Halifax Transit

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. According to the 2016 census, Halifax had the seventh-highest proportion of workers taking transit to work among Canadian cities.
History.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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. 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, 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.
System redesign.
In January 2014, Halifax regional council approved a study to look at a major re-design of the city's transit system. 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.
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. Business groups have also noted both the current lack of service, and lack of proposed future service, along key corridors of the region.
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. 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. Before the discovery of the leak, Halifax Transit initially claimed that the excess fuel consumption was caused by higher usage during winter.
Operations.
Conventional bus service.
There are 322 conventional buses in the fleet, all of which are low floor and wheelchair accessible.
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.
"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 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.
Services.
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.
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.
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. By January 30, 2017, all conventional buses provided the automated stop announcement. As of June 8, 2017, all conventional buses in the Halifax Transit fleet were low floor and accessible to wheelchairs.
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.<br>
 "Rush Hour Service Only". <br>
 "Designated Bike Route." <br>
 "MetroLink Service (see MetroLink section above)"<br>
 "MetroX Service (see MetroX section above)"<br>
 "University routes that only operate during the university academic calendar year (September – April)."
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. Halifax Regional Council unanimously endorsed the plan on 26 May 2020. 
As of 2021, Halifax is seeking funding for the project from other levels of government.