Halifax Transit

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Hali87

The ferries tie into the bus network (though not as well as might be expected) but I think most people only take the ferry (particularly Downtown-Alderney) if it's within easy walking/cycling distance.

There are lots of connections from the Alderney ferry terminal to points east and south. I challenge you to find any useful connections from there northbound. They are not well-integrated at all. I have spent many cold windy hours waiting for a northbound bus in front of Queen Square to take me to the Bridge terminal where I get to wait again for another northbound bus. Hopelessly bad.

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

There are lots of connections from the Alderney ferry terminal to points east and south. I challenge you to find any useful connections from there northbound. They are not well-integrated at all. I have spent many cold windy hours waiting for a northbound bus in front of Queen Square to take me to the Bridge terminal where I get to wait again for another northbound bus. Hopelessly bad.

I found this out when I was in Halifax on a previous trip on a rainy day. That's the problem with having two terminals so close to each other. But they weren't willing to get rid of one because if the Bridge Terminal were removed - it would add time and cost to routings to get into downtown that don't normally. I always thought that was a bit of a cop out.

That said - if they really want to some day overhaul the transit system; they need to get past this fear of using anything other than the ferries and buses and look to other modes: LRT (similar to Vancouver or Calgary) and a similar street based LRT streetcar system.

If Halifax is going to build up the Peninsula and Dartmouth Centre (Inside the Circ) - then there needs to be a realization of the need of that both will need some sort of circulator system to feed the transit backbone and ferries. For Dartmouth - have a route run from Wallace Heights (and feed through Shannon Park) along WindMill Rd and then up to the Bridge Terminal - then through Downtown Dartmouth to Alderney Landing and out Portland Street and down Pleasant to end at Woodside Ferry. A pretty simple loop that connects them all - but build up the density and office demand all along it.

Have another circulator route from the Dartmouth Bridge Terminal out to Highfield Park along Victoria and then doing a loop through the industrial park/Dartmouth Crossing. On the Halifax side - have 2 similar loops (one starting up in the north end and the other running from Mumford) through the core and back out. When the time comes to re-do the MacDonald Bridge - incorporate a track across so the one of the routes can connect both sides.

[hfx_chris]

Originally Posted by Hali87

The Woodside ferry terminal is in the south-eastern part of Dartmouth and serves an institutional area with NSCC's flagship Waterfront Campus (local equivalent of VCC), a couple hospitals and a courthouse, and probably to a lesser extent the neighbourhoods surrounding 14 Wing Shearwater and the refinery. Each ferry run takes a little under 10 minutes and generally there is 15 minute frequency.

A minor correction, Shearwater is 12 Wing, not 14 Wing (which is Greenwood).
Also, you forgot to mention the Woodside ferry terminal is also a major park & ride lot with over 500 spaces, and always appears to be over 4/5 full during the day. I would say a very large chunk of the Woodside ferry's ridership are folks parking there.

Originally Posted by Keith P.

There are lots of connections from the Alderney ferry terminal to points east and south. I challenge you to find any useful connections from there northbound. They are not well-integrated at all. I have spent many cold windy hours waiting for a northbound bus in front of Queen Square to take me to the Bridge terminal where I get to wait again for another northbound bus. Hopelessly bad.

At least now you can wait inside in the warmth at the bridge

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by curnhalio

Changing gears: Metro Transit name no more, now being called Halifax Transit

By Metro Staff July 16th, 2014

Halifax’s new brand is coming to city buses and ferries, and the director of the newly-renamed Halifax Transit says it’s a change that will be followed by many more in the next few years.

“We’re on the cusp of rolling out some really distinct changes for transit in Halifax,” said Eddie Robar, standing in front of a bus sporting the much-debated blue and white logo at the Grand Parade Tuesday afternoon. “With the new brand that we have here now, it’s given us a great chance to precede that change…with a new look, so kind of a rebirth of transit.”

http://metronews.ca/news/halifax/109...lifax-transit/

They're ditching a boring, generic name that served its purpose for many years and replacing it with another equally boring and generic name. Don't see the point.

[TheNovaScotian]

With the recent name change, I was hoping that we would be slowly be changed into an actual transit authority with a more intermodal approach. My hope is that this delay may be the beginning of the city realizing this. A system based around the ferries and commuter rail stations would be idea, not completely dependant on buses but using them as connectors to other terminals.

The greatest reason to convert Halifax Transit into a true transit authority, is that it would allow them to access already existing federal funds for transit. Instead of the city hoping for the charity of the province to help out periodically, with a few buses here and there, we could plan a staged expansion by starting small by a commuter corridor starting from Windsor to Central Halifax then South End with a station in Burnside to Alderney.

It's difficult to try and make any major steps away from road traffic when you have the Halifax/Darmouth Bridge Commision wanting to justify a third crossing without the discussion of rapid transit. Upgrades like an embedded rail on "The Big Lift" that could cut down on crossings per day, are looked upon as counter productive. The commission was created for the purpose to pay off the costs of the project in which it did years ago and is paying for the recent upgrades. We need a merger of the government entities that have overlapping and opposing goals.

[spaustin]

Thought I would post the It's More Than Buses proposal for a high-frequency bus network. I attended their launch the other week and got some additional information from their presentation. You should note that their map only features the high-frequency routes. They left 25% of Metro Transit's existing capacity out which could be used to (1) increase service on some key routes to even better than proposed and (2) to provide less frequent service into some of the lower density suburban areas. It will be interesting to see how Metro Transit compares when they come out with their plan in January.

[W.Sobchak]

I'm not sure if this http://theoryandpractice.planning.da...lis_thesis.pdf, has been posted on this thread, I searched through it for about and hour over my morning coffee, when I stumbled on it google-ing Halifax's streetcar network post wwII.

[Dmajackson]

Halifax recently released a tender looking at 7 potential bus queue-jump lanes in Dartmouth. The idea is to implement the 7 over the next five years. Like the 9 already existing these are located chiefly to benefit the MetroLink and Urban Express routes. The 7 intersections are;

1) Wyse/Alderney - The new bus lane would be built adjacent to the Commons to create a second right turn lane onto Wyse. The existing queue jump in the other direction would remain as is. Route 159 runs this section but being located between the Bridge and Alderney it would serve many alternate routes.

2) MacDonald Bridge Tollbooth - Inbound the right most toll booth Halifax-bound would be Metro Transit only allowing buses to use the left turn lane into a dedicated toll booth and avoid merging by using vehicle size and the most direct route through the funnel. All Bridge - Halifax buses use this currently so it would mainly make it official.

3) Windmill/Victoria Outbound - the right-turn lane into the cul-de-sac would be repurposed into a Right Only Except Buses and feed into a new third lane connecting to the existing third lane further down. This would help the 64/84/85/87/185 by adding to the existing queue jumps in Burnside and allow buses to go from Victoria to Akerley without using the congested straight-thru lanes.

4) Windmill/Sea Point/Wright - New third lane inbound following the same fashion as existing on Windmill Road. A new right-only except buses will allow Transit to go from Sea Point to the MetroLink stop without merging and take more advantage of the existing priority lighting at Wright. Routes 64/84/85/87/185 benefited.

5) Main/Hwy 111/Gordon - A short but effective fix the 111 off ramp to Main Street would have a short bus lane installed allowing buses to get away from the congestion quicker and utilise the relatively quiet right-turn lane. Routes 10/54/66/72/370

6) Portland/Woodlawn - The most unique of the 7 this would see the addition of a bus receiving lane on Portland Street outbound. Inbound the bus lane would move straight-thru buses in a space between the straight and left-turn lanes. Being a high-utilised and congested corridor this would assist many bus routes including the 159.

7) Pleasant/Hwy 111 - A new left-turn lane on Pleasant Street onto Hwy 111 designated Transit only will allow bus to skip the congestion leaving Woodside. This is designed exclusively to help new routes 78 & 79.

Diagrams are available in the Tender Document

[curnhalio]

Thank you Dmajackson, for laying out each proposed improvement. My thoughts on each one, and some others I'd like to see:

1) I wonder how necessary this one really is. Even at AM peak, there aren't really any delays for buses getting from Alderney to Thistle via Wyse. I suspect there is a higher area of priority. Heck, a priority signal at the light after the Ferry stop heading to the Bridge would be more useful.

2) Being able to jump the queue for the protected left turn onto the MacDonald will be a boost and should be doable with only the installation of a cat's eye signal.

3) Finally, now we're getting somewhere. This is long overdue to be built and the land thankfully has always been available to build an additional lane. It's not an official bus lane, which is fine. PM peak traffic seems to confine itself to the two main lanes and people don't really use the right lane to circumvent the lengthy lineups. Transit service to Sackville has benefitted as a result, the #84, #85, and #185 are more consistently full than most routes in the city.

I would argue the right hand lane to turn onto Lynch Estates should be extended as far as the rail overpass, and even further back to the Hwy 111 interchange upon the inevitable replacement of said overpass. The less Windmill Rd traffic transit has to deal with, the better.

4) An equally helpful improvement for morning traffic. Hopefully the stretch between Akerley and Sea Point can also be widened to allow morning travel to flow easier.

5) I've thought about this one for a while. I worried that someone would argue to save that crappy building at the corner that would have to be demolished to make this lane fit. It looks like they just want to allow passage from the right turn lane into the main flow of traffic. Without an actual bus bay built at the farside Gordon stop, all this will do is subtract a minute or two wait time at that light, only to add it back after serving the stop.

I suppose a way around that would be to discontinue that stop at PM peak and reinstate all day use of the previous stop by Tim's since there would be no need to re-enter traffic that early, and therefore no reason not to stop there. This may be helpful to the #10 but it is only one of many things slowing it down at PM peak.

6) Speaking of stops that shouldn't be served, the outbound stop on Portland farside Baker is worth considering for discontinuation, at least at peak times. The matching stop inbound has long since been removed, it's time for the outbound one to go. If the idea of these measures is to speed up transit travel, why build lanes to jump around traffic only to stop immediately after to serve a now ill placed stop?

7) This will be a big help, plain and simple. Yes it only benefits two routes right now. I suspect there will be a few more Urban Express routes to Woodside in the not too distant future. Especially since a third crossing is still years out even if construction were to start tomorrow. People haven't taken to the #78 and #79 in large numbers yet, but it always takes time for new routes to take hold for some reason.


Now for a few I would like to see:

Chebucto Rd EB @ Connaught. The cats eye was installed two years ago, but has not been activated for reasons unknown.

A reversible lane the length of Gottingen from Young to Cogswell. Not necessarily intended for buses per se, but will allow easier traffic flow. A separate lane for Stadacona traffic when that entrance is reopened means buses won't get caught waiting for cars to turn left there in the morning.

A reversible lane on Barrington from Devonshire to Africville Rd. Same rationale for above except for Shipyard traffic.

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by curnhalio

A reversible lane on Barrington from Devonshire to Africville Rd. Same rationale for above except for Shipyard traffic.

Ban container truck traffic from Barrington at MacKay to Terminal from 7a.m. - 9 a.m.

[hfx_chris]

Originally Posted by curnhalio

5) I've thought about this one for a while. I worried that someone would argue to save that crappy building at the corner that would have to be demolished to make this lane fit. It looks like they just want to allow passage from the right turn lane into the main flow of traffic. Without an actual bus bay built at the farside Gordon stop, all this will do is subtract a minute or two wait time at that light, only to add it back after serving the stop.

I'm confused. What building would need to be demolished? The extra lane, according to the diagram is on the off-ramp from the 111 to Main Street.. and I cant think of any buildings next to the ramp.

The concern I have though is people coming up the ramp from Prince Albert to Main; there's no yield signs there currently, and people fly up that ramp into that right lane nearest Tims... I'm sure we all know how great drivers are at noticing yield signs, I can imagine a lot of surprised looks when suddenly there's a bus in the lane you're in.

Actually, an even bigger concern for me is the 111/Pleasant intersection..that bus lane goes straight into the right lane on the 111. There is a yield sign at that intersection for cars coming from Eastern Passage onto the highway, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone yield at it. I usually cars trying to race around that corner onto the highway as quickly as possible. I have a bad feeling about that one.

[curnhalio]

Originally Posted by hfx_chris

I'm confused. What building would need to be demolished? The extra lane, according to the diagram is on the off-ramp from the 111 to Main Street.. and I cant think of any buildings next to the ramp.

When I first read his description, I thought they were going to build an extra lane on the other side of Gordon Ave and there is a building with a Physioclinic which also used to have the Hooters upstairs. To build that lane would require losing the front parking lot and making the building almost unusable. I saw after that there is no such plan. I still think the stop right there would have to be discontinued in the afternoon to make everything else with this lane work.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by curnhalio

3) Finally, now we're getting somewhere. This is long overdue to be built and the land thankfully has always been available to build an additional lane. It's not an official bus lane, which is fine. PM peak traffic seems to confine itself to the two main lanes and people don't really use the right lane to circumvent the lengthy lineups. Transit service to Sackville has benefitted as a result, the #84, #85, and #185 are more consistently full than most routes in the city.

I would argue the right hand lane to turn onto Lynch Estates should be extended as far as the rail overpass, and even further back to the Hwy 111 interchange upon the inevitable replacement of said overpass. The less Windmill Rd traffic transit has to deal with, the better.

From my experience in Burnside traffic you are correct about pushing the lane back up the hill further. At PM peak the line ends at the far side of the rail overpass so this may allow buses to skip one light rotation but not all of them.

4) An equally helpful improvement for morning traffic. Hopefully the stretch between Akerley and Sea Point can also be widened to allow morning travel to flow easier.

I share your hope for future widening but the western side is going to be harder because the buildings are on older lots and therefore are closer to the street.

Halifax does require any redevelopments through development agreement to fork over the land for a 3rd lane. Only Harbour Isle and Riviera have done so thus far. Burnside Motel & Coast Tire are too close to the street to do the widening without expropriation.[/QUOTE]

A reversible lane the length of Gottingen from Young to Cogswell. Not necessarily intended for buses per se, but will allow easier traffic flow. A separate lane for Stadacona traffic when that entrance is reopened means buses won't get caught waiting for cars to turn left there in the morning.

I would prefer a reversing lane from Young - North & a permanent NB bus lane from Cogswell - North. Most traffic in the AM peak turn left at either Stadacona or North along with some express routes. South of North the AM traffic isn't too bad.

Originally Posted by hfx_chris

The concern I have though is people coming up the ramp from Prince Albert to Main; there's no yield signs there currently, and people fly up that ramp into that right lane nearest Tims... I'm sure we all know how great drivers are at noticing yield signs, I can imagine a lot of surprised looks when suddenly there's a bus in the lane you're in.

Actually, an even bigger concern for me is the 111/Pleasant intersection..that bus lane goes straight into the right lane on the 111. There is a yield sign at that intersection for cars coming from Eastern Passage onto the highway, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone yield at it. I usually cars trying to race around that corner onto the highway as quickly as possible. I have a bad feeling about that one.

In Calgary where right-turns have to yield to a bus lane they have special 'Yield to Calgary Transit' signs. It may have issues at first but with some enforcement and time people will become accustom to them. If they can work with Calgary drivers than it should be a breeze in Halifax (Calgary drivers are much stupider in general).

[curnhalio]

Originally Posted by Colin May

Ban container truck traffic from Barrington at MacKay to Terminal from 7a.m. - 9 a.m.

A noble suggestion, but the backups on this stretch of Barrington seem to be from Shipyard employees turning left into Niobe Gate. A separate travel lane for them will allow downtown traffic to flow easier in the right hand lane.


Oh, and while we're at it, that reversing lane for Bedford Hwy from Kearney Lake Rd to the Mount would be a nice improvement. It's so silly to see one lane of backed up traffic in one direction and two virtually empty lanes in the other.

[Dmajackson]

Lacewood Site December 2014 2 by Halifax Regional Municipality, on Flickr

[Keith P.]

What a fine piece of architecture. That SGR library isn't going to pay for itself, I guess...

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by curnhalio

Oh, and while we're at it, that reversing lane for Bedford Hwy from Kearney Lake Rd to the Mount would be a nice improvement. It's so silly to see one lane of backed up traffic in one direction and two virtually empty lanes in the other.

After the floods that closed the Bedford Highway for more than a day last week perhaps it is finally time to address the deficiencies created the last time it was rebuilt in the 1980s. The entire stretch from Bayview to Tremont Dr needs to be rebuilt with the section from Bayview to Flamingo Dr raised significantly. It is ridiculous to have a main artery like this out of service the way it was.

[curnhalio]

I drove by there today and noticed that the diagonal pathways leading to/from Lacewood Dr into the terminal have had curbs installed. Why would a pathway need a curb? Unless someone made a mid-project revision and decided that bus pull-ins and pull-outs would be more useful. They almost look wide enough for a bus to squeak through.

Giving eastbound buses on Lacewood (think 4, 52 and AM peak 21) a quicker way in and out helps from a timekeeping perspective.

[curnhalio]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

After the floods that closed the Bedford Highway for more than a day last week perhaps it is finally time to address the deficiencies created the last time it was rebuilt in the 1980s. The entire stretch from Bayview to Tremont Dr needs to be rebuilt with the section from Bayview to Flamingo Dr raised significantly. It is ridiculous to have a main artery like this out of service the way it was.

Judging solely by the CBC pictures, the flooding looked to be caused by a storm drain that overflowed. Would raising the whole roadway solve that problem? Unless that project included a wider drain, I'm not sure if it would make a difference.

[Dmajackson]

Halifax Transit is looking for citizens to name the replacement ferry that will be delivered this summer; http://www.halifax.ca/transit/index.php

I voted for Vincent Coleman. Many of the names are deserving of commerative naming however IMO Coleman is best suited for a ferry. His heroic efforts are tied directly to the Harbour.