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  #1601  
Old Posted Sep 24, 2017, 10:52 AM
ILoveHalifax ILoveHalifax is offline
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There has to come a time when Halifax Transit changes from every bus going by every place of interest in the city to buses following certain streets and directions and passengers transferring at cross streets. I have watched while buses line up to stop on Spring Garden and Barrington and also seen the same waiting to get to the stops along the Bedford Highway. Not every bus can do SGR. Not every passenger wants to visit an endless number of transit hubs just to get where they are going; each transit hub is usually up and around a block or 2 just to get in and out increasing the time to reach one's destination. I grew up in Toronto and we only had bus hubs at subway stations because buses from across the city fed into these stations.
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  #1602  
Old Posted Sep 24, 2017, 12:18 PM
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Having worked DT for years, seeing the conga line of buses lined up in traffic on Barrington St at evening rush hour (usually every route except the one i wanted to use) illustrated the absurdity of their approach.
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  #1603  
Old Posted Sep 24, 2017, 9:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Keith P. View Post
Having worked DT for years, seeing the conga line of buses lined up in traffic on Barrington St at evening rush hour (usually every route except the one i wanted to use) illustrated the absurdity of their approach.
It will be a big missed opportunity if the Cogswell redevelopment doesn't include some major transit improvements.

A more ambitious plan would be, say, a Cogswell terminal that is connected up with the South End rail line. This would be great but it also involves spending significant sums of money, like $100M instead of $5-10M projects. This is the scale that Halifax infrastructure projects should operate at (in larger cities they are in the billions). The low hanging fruit is mostly gone.
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  #1604  
Old Posted Sep 25, 2017, 1:47 AM
swimmer_spe swimmer_spe is offline
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The problem is that there are not enough buses to get people off the island. That is why the system they have now works for the situation they are in. Now, if they built an LRT/Subway/Commuter Rail, that might make things better.
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  #1605  
Old Posted Sep 25, 2017, 6:05 AM
MolteN MolteN is offline
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I feel the only real way to solve Halifax's transit issue does not really involve buses at all.

Whether it's elevated or below ground or surface or somehow a combination of all three, I feel Halifax could benefit by constructing a few basic lines sort of as a trial run on the busiest routes with the biggest bottlenecks and chokepoints.

I'm talking about light rail.

But the day this city has an established and efficient light rail line is the day that I become famous
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  #1606  
Old Posted Sep 25, 2017, 4:58 PM
swimmer_spe swimmer_spe is offline
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Originally Posted by MolteN View Post
I feel the only real way to solve Halifax's transit issue does not really involve buses at all.

Whether it's elevated or below ground or surface or somehow a combination of all three, I feel Halifax could benefit by constructing a few basic lines sort of as a trial run on the busiest routes with the biggest bottlenecks and chokepoints.

I'm talking about light rail.

But the day this city has an established and efficient light rail line is the day that I become famous
The planned commuter would go a long way to solve that issue. An LRT/Skytrain/Subway would be good so long as it is in it's own ROW.
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  #1607  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2017, 5:02 PM
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Halifax Transit is now tracking and releasing data on the reliability of it's bus routes. The number is the percentage of buses arriving between 1 minute early and 3 minutes late. There is no exact target identified but 80%+ is considered reliable.

Halifax Transit - 2017/18 Q1 Report

WEEKDAY OFF-PEAK (STANDARD ROUTES ONLY)

1. 56 - DARTMOUTH CROSSING (96%)
1. 83 - SPRINGFIELD (96%)
1. 88 - BEDFORD COMMONS (96%)
4. 58 - WOODLAWN (95%)
5. 57 - RUSSELL LAKE (94%)
6. 89 - BEDFORD (93%)
7. 63 - WOODSIDE (90%)
...
39. 2 - WEDGEWOOD (69%)
40. 87 - GLENDALE (69%)
41. 1 - SPRING GARDEN (67%)
42. 14 - LEIBLIN PARK (65%)
43. 17 - SAINT MARY'S (64%)
44. 20 - HERRING COVE (59%)

WEEKDAY ON-PEAK (STANDARD ROUTES ONLY)

1. 56 - DARTMOUTH CROSSING (97%)
1. 57 - RUSSELL LAKE (97%)
3. 88 - BEDFORD COMMONS (96%)
4. 83 - SPRINGFIELD (95%)
5. 58 - WOODLAWN (94%)
6. 89 - BEDFORD (93%)
7. 63 - WOODSIDE (90%)
...
37. 66 - PENHORN (59%)
38. 6 - QUINPOOL (58%)
39. 17 - SAINT MARY'S (57%)
40. 18 - UNIVERSITIES (54%)
41. 2 - WEDGEWOOD (52%)
41. 14 - LEIBLIN PARK (52%)
43. 1 - SPRING GARDEN (51%)
44. 20 - HERRING COVE (49%)

WEEKDAY ON-PEAK (NON-STANDARD ROUTES)

1. 78 - MOUNT EDWARD EXPRESS (100%)
2. 330 - SHELDRAKE LAKE / TANTALLON (92%)
...
19. 23 - TIMBERLEA / MUMFORD (69%)
19. 64 - AKERLEY (64%)
21. 86 - BASINVIEW EXPRESS (64%)

It's not surprising that the most reliable routes are suburban feeders that usually serve one terminal and cover short distances. The least reliable routes are also not surprising for the most part. These routes are located in the heart of the urban area and have to battle traffic on congested arterial streets. Many also have very long routes raising the likelihood of something going wrong.
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Last edited by Dmajackson; Oct 1, 2017 at 4:58 AM.
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  #1608  
Old Posted Oct 2, 2017, 9:12 AM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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We have to consider that Halifax only tends to plan for a year or two in advance, and doesn't appear to have the ability for longer-term planning. Otherwise suggestions for larger and more varied methods of transit, such as those described in this thread, would be considered rather than tinkering with existing bus routes.
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  #1609  
Old Posted Oct 3, 2017, 12:14 AM
swimmer_spe swimmer_spe is offline
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
We have to consider that Halifax only tends to plan for a year or two in advance, and doesn't appear to have the ability for longer-term planning. Otherwise suggestions for larger and more varied methods of transit, such as those described in this thread, would be considered rather than tinkering with existing bus routes.
Maybe someone needs to run for mayor who has a vision for the city.
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  #1610  
Old Posted Oct 3, 2017, 3:22 AM
musicman musicman is offline
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The head of halifax transit was on CBC this morning.. They can't figure out why numbers are declining according to her.

It is time to get rid of the incompetence at Halifax Transit. It amazes me that we are still dealing with the same people year after year after year that haven't got the slightest clue of what they heck they are doing..
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  #1611  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2017, 4:03 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Originally Posted by swimmer_spe View Post
Maybe someone needs to run for mayor who has a vision for the city.
That would be nice.
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  #1612  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2017, 4:12 PM
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As long as it's not someone that is on our Forum and then goes anti-development.... ring a bell.....
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  #1613  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2017, 5:39 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Originally Posted by teddifax View Post
As long as it's not someone that is on our Forum and then goes anti-development.... ring a bell.....
Nope... it won't be me, if that's what you're thinking. I despise politics (and don't feel I'm anti-development either).
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  #1614  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2017, 6:00 PM
swimmer_spe swimmer_spe is offline
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
That would be nice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by teddifax View Post
As long as it's not someone that is on our Forum and then goes anti-development.... ring a bell.....
Anti development?

What is needed in all major cities is a mayor that rides transit.
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  #1615  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2017, 6:26 PM
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Halifax Transit is seeking feedback on its options for pursuing transit lanes on Bayers Road and Gottingen Street. The high-cost option for Bayers Road is a transit lane each way from Romans Avenue to Young Street with some road widening mostly between HSC and Romans. To improve efficiency the HSC entrance would be upgraded with a new access road and traffic lights at Connaught and Roslyn. This would eliminate the dual left-turn lane and possibly the entire set of traffic lights. On Gottingen Street no road widening would be necessary. The high-cost plan there would see a dedicated northbound bus lane from Cogswell Street to Charles Street (~100 metres south of the North Street). All parking would be removed and a couple of pedestrian half-signals would be installed to control flow.

Shape Your City - Transit Priority Corridors Plans

Shape Your City -
Transit Priority Corridors Surveys


I made it to one of the open houses and filled out both surveys. Option 1 is my preferred choice for both streets and this coming from being a pedestrian, cyclist, and transit user. I don't mind sacrificing a few seconds if it means I can see a full bus getting priority.
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  #1616  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2017, 6:28 PM
sneakyzero sneakyzero is offline
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City of Halifax is advertising for a Transit Operations Manager position through Knightsbridge Robertson Surrette.

http://www.kbrs.ca/Careers/12034
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  #1617  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2017, 6:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dmajackson View Post
I made it to one of the open houses and filled out both surveys. Option 1 is my preferred choice for both streets and this coming from being a pedestrian, cyclist, and transit user. I don't mind sacrificing a few seconds if it means I can see a full bus getting priority.
It's interesting because one common comment about transit lanes is that there is "nowhere to put them". But on some sections the report indicates that option (1) will improve traffic, presumably because the buses will have their own lane and won't be weaving in and out of other lanes to get to bus stops.

A system like this makes a ton of sense in Halifax. If the transit priority lanes are separated so they are only one per street (reversing or fixed), the sacrifice is minimal. It's easy to rejig the bus routes a little to put the same route on different streets when it's travelling in different directions too.

The transit priority lanes can also significantly improve transit whereas simply adding buses doesn't do much if they are just stuck in traffic. The low-hanging fruit is gone at this point so transit improvements in Halifax need to look like this or need to involve other modes that aren't stuck in traffic.

In the medium term I hope Halifax can create:

- A network of transit priority lanes covering the urban core
- A high frequency electric "backbone" system that longer suburban routes can feed into
- Commuter rail that feeds into the backbone
- A reasonable, multi-modal downtown transit terminal

A nice goal beyond this would be to extend commuter rail so that it connects directly with the downtown transit terminal. This would involve extending the rail line (maybe just a single line) a few blocks above ground or underground.
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  #1618  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2017, 7:13 PM
worldlyhaligonian worldlyhaligonian is offline
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Originally Posted by someone123 View Post
It's interesting because one common comment about transit lanes is that there is "nowhere to put them". But on some sections the report indicates that option (1) will improve traffic, presumably because the buses will have their own lane and won't be weaving in and out of other lanes to get to bus stops.

A system like this makes a ton of sense in Halifax. If the transit priority lanes are separated so they are only one per street (reversing or fixed), the sacrifice is minimal. It's easy to rejig the bus routes a little to put the same route on different streets when it's travelling in different directions too.

The transit priority lanes can also significantly improve transit whereas simply adding buses doesn't do much if they are just stuck in traffic. The low-hanging fruit is gone at this point so transit improvements in Halifax need to look like this or need to involve other modes that aren't stuck in traffic.

In the medium term I hope Halifax can create:

- A network of transit priority lanes covering the urban core
- A high frequency electric "backbone" system that longer suburban routes can feed into
- Commuter rail that feeds into the backbone
- A reasonable, multi-modal downtown transit terminal

A nice goal beyond this would be to extend commuter rail so that it connects directly with the downtown transit terminal. This would involve extending the rail line (maybe just a single line) a few blocks above ground or underground.
Excellent post!
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  #1619  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2017, 7:20 PM
worldlyhaligonian worldlyhaligonian is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dmajackson View Post
Halifax Transit is seeking feedback on its options for pursuing transit lanes on Bayers Road and Gottingen Street. The high-cost option for Bayers Road is a transit lane each way from Romans Avenue to Young Street with some road widening mostly between HSC and Romans. To improve efficiency the HSC entrance would be upgraded with a new access road and traffic lights at Connaught and Roslyn. This would eliminate the dual left-turn lane and possibly the entire set of traffic lights. On Gottingen Street no road widening would be necessary. The high-cost plan there would see a dedicated northbound bus lane from Cogswell Street to Charles Street (~100 metres south of the North Street). All parking would be removed and a couple of pedestrian half-signals would be installed to control flow.

Shape Your City - Transit Priority Corridors Plans

Shape Your City -
Transit Priority Corridors Surveys


I made it to one of the open houses and filled out both surveys. Option 1 is my preferred choice for both streets and this coming from being a pedestrian, cyclist, and transit user. I don't mind sacrificing a few seconds if it means I can see a full bus getting priority.
The widening definitely needs to happen to improve the pace of public transit. It shouldn't take an hour to come in from CP.
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  #1620  
Old Posted Oct 5, 2017, 1:21 AM
ILoveHalifax ILoveHalifax is offline
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Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian View Post
The widening definitely needs to happen to improve the pace of public transit. It shouldn't take an hour to come in from CP.
Nobody ever talks about elevated mass transit - skytrain, monorail, etc
Should be less expensive than underground and be able to avoid traffic
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