidewalks and free parking — Burnside is not nearly as strong a transit market as Downtown Halifax, Downtown Dartmouth and many other areas.
We are proposing all-day, frequent service in both directions on main corridors with the density of jobs and residents to support that service. Our network uses approximately 75% of Halifax Transit’s current resources. The additional 25% of service is available for additional services.
I admire the ambition behind this project. I doubt HT will adopt this exactly (a lot of neighbourhoods got left out in this plan, plus it ignores Burnside, a place that could use less traffic) but the idea of fewer stops and better infrastructure is one that should be pushed hard. Hopefully HT can have some collaboration with your group.