Metro Transit

[pchipman]

The phrasing in that article seems kinda funny to me. For instance 'apathy' is the term used for those who do not purchase a car? I am a proud non car owner and have actively chose to live a car-free lifestyle. I may be in the minority, but I don't feel like my transportation decisions are apathetic.

I feel as though this kind of thinking is the mainstream, especially in suburban-centered HRM and in a consumption-driven society in general. Transitioning away from a car-centric mentality needs to be part of the change towards a more sustainable and densified urban center.

Along with public transportation, active transportation needs to be promoted as a viable alternative to battling traffic everyday. Obviously, even the most active people won't bike/walk/run to work downtown if they live in the suburbs- so densification is a big part of this.

[spaustin]

Originally Posted by Halifax Hillbilly

Regardless, the rest of the article goes on to explain why people coming out of university don't buy cars. That would be the age group with the shocking 1% drop in new car ownership over the last 25 years. Adding many plausible reasons for a drop in car ownership among Gen Y doesn't change the fact that the stats they quote show no real change in car ownership for that age group.

Homer Simpson: "Oh people can come up with statistics to prove anything. 14% of people know that."

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by pchipman

The phrasing in that article seems kinda funny to me. For instance 'apathy' is the term used for those who do not purchase a car? I am a proud non car owner and have actively chose to live a car-free lifestyle. I may be in the minority, but I don't feel like my transportation decisions are apathetic.

I feel as though this kind of thinking is the mainstream, especially in suburban-centered HRM and in a consumption-driven society in general. Transitioning away from a car-centric mentality needs to be part of the change towards a more sustainable and densified urban center.

Along with public transportation, active transportation needs to be promoted as a viable alternative to battling traffic everyday. Obviously, even the most active people won't bike/walk/run to work downtown if they live in the suburbs- so densification is a big part of this.

Well said. I find all sides of the debate to be huge hypocrites.

At the end of the day, I'd prefer to live downtown in a high rise and not need a car. Those things don't conflict with one another, its just common sense.

Being against height and against cars is counter intuitive. Obviously cars are needed when sprawl is de facto promoted by anti-height initiatives.

[beyeas]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

Being against height and against cars is counter intuitive. Obviously cars are needed when sprawl is de facto promoted by anti-height initiatives.

Yeah this is the central fact that Tim Bousquet in particular just doesn't get.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by beyeas

Yeah this is the central fact that Tim Bousquet in particular just doesn't get.

Many people just label things good or bad when the real question is what the tradeoffs are.

I think it's also pretty easy to become out of touch with the wider world when you're surrounded by a particular crowd. The Coast types might be able to find trendy North End apartments that require neither cars nor new highrises. That doesn't scale though and it doesn't work for other lifestyles.

The whole thing reminds me a bit of Alice Waters, a restaurateur and organic food advocate in Berkeley who pointed out that she's willing to pay a little extra for organic grapes, while some people are wasting their money on fancy Nike shoes. The "let them eat cake" attitude is fundamentally the same whether it's Alice Waters or some hipster saying we should all bike everywhere. It's easy to make ridiculous prescriptions for people when you know nothing about them.

[Nouvellecosse]

by me

Weird, when I checked the website last winter they said they needed to wait until May to launch since they needed special highway buses, but these look pretty standard.

[Keith P.]

They probably had to special-order ones without any luggage racks.

[jslath]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Weird, when I checked the website last winter they said they needed to wait until May to launch since they needed special highway buses, but these look pretty standard.

I read (if I recall correctly) that these special highway buses have a high performance engine in them for driving at highway speeds over an extended period of time.

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by jslath

I read (if I recall correctly) that these special highway buses have a high performance engine in them for driving at highway speeds over an extended period of time.

That is exactly right - these are the same type of buses used on the BRT to the Airport here in Calgary and I believe what is going to be used for the airport bus in Edmonton. Ours have luggage racks as well. I've used it a few times, it's wonderful. Very quiet too!

[bornagainbiking]

Recently I took their service, the lady in store advised me to buy the one day transit pass and seeing I only had a 8 hr layover. I got a trip downtown and back for 8 bucks. The driver was very helpful and made suggestions.
I understand the taxi fare to downtown is $50-60 and the bus is a great option.
Last week I was in Hfx and took the airport shuttle and it was $20. However it was drawn out as we had to run from hotel to hotel and took an HR to get to the airport.
The bus looks like a winner. And something for the people.
Congrats, and I will take it next time.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by jslath

I read (if I recall correctly) that these special highway buses have a high performance engine in them for driving at highway speeds over an extended period of time.

Oh, somehow I was expecting them to look like either the big MetroX truck-buses, or like the Access-A-Bus van-buses. Although these are the same as used for the 747 bus to Trudeau which spent most of its time on the highway.

[scooby074]

Passed 2 of the airport run buses at 2 different times yesterday and it looked like they were 1/2 or maybe 3/4 full. Looks like they are beginning to take off (pardon the pun)

Anybody else notice increased ridership on the airport run?

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by bornagainbiking

Recently I took their service, the lady in store advised me to buy the one day transit pass and seeing I only had a 8 hr layover. I got a trip downtown and back for 8 bucks. The driver was very helpful and made suggestions.
I understand the taxi fare to downtown is $50-60 and the bus is a great option.
Last week I was in Hfx and took the airport shuttle and it was $20. However it was drawn out as we had to run from hotel to hotel and took an HR to get to the airport.
The bus looks like a winner. And something for the people.
Congrats, and I will take it next time.

$50 to $60 is assuming no traffic. I know people who have paid in the $80 range. To hear that HRM's bus is 3/4 full is fantastic. I know there was some concern out here in Calgary about the BRT because it wasn't doing so well, but from what I've heard the ridership has been improving. I don't know the numbers though.

[jslath]

Originally Posted by scooby074

Passed 2 of the airport run buses at 2 different times yesterday and it looked like they were 1/2 or maybe 3/4 full. Looks like they are beginning to take off (pardon the pun)

Anybody else notice increased ridership on the airport run?

I recently flew from Halifax to Ottawa. Took the MetroX in Halifax and the OC Transpo in Ottawa. Surprisingly, the MetroX run had more people on it.

[Dmajackson]

Progress has slowed to a snails pace but have a look at the cars to get a sense of scale (Urban_Halifax @ Flickr);

[scooby074]

August 27 is supposed to be opening day.

Worth having a read of the article in the Herald today, some routes will be changing .

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/hcw...open-august-27

[Dmajackson]

Now This Is a Schedule Adjustment

This effectively creates Halifax's first high-frequency transit corridor (along side Portland Street) since all the Bridge-Mumford runs will be transferred to Route 1. On weekdays this will create 10 minute headways all day. I think they should go a step further and increase this to 5 minutes on peak, 10 minutes off peak, and 15 minutes from midnight-6am. They should also explore expanding service to late night hours Monday-Saturday.

[pblaauw]

Is it strange that I feel giddy, seeing the phrase "your new facility!"? (the keyword being "your", instead of "our" or "the".)

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Now This Is a Schedule Adjustment

This effectively creates Halifax's first high-frequency transit corridor (along side Portland Street) since all the Bridge-Mumford runs will be transferred to Route 1. On weekdays this will create 10 minute headways all day. I think they should go a step further and increase this to 5 minutes on peak, 10 minutes off peak, and 15 minutes from midnight-6am. They should also explore expanding service to late night hours Monday-Saturday.

This is a good start. Now I wonder if they will consider a Right of Way route (maybe through the dockyards) so that it would be Bus Rapid Transit.

Has there ever been any discussion at the municipal level about having all night service? Even if it is just from downtown Halifax to the Dartmouth Bus terminal it would be great for people who have to work very late at night or have to start very early in the morning and can't afford taxi fare.

[pblaauw]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

Has there ever been any discussion at the municipal level about having all night service? Even if it is just from downtown Halifax to the Dartmouth Bus terminal it would be great for people who have to work very late at night or have to start very early in the morning and can't afford taxi fare.

What about running the MetroLink and/or MetroX routes at night, to the park-and-ride lots?