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[1]
Locale	Halifax, Nova Scotia
Transit type	Bus, Ferry
Number of lines	67 bus routes 2 ferry routes
Daily ridership	99,320 (average weekday, 2019/20)[note 1][2]
Annual ridership	30.4 million (2019/20)[note 1][2]
Key people	Dave Reage, Director
Headquarters	200 Ilsley Avenue, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Website	http://halifax.ca/transit
Operation
Began operation	1981[3]
Operator(s)	Halifax Regional Municipality
Number of vehicles	353 buses[4] 5 ferries[4] 47 paratransit buses[4]

Halifax Transit is a Canadian public transport service operating buses and ferries in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Founded as Metro Transit in March 1981, the agency runs two ferry routes, 61 conventional bus routes (including corridor, local, and express services), three regional express routes (called MetroX), and three rural routes. Halifax Transit also operates Access-a-Bus, a door-to-door paratransit service for senior and disabled citizens.

Total ridership in the 2019/20 reporting year was about 30.4 million, with the system carrying an average of 99,320 on weekdays.^{[note 1][2]} According to the 2016 census, Halifax had the seventh-highest proportion of workers taking transit to work among Canadian cities.^[5]

History[]

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

Preceding services[]

Halifax was among the first Canadian cities to be served by an integrated public transportation system, pre-dated only by Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City.^[6]

The city'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.^[7]

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.^[8]

The bright yellow trolleys, operated by utility company 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 operation.^[9] Some of Halifax's T-44 trolleybuses were sold to the Toronto Transit Commission for parts for their Western Flyer E-700A.

Unification[]

Metro Transit, a single transit agency serving all of the greater Halifax-Dartmouth metropolitan area, began operations in March 1981.^[3] 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,^[10] to consolidate the transit operations of the Halifax Transit Corporation 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 when Halifax, Dartmouth, and Halifax County were amalgamated in 1996. Since then, the service has been operated directly by the municipal government, and since October 2010 the agency has reported though the Transportation Standing Committee of Halifax Regional Council. The municipality announced on July 15, 2014 that it was changing the service's name to Halifax Transit to reflect the city's new brand.^[11][12]

System redesign[]

In January 2014, Halifax regional council approved a study to look at a major re-design of the city's transit system.^[13] 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 MetroX (soon to be Rural Express) and a short reprieve to attempt to increase ridership to save the #15 bus to York Redoubt.

The Moving Forward Together Plan is Halifax Transit's five-year improvement plan that outlines planned changes to the transit network from late 2016 to 2020. The plan aims to increase the proportion of resources dedicated to high-ridership routes, simplify the system and make it more understandable, improve service quality and reliability, and give priority to transit in the transportation network.^[14]

Some critics called the plan inadequate, outlining various criticisms including inefficient and redundant route design, missing data and analysis, a long implementation period causing nuisance to riders, and a lack of network connectivity. In addition, critics characterised the "Moving Forward Together Plan" as disregarding the key principles that Halifax Transit identified through years of public engagement and consultation.^[15] Business groups have also noted both the current lack of service, and lack of proposed future service, along key corridors of the region.^[16]

Fuel leak[]

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.^[17] 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.^[18] Before the discovery of the leak, Halifax Transit initially claimed that the excess fuel consumption was caused by higher usage during winter.^[19]

Operations[]

Bridge Terminal, which opened in 2012

Viola Desmond ferry at launch in 2016

Conventional bus service[]

There are 322 conventional buses in the fleet,^[20] all of which are low floor and wheelchair accessible. ^[21]

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 and Herring Cove. Routes are numbered according to the region or type of service provided.

Express service[]

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.

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.^[22]

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

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^[23] Each ferry carries up to 398 passengers. All routes are handicap accessible and have provision to carry bicycles.

Access-A-Bus[]

Halifax Transit also provides Access-A-Bus, a dial-a-ride paratransit service for elderly and handicapped residents. This was created in 1981, the same year Metro Transit was formed.^[24]

Services[]

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

Fares[]

Halifax Transit offers four main fare categories: Adult (16 years & up), Senior (65+ years), Child (5 – 15 years), and Student (for full-time students with valid student photo ID card). 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 (called U-pass) is available to students of Saint Mary's, Mount Saint Vincent, King's College, Dalhousie, Nova Scotia Community College (Halifax campuses) and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. The cost is included in tuition fees. Halifax Transit offers a low-income bus pass sold for 50 per cent of the regular price to eligible applicants.^[25]

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 travelling 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.^[26]

Schedules and route information[]

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 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, providing both auditory and visual notice of approaching bus stops, as well as announcing the route of each bus on arrival at a bus stop.^[27] By January 30, 2017, all conventional buses provided the automated stop announcement.^[28] As of June 8, 2017, all conventional buses in the Halifax Transit fleet were low floor and accessible to wheelchairs. ^[29]

Transit routes[]

Route number structure[]

As the Moving Forward Together Plan takes effect the following number structure will be in effect. Routes 1-19 are Corridor routes. Routes 20-99 are Local routes. Routes 100-199 are Express routes. Routes 300-399 are Regional Express routes. And routes 400-499 are Rural routes. Corridor routes provide high frequency during most of the day and travel long routes connecting different parts of the Halifax Regional Municipality to Downtown Halifax. Local routes provide less frequent service across various parts of the HRM connecting communities to corridor routes. Express routes are limited stop, peak service only routes that provide direct transport from downtown to local communities. Regional Express and Rural routes provide varied levels of service to areas outside of the HRM.

Implementation of the Moving Forward Together Plan is currently incomplete, and some existing routes have not yet been reassigned to match these categories. For example, local route 5 Chebucto is expected to be discontinued and its route number reused for a new consolidated service along the Portland Street corridor. MetroLink route 159 is not considered an Express Route, and will eventually be discontinued and replaced by a new Express route.

Current routes[]

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

No.	Name	Type	Features	Inner terminal	Outer terminal	Notes/History
1	Spring Garden	Corridor		Bridge Terminal	Mumford Terminal	Travels Roslyn Road at peak times
2	Fairview	Corridor		Water Street Terminal	Lacewood Terminal
3	Crosstown	Corridor		Lacewood Terminal	Windmill & Wright
4	Universities	Corridor		Dalhousie University	Lacewood Terminal	Used to provide service to Mount Saint Vincent University.
5	Chebucto	Local		Water Street Terminal	Downs & Milsom	Weekday service only.
7	Robie	Corridor		Merv Sullivan Park	Northridge Loop
8	Sackville	Corridor		Upper Water Street	Sackville Terminal	Replaced route 80 Sackville
9A	Greystone - Fotherby	Corridor		Barrington & Duke	Fotherby & Herring Cove
9B	Herring Cove	Corridor		Barrington & Duke	St Paul's & School
10	Dalhousie	Corridor		Dalhousie University	Invenary & Strath
11	Dockyard	Local		Halifax Dockyard	Bridge Terminal	Partially a re-reinstatement of a former route with the same number.
14	Leiblin Park	Local		Barrington & Duke	Leiblin & Juniper	Thru-Route to route 61 Auburn
21	Timberlea	Local		Lacewood Terminal	Charles Road	Used to service downtown Halifax.
22	Armdale	Local		Mumford Terminal	Ragged Lake Transit Centre
25	Governors Brook	Local		Mumford Terminal	Titanium Crescent
28	Bayers Lake	Local		Mumford Terminal	Lacewood Terminal
29	Barrington	Local		Point Pleasant Park	Bayers Road Centre
30A	Clayton Park West	Local		Lacewood Terminal	Lacewood Terminal	Travels in a clockwise loop.
30B	Clayton Park West	Local		Lacewood Terminal	Lacewood Terminal	Travels in a counter-clockwise loop.
32	Cowie Hill Express	Express		Barrington & Duke	South Centre Mall	Weekday service only.
39	Flamingo	Local		Bridge Terminal	Lacewood Terminal
41	Dartmouth – Dalhousie	Local		Dalhousie University	Bridge Terminal	Weekday service only.
51	Windmill	Local		Bridge Terminal	Princess Margaret & Killkee	Peak service extends to Bedford Institute of Oceanography and Joseph Zatzman Dr. in Burnside.
53	Notting Park	Local		Highfield Terminal	Bridge Terminal	Weekday rush service extends from Bridge Terminal to Summer & Trollope.
54	Montebello	Local		Dartmouth Ferry Terminal	Caledonia & Du Portage
55	Port Wallace	Local		Bridge Terminal	Portobello Loop
56	Dartmouth Crossing	Local		Bridge Terminal	Finnian Row
57	Russell Lake	Local		Woodside Ferry Terminal	Portland Hills Terminal	Used to service Mic Mac
58	Woodlawn	Local		Bridge Terminal	Dorthea & Lucien
59	Colby	Local		Bridge Terminal	Ashgrove & Cole Harbour	Weekday rush service extends from Bridge Terminal to Summer & Trollope.
60	Eastern Passage / Heritage Hills	Corridor		Bridge Terminal	Caldwell & Shore	Travels to Heritage Hills at peak times only.
61	Auburn / North Preston	Local		Barrington & Duke	North Preston Recreation Centre	Thru-route to route 14 Leiblin Park.
62	Wildwood	Local		Bridge Terminal	Cole Harbour Place	Used to be the 62 Cherrybrook.
63	Woodside	Local		Bridge Terminal	Irving & Franklyn	Weekday service only until 5 PM.
64	Burnside	Local		Highfield Terminal	Bancroft & Marketplace	New route 64 Akerley, no service to Bridge Terminal, weekday only.
65	Caldwell	Local		Portland Hills Terminal	Caldwell & Cole Harbour
66	Penhorn	Local		Highfield Terminal	Gaston Loop	Used to provide service to the Cobequid Terminal.
68	Cherrybrook	Local		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	Local		Portland Hills Terminal	Finlay & Shuble
78	Mount Edward Express	Express		Woodside Ferry Terminal	Cole Harbour Place	Weekday rush hour service only.
79	Cole Harbour Express	Express		Woodside Ferry Terminal	Colby Village	Weekday rush hour service only. Replaced former MetroLink route 165.
82	First Lake	Local		Sackville Terminal	Cobequid Terminal
83	Springfield	Local		Sackville Terminal	Springfield Estates
84	Glendale	Local		Scotia Square	Sackville Terminal	Partially replaced route 87 Glendale, peak extension to Summer St.
85	Millwood	Local		Sackville Terminal	Sackville Terminal	Partially replaced route 82 Millwood
86	Beaverbank	Local		Sackville Terminal	Kinsac Community Centre
87	Sackville - Dartmouth	Local		Bridge Terminal	Sackville Terminal	Partially replaced route 87 Glendale
88	Bedford Commons	Local		Sackville Terminal	Bedford Commons	Used to service Atlantic Acres. New extended service to Sackville Terminal.
90	Larry Uteck	Local		Water Street Terminal	West Bedford Park & Ride
91	Hemlock Ravine	Local		Mumford Terminal	West Bedford Park & Ride	Partially replaces route 81 Hemlock Ravine
93	Bedford Hwy	Local		Scotia Square	Union Street	Peak only.
123	Timberlea Express	Express		Scotia Square	Charles Road	Weekday service only.
135	Flamingo Express	Express		Scotia Square	Lacewood Terminal	Weekday service only.
136	Farnham Gate Express	Express		Scotia Square	Lacewood Terminal	Weekday service only.
137	Clayton Park Express	Express		Scotia Square	Regency Park Dr. & Lacewood Dr.	Weekday service only.
138	Parkland Express	Express		Scotia Square	Lacewood Terminal	Weekday service only.
159	Portland Hills	Express		Barrington & Duke	Portland Hills Terminal	Weekday service only.
182	First Lake Express	Express		Summer/Bell	Cobequid Terminal	Replaced route 82 First Lake at peak times.
183	Springfield Express	Express		Summer Street	Springfield Avenue
185	Millwood Express	Express		Sackville Terminal	Bell/Summer	Replaced route 85 Millwood at peak times.
186	Beaverbank Express	Express		Scotia Square	Kinsac Community Centre	Peak only.
194	West Bedford Express	Express		Summer & Trollope	Innovation Dr. & Gary Martin Dr.	Weekday service only.
196	Basinview Express	Express		Summer & Trollope	Hwy 1 & Rockmanor	Weekday service only.
320	Airport/Fall River	Regional express		Albemarle & Duke	Halifax Stanfield International Airport
330	Tantallon	Regional express		Albemarle & Duke	Tantallon Rink Park & Ride	Weekday service only.
370	Porters Lake	Regional express		Albemarle & Duke	Porters Lake Rink Park & Ride	Weekday service only.
401	Porters Lake	Rural		Portland Hills Terminal	Grand Desert, Highway 207	Weekday service only.
415	Purcells Cove	Rural		Mumford Terminal	York Redoubt	Weekday service only.
433	Tantallon	Rural		Lacewood Terminal	Tantallon	Weekday service only.

Withdrawn[]

No.	Name	Started	Ended	Notes
2	Wedgewood		2018	Merged with 4 into new route 2.
3	Gottingen	1927	1989	Merged with route 7.
3	Mumford	1993	2012
4	Rosedale		2018	Merged with 2 into new route 2.
8	Windsor	1963	1999	Discontinued due to overlapping service from other routes.
8	Waterfront	2010	2013	Discontinued due to inadequate ridership.
6	Quinpool	1980	2017	Discontinued due to overlapping service from other routes.
9	Barrington	1928	2017	Discontinued due to Moving Forward Together Plan modifications. Partially replaced by route 29.
11	Macdonald Bridge	1955	1988	Merged with route 1, later partially reinstated.
12	Flamingo	1970	2003
16	Stanley Park	1995	1998
16	Parkland		2018	Discontinued due to Moving Forward Together Plan modifications. Partially replaced by route 39.
17	Saint Mary's		2018	Merged with 18 and 42 into new route 4.
18	Universities		2018	Merged with 17 and 42 into new route 4.
19	Fotherby	1990	2000
19	Greystone	2008	2017	Replaced by route 9A.
20	Herring Cove	1970	2017	Replaced by route 9B.
22	Exhibition Park	1993	2004	Reinstated with service to Exhibition Park with the opening of the Ragged Lake Transit Centre in 2010. Service to Exhibition Park was discontinued again in 2017.
23	Timberlea Express		2018	Replaced by new Express route 123.
26	Shuttle	1993	2008
30	Glenforest	1975	1999
31	Main Express		2018	Replaced by new Express routes 135, 136, 137 and 138.
33	Tantallon Express		2018	Discontinued due to Moving Forward Together Plan modifications. Replaced by new Express routes 135, 136, 137 and 138 and Rural route 433.
34	Glenforest Express		2018	Replaced by new Express routes 135, 136, 137 and 138.
35	Parkland Express		2018	Replaced by new Express routes 135, 136, 137 and 138.
34	Rockingham Express	1982	1990
35	Rosedale	1995	2000
40	Mumford–Dalhousie	2006	2006
42	Lacewood-Dalhousie		2018	Merged with 17 and 18 into new route 4.
48	Highfield	1990	1999
50	Portland Estates	1980	1996
50	BIO	2001	2004
52	Crosstown		2018	Discontinued due to Moving Forward Together Plan modifications. Partially replaced by route 3.
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
80	Sackville		2019	Replaced by corridor route 8, which follows the same routing.
81	Bedford	1980	1985
85	Bedford Express	1980	1991
86	Bedford–Dartmouth	1987	1988
86	Basinview express		2019	Replaced by route 196
87	Connolly	1990	1997
88	Atlantic Acres	1993	1994
165	Woodside Link	2005	2014	Replaced by new conventional route 79
185	Sackville Link		2019	Replaced by new Express routes 183 Springfield, 185 Millwood, and 186 Beaver Bank, which each follow the same routing as the previous route 185, but continue beyond Sackville terminal to serve various residential areas.
402	Sambro	2009	2017	Discontinued due to inadequate ridership.

Rapid Transit Network[]

In May 2020, Halifax Transit presented a plan to regional council to implement a new Rapid Transit Strategy. The strategy proposes the creation of a new Rapid Transit Network comprising four new bus rapid transit (BRT) lines and three new ferry routes. The estimated capital cost is around C$300-325 million, while operational costs are estimated at $15-22 million.^[30] Halifax Regional Council unanimously endorsed the plan on 26 May 2020.^[31]

As of 2021, Halifax is seeking funding for the project from other levels of government.^[32]

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

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Media related to Halifax Transit at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
  • Route map
  • Schedules, maps for individual routes, riders guide

Coordinates: 44°41′34″N 63°35′4.4″W / 44.69278°N 63.584556°W / 44.69278; -63.584556