Won over by the irresistible romance of railway? I’ll try to conjure up the experience of what might be to come. Chuffing slowly but surely along by the shores of the Bedford Basin, you soon leave the crappy sprawling environs of Bedford behind you. Hark! The call of an eagle penetrates the soft rhythmic clatter […]
Transit
Posted inNews + Opinion
Speeds remain steady on Gottingen
Average traffic speeds on Gottingen remain the same, and are even a tiny bit slower, now that HRM has installed the street’s much-discussed bus lane. According to the city’s own internal numbers, north-bound traffic from Uniacke to North Street is moving on average at 52 kilometres per hour. It’s the exact same speed that HRM […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The parking fight
Robin Stewart doesn’t want to raise rents on his north-end properties, but he says city hall is leaving him little choice if it takes away street parking. The “Haliflats” landlord has been one of the loudest critics of HRM’s proposal to create a new north-end bikeway, which will have the potential side effect of reducing […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Moving backwards, apart: some background to the latest Transit controversy
The Purcell’s Cove area (from Williams Lake to Ferguson’s Cove) is a place of striking beauty. A significant part of the Backlands to the west of the area will become Halifax’s new Urban Wilderness Park. The serenity the Cove’s appearance contrasts sharply with the tension in its relationship with the central city since its annexation […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Injured cyclist wants stronger protection for all road users
“The message that I got was I should be content that I wasn’t killed,” says Stewart Rand. The Haligonian was hit by a car on the morning of September 30 while riding his bike on the Bedford Highway near Nelsons Landing Boulevard. He says he was thrown into the air by a vehicle that didn’t […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The inevitability of Uber
Ask anyone and they’ll tell you it’s the way of the future. Mayor Mike Savage tells the newspapers “it’s the way the world is moving.” Deputy mayor Waye Mason says in a radio interview that Halifax can’t call itself a high-tech city without it. A recent survey from Corporate Research Associates found over two-thirds of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
New rules needed for the roads
It’s a long overdue revamp for how Nova Scotians safely use our roads. The province has put out an open call for public input on a new Traffic Safety Act to replace the century-old Motor Vehicle Act. The MVA was created in 1907 when the only vehicles on the roads were Oldsmobiles and Ford Model […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City hall apologizes for widespread racism within Halifax Transit
Twelve years after the initial complaint was filed, an independent board of inquiry from Nova Scotia’s Human Rights Commission has determined Halifax Transit’s work environment to be abusive and discriminatory. Lynn Connors, chair of the HRC’s board, states in a recently released decision that there is “ample evidence” that “discrimination was ongoing in the workplace.” […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Saying goodbye to a changing city
Halifax has many rites of passage. One of them is to move to Toronto for a stint that may last forever. Five years ago, we added another rite of passage: Penning a Dear John letter about how the city has let us down and pushed us to the door. Today, the city is in the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The worst bus in Halifax
Halifax Transit’s buses continue to arrive on-schedule far below industry standards, with the flagship Route 1 being late over half the time during rush hour. A performance report headed to HRM council next week says the overall percentage of Halifax Transit’s fleet that arrived on time in the second quarter of 2017/18 was a humbling […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Go home, you’re drunk
As midnight passes and people everywhere are staggering out of bars and house parties into 2018, there comes a challenge. You may have waited 15 minutes to get that last cocktail, but patience wears thin pretty quickly when you find yourself on the street wondering how to get home. Here are the best options. Taxis […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City councillors square-off over Segways on the ferry
Limiting the number of cyclists allowed on Halifax Transit ferries isn’t nearly as much of a concern for one city councillor as whether or not Segways will still be allowed aboard. Matt Whitman—who is not part of the Transportation Standing Committee—sat in on Thursday’s meeting and repeatedly went to bat for letting users of the self-balancing […]