Halifax (metro) Transit.

[hfx_chris]

Ah yes I must have missed that one!

If you keep looking around there are a bunch of other express routes too, including one that goes straight from Scotia Square to the Water St terminal, cutting through the Delta Barrington and 1801 Hollis buildings and another one from Mumford terminal to Desmond Ave, straight through some residential areas. Convenient!

[Bass_Head]

Not sure if anyone else saw this, but there was an article in yesterday's Bedford/Sackville Community Herald about the Halifax Trolley Coaches that used to be in service. Here is the link to the article as well as pictures from the article.

http://thechronicleh...4-end-of-an-era

[jc.theriault]

I must of missed this story in the Dec. 19 Metro newspaper. Maybe the fight for rural transit is back on in my area:

Daily Business Buzz

Wtts, Dalrymple look for improvements in budget

© Jeff Harper/Metro

Passengers board a Metro Transit bus in September.

[HALIAFX, NS] – Transit issues are top of mind for two municipal councillors heading into budget deliberations for next fiscal year. Coun. Jennifer Watts said residents in her north end Halifax district have been pleading for more bus shelters and a bus that travels from Dartmouth to Halifax and stops on Gottingen Street.

“Those are some very specific things, but just hoping to begin to do some testing with Metro Transit to see what might be possible in this year’s upcoming budget,” she said.

Watts said she’ll also continue to champion for discounted transit passes for low-income residents.

The city’s transportation standing committee voted earlier this month to send the proposal for a six-month pilot project to Halifax regional council for adoption.

Metro Transit was supposed to give their budget presentation to council on Wednesday, but it was cancelled because of the poor weather. Watts said the meeting has not yet been rescheduled.

Coun. Barry Dalrymple, who represents Waverley – Fall River – Musquodoboit Valley, said he’s looking for expanded bus service in his district.

It’s one of many services suburban and rural areas of the municipality are lacking, he said.

“They tax the suburban, rural areas so heavily, yet provide so very few services,” said Dalrymple on Wednesday. “At the end of the day, budget is all about, ‘If you’re not going to cut the taxes, we want some of the services’.”

Dalrymple said his community needs a rink, pool and library.

“You name it. This is a district that’s lacking most, if not all, of those,” he said. “People in this area are sick and tired of having to go elsewhere for everything.”

And in response to Bass Head's post:

There is a book on the trolley system written by Don Artz - Halifax, City of Trolley coaches. I misplaced my copy years ago but it was a great read with amazing photos.

Don was the manager at Zincks Bus Co when I worked there as a driver in the early 90's. He was full of knowledge when it came to current and historic transit operations in Halifax and had worked at Metro Transit.

[hfx_chris]

I've still got my copy in a box somewhere..

[hfx_chris]

What a shitty day. About an hour ago they asked buses to pull off the roads and await further instructions. About 20 minutes ago they asked everyone to return to the garages after they've emptied. Glad I stayed home today.

[hfx_chris]

http://www.halifax.ca/council/agendasc/documents/140108cow4.pdf

[buschic]

I know of about 7 operators on the roads the day of the blizzard, 3 of them were stranded, with ppl on their bus, but ppl all got to their destinations, I still keep in touch with many of my driver friends from Halifax.

many pictures were posted on my FB, by bus driver friends & other friends in HFX/Dart, as well as I still follow Haligonia & The Coast..

I am glad that NSCC & DAL closed, as I know several friends who are disabled, who attend either one.

my friend got stranded at work, it was a motel on Windmill, they were nice enough to let all the workers without cars to stay overnight.

[Kitpu]

What a shitty day. About an hour ago they asked buses to pull off the roads and await further instructions. About 20 minutes ago they asked everyone to return to the garages after they've emptied. Glad I stayed home today.

I found it interesting that stores shut down *after* all buses and cabs were taken off the road that day. My co-worker told me that when she was picked up by her boss and given a drive home, over 20 people were stranded at Sobeys Tacoma. One lady had to return all her groceries because she had to walk home. My superiors were out in the storm driving my co-workers home, and several of my friends reported being stranded where they were.

Where I'm originally from, when buses shut down, the announcement is made in plenty of time, and employees are required to be sent home so they can catch the last buses.

[hfx_chris]

I don't think they knew they were going to shut it down for the day until they did, and even then when they did pull the buses it was only temporary at first, the supervisors probably thought only an hour or two. The decision to shut it down for the remainder of the day was made after they had already directed them to start heading back to the garages. It all just sort of happened as it happened, as a reaction to the weather. The road conditions deteriorated fast..

[Kitpu]

I find the city's retail outlets are generally uncaring when it comes to storms and their employees' welfare. The storm was picking up Friday morning and by afternoon it was in full swing... Many stores didn't close their doors until 2 or 3pm and did nothing to help their employees get home.

The storm also seems to have reopened a can of worms regarding winter tires on buses as well though.

[Halifax_Route10]

Today, regional council approved a comprehensive review that will likely result in a complete redesign of the transit network. Chris posted the PDF of the proposal a few posts up. This is great news!

[hfx_chris]

In case anyone is curious, I was in Porters Lake this afternoon and stopped by the new park & ride lot.

At approximately 5:30 PM there were 21 cars parked in the lot. A 370 arrived at approximately this time and 18 people disembarked.

Not too bad to me..

Today, regional council approved a comprehensive review that will likely result in a complete redesign of the transit network. Chris posted the PDF of the proposal a few posts up. This is great news!

That's good to hear. We could be looking at a very different transit system in a few years!

[hfx_chris]

HRM archives has a nice collection of Dartmouth and Halifax transit photos donated by Frederick Jelfs. In addition to the photos and postcards on the website, he also collected and donated a bunch of route maps, tickets, transfers etc. I don't see them on the website, but I'm thinking about dropping into the archives sometime and see if I can have a look at them, especially the route maps.

[Halifax_Route10]

It's been a busy week for transit. At next week's council meeting, the tender for the new AVL/CAD system is to be awarded to Trapeze Systems, with Clever Devices coming in second:

http://halifax.ca/co...40114ca1112.pdf

Also note that the automated vehicle announcements and automatic passenger counters have been moved to phase 1 of the project, so we can expect them to come online as the new AVL system does. Total cost for the new system: $7.2 million.

The award for the "Multi-Year Program Management Office" to oversee the implemention of the technology roadmap has been awarded to Barrington Consulting. Maximum cost: $2.3 million:

http://halifax.ca/co...40114ca1113.pdf

And, finally, request for advanced capital funding for next year's buses and the Lacewood Terminal design. The plan next year is for 15 buses (?), 5 for expansion and 10 for replacement:

http://halifax.ca/council/agendasc/documents/140114ca1114.pdf

The tender for the new transit map design is supposed to be awarded soon, as well. Very busy indeed...

[MAX BRT]

5 for expansion? Thats a great word.

[buschic]

I don't think they knew they were going to shut it down for the day until they did, and even then when they did pull the buses it was only temporary at first, the supervisors probably thought only an hour or two. The decision to shut it down for the remainder of the day was made after they had already directed them to start heading back to the garages. It all just sort of happened as it happened, as a reaction to the weather. The road conditions deteriorated fast..

from what i was told by some supervisor & driver friends that,yeah, they only wanted to "pause" the buses, wait out the worst of the winds & snow, but, not remove all service in any way, but the storm just got so bad, with drivers reporting near jackknifing of several of the artics, the decision was made, to shut down, it was really confirmed when police advised them that they, themselves were even having issues, it became a serious safety issue, so buses were pulled at that point..

I personally know of 12 people that were stranded by this, one of my close friends was at work, she is legally blind & ended up without enough food for her guide dog, she didnt make it home till the next day, but she was a lucky one, as she works very close to one of the major hotels, & her boss sent all 19 staff to stay in the hotel.

another guy I know, is mentally challenged he worked at the sobey's I used to live near & use a lot, we got to be great friends, (he loved helping us in the store, to find stuff) he was nearly stranded, but took it upon himself to try to walk home (he lives about a 25 minute walk away, & does the walk all the time in good weather) he was reported as missing, by his over anxious family, (he got a ride with a friend who works at the Burger King near the store, when they saw him walking on Main Street)

Another very close friend, works at the motel on Windmill, she lives about a 30 min walk from work, mostly uphill, she put out on FB that she was planning on trying the walk home in the middle of the storm, I called her right away & told her what I saw on the webcams & what driver friends had told me about the conditions, I also told her that if she did, she was crazy, & was risking her life for no good reason, she finally 25 minutes later after a barrage of messages from friends on her FB stayed at work, slept there that night, did her next shift thwn went home, on a nice warm 51/53..

My old area was in really bad shape, the 10's stopped going up into the westphal (kennedy, Calidonia/Iverly/Strath) area early on in the storm, due to the whiteouts, severe drifting of snow & ice, as well as the 54, both were turned back at main & woodlawn, it was crazy bad, one of my friends was driving the route, (thats how I knew it was bad, as he sent me pics with his iphone.)

I heard on FB, from several friends & saw pictures,of various areas, as well as checking out the various webcams, that it was bad, but one tweet from a close friend, made me realize how bad it was, ("sitting here at the loop, cant see the water, cant see the end of the parking lot") he was on the 9.

So yeah, it was definitely warranted of pulling ALL service, I really think that MT did ok, by all the tweets, mentions on the local radio, & as well as the 311 service actually had a few brains this time. (yeah, I loathe 311, due to many issues)

Today, regional council approved a comprehensive review that will likely result in a complete redesign of the transit network. Chris posted the PDF of the proposal a few posts up. This is great news!

its amazing news, so glad it passed, I know before I left that I had spoken extensively with Jennifer, Gloria, Mike, & several others, also had attended every MT public session I could, as well as all the accessibility meetings & all the ATAC meetings till I quit, as well as many open sessions afterwords..

even comparing the maps of where transit is, & the base HRM maps, you really see what a sadly designed system it really is, I'm hoping to keep in touch as I have been with many of the people I got to know in HRM, in city hall & beyond, as I LOVE HRM, I miss the Darkside horribly & its a very special place to me.

It's been a busy week for transit. At next week's council meeting, the tender for the new AVL/CAD system is to be awarded to Trapeze Systems, with Clever Devices coming in second:

http://halifax.ca/co...40114ca1112.pdf

Also note that the automated vehicle announcements and automatic passenger counters have been moved to phase 1 of the project, so we can expect them to come online as the new AVL system does. Total cost for the new system: $7.2 million.

The award for the "Multi-Year Program Management Office" to oversee the implemention of the technology roadmap has been awarded to Barrington Consulting. Maximum cost: $2.3 million:

http://halifax.ca/co...40114ca1113.pdf

And, finally, request for advanced capital funding for next year's buses and the Lacewood Terminal design. The plan next year is for 15 buses (?), 5 for expansion and 10 for replacement:

http://halifax.ca/co...40114ca1114.pdf

The tender for the new transit map design is supposed to be awarded soon, as well. Very busy indeed...

Both the AVAS & the Counting system are desperately needed, I think after the uproar those of us on ATAC & members of the blind community created as well as the deaf community, we really kicked some heads rolling at the accessibility meetings, also when Mr Savage got on board & after CNIB got its collective head outta its rear-end & with the AEBC, CCB & NFB chapters got EXTREMELY vocal & demanded Council deal with the situation BEFORE 2015 (that was the original test start date) we really got councils attention & approval & dedicated funding.

I say we, because it took over 70 blind people calling, tweeting, emailing & literally slapping council members up the side of their collective heads verbally, to get get anything done, we figured out that the new head of MT operations, didnt care, his attitude as well as his chief route/schedule planner, were so apathetic, that we knew they weren't going to do squat, so we went over them..

I worked on this right up until I left, even after getting back to ontario, I have not let up, have kept very closely in touch with many in the advocacy realm in HRM, as we have to fight for decent transit & to stop the absurd mentality that transit is just for the 'needy' in society,.

With the deeply entrenched car culture in HRM, its gonna be a long fight, but those of us that are disabled & love HRM & rely on transit everyday, are more than up for it.

I find the city's retail outlets are generally uncaring when it comes to storms and their employees' welfare. The storm was picking up Friday morning and by afternoon it was in full swing... Many stores didn't close their doors until 2 or 3pm and did nothing to help their employees get home.

The storm also seems to have reopened a can of worms regarding winter tires on buses as well though.

Blame the lack of caring on the ""must have car"" & Car Culture attitude of most in the HRM, & the Maritimes in general.

want proof, look at the way transit HQ is for the most part, look at many other transit systems, look at the length of strikes, look at the super laid back attitude & the 'oh well, someone else will do it, mentality of most bus passengers & disabled people in the Maritimes, I saw it constantly, it drove me NUTS, to have so little fight in people, so little want to make things better..

I got so pissed off, hearing people in HRM & the Maritimes, whine that they never got fair treatment by the feds, or by the rest of the country, never got equal funding for stuff or lost so many jobs, its BECAUSE they never got off their collective rear-ends, & really fought for their rights & needs, nor do they have the killer instinct, that they need to succeed, people & governments are NOT going to just hand you things, you have to go out there & FIGHT FOR WHAT YOU WANT!

I got called a B*%^& so many times, because I was not willing to bend over & take it up the rear, I fought every step of the way, for everything we got, everything I needed, I never just laid back & let the world use me as a punching bag, there is NO reason for the people of the Maritimes & the people of Dartmouth, to do it either, so many times I heard people say, "i cant change what then government does to us, we cant fight alberta for the jobs we are losing, our economy is going to crap, we are too small to fight the west & ontario,"

oh hell no, you arent, I asked people if they truly cared about NS, or did they just want to end up like another detroit.. cause with a poor me. woe is me attitude, its going to happen.

I love NS & the HRM, but especially Dartmouth, with every ounce of my soul, its truly changed me, in ways I cant explain, it is my "HOME", when I die, I want to be buried there, I love Nova Scotia, with so much passion that it hurt like hell to leave.

[Kitpu]

Blame the lack of caring on the ""must have car"" & Car Culture attitude of most in the HRM, & the Maritimes in general.

want proof, look at the way transit HQ is for the most part, look at many other transit systems, look at the length of strikes, look at the super laid back attitude & the 'oh well, someone else will do it, mentality of most bus passengers & disabled people in the Maritimes, I saw it constantly, it drove me NUTS, to have so little fight in people, so little want to make things better..

I got so pissed off, hearing people in HRM & the Maritimes, whine that they never got fair treatment by the feds, or by the rest of the country, never got equal funding for stuff or lost so many jobs, its BECAUSE they never got off their collective rear-ends, & really fought for their rights & needs, nor do they have the killer instinct, that they need to succeed, people & governments are NOT going to just hand you things, you have to go out there & FIGHT FOR WHAT YOU WANT!

I got called a B*%^& so many times, because I was not willing to bend over & take it up the rear, I fought every step of the way, for everything we got, everything I needed, I never just laid back & let the world use me as a punching bag, there is NO reason for the people of the Maritimes & the people of Dartmouth, to do it either, so many times I heard people say, "i cant change what then government does to us, we cant fight alberta for the jobs we are losing, our economy is going to crap, we are too small to fight the west & ontario,"

oh hell no, you arent, I asked people if they truly cared about NS, or did they just want to end up like another detroit.. cause with a poor me. woe is me attitude, its going to happen.

I love NS & the HRM, but especially Dartmouth, with every ounce of my soul, its truly changed me, in ways I cant explain, it is my "HOME", when I die, I want to be buried there, I love Nova Scotia, with so much passion that it hurt like hell to leave.

A) None of what I said or what you said had nothing to do with "must have a car" attitudes or "car culture" as you put it. Stores did not close late on that storm day because of "car culture". They closed late because retailers wanted to make money. Period.

B )| There is no more "car culture" or "must have a car" attitude in Halifax than there is in any other city. Some people take transit, some people bike, some people walk, and some people have cars for whatever reasons. Just like every other city or province in this country.

C) I don't see how a person having a car has anything to do with whether they will fight against the government, lack of jobs in the city or in the province, funding or lack thereof, etc.

[hfx_chris]

If there is more of a car culture here compared to other places, it's probably because public transit has been so lacking in the past 20-30 years. I have no doubt in my mind that if 30 years ago we had a reliable transit system where you could get around the city without having to carry maps and schedules, or plan your life around when the bus shows up, there would be a thriving transit culture instead. Hopefully this system redesign can capture some of that.

Agreed with above though about retailers wanting to wait until the very last minute before closing stores, to try and get as many sales in as they can. Corporate greed.

[Kitpu]

I agree with you, hfx_chris, that is the reason why people have cars around here... It's hard to get from point A to point B via transit in this city without having to dedicate 1 - 3 hours to do so. Unless they can fix that, people will still find personal cars far more convenient.

I still find this "car culture" comparative to most cities I've lived in. And I still can't connect blaming "car culture" for stores closing late during storms, lack of jobs, lack of funding, etc. Like you said, it's corporate greed and nothing more... After spending 10+ years working in various sectors of the retail industry, I know that all too well.

[Kitpu]

LOL, Mike!

I'd be interested to see what comes about from the new plan Metro Transit has.

[Kitpu]

Not Metro Transit related, but still an interested read.

http://www.humantransit.org/2013/03/abundant-access-a-map-of-the-key-transit-choices.html

[Kitpu]

Fourth Halifax-Dartmouth ferry getting built.

http://www.digbycourier.ca/Business/2013-12-13/article-3542744/Meteghan-River-shipyard-building-fourth-ferry-for-Halifax-Dartmouth-service/1

[Bud8Amp88]

Schedule Adjustments for this month have been announced (I've compared Rider's Guides and tried to add specific departure times where possible):

Schedule Adjustments Effective Monday, February 24th, 2014:

Route 1:

-Saturdays: Additional Evening Trips - Bridge-bound departing at 12:19am and 12:34am

-Sundays: 1 - Additional Morning Trips - Bridge-bound departing at 5:55am, 6:10am, and 6:25am

---------------2 - Additional Evening Trips - Bridge-bound departing at 7:55pm, Mumford-bound departing at 7:31pm, 8:01pm, and 8:31pm

---------------3 - Schedule Adjustments - 15 minute headways Mumford-bound begin @5:55am - departures adjusted to 6:16, 6:31, 6:46, 7:01 (w. extra trips added)

Route 2:

-Saturdays: Morning Trip Added - Departs Lacewood Terminal at 5:52am

-Sundays: Morning Trips Added - Kearney Lake-bound departing at 6:26am - return trip Downtown-bound departs Kearney Lake/Grosvernor at 6:35am

Route 4:

-Saturdays: 1 - Evening Trip Added - Departs Water Street Terminal at 12:16am - partial return from Ross/Dunbrack to Lacewood departs at 1:08am

----------------2 - Minor Schedule Adjustments - Current partial trip to Lacewood departing Ross/Dunbrack at 12:11am adjusted to 12:08am

-Sundays: Morning Trip Added - Departs Lacewood Terminal Dunbrack-bound at 6:08am, return trip Downtown-bound departs Ross/Dunbrack at 6:20am.

----------------------------------------- Downtown-bound trip that normally starts at Mumford at 6:48am will now begin from Water Street Terminal at 6:32am

Route 7:

One Trip Added Saturday Evenings - From Novalea to Northridge departing Novalea at 12:16am

Route 9:

One Trip Added Saturday Evenings - From Mumford to Scotia Square departing Mumford at 12:00am

Route 10:

-Weekdays: 1 - Major Schedule Adjustments - Looks like the 10 is next to get the "Schedule Adherance" treatment. Even I'm not gonna try to cover this part...

----------------2 - Trip Additions/Modifications: - Current last two trips extended to Dalhousie: arrive at 12:25am and 12:55am respectively

--------------------------------------------------------- Two Late Evening Trips Added - Westphal to Bridge departing Westphal at 12:31am and 1:01am, Dal to Westphal departing at 11:38pm and 12:08pm

--------------------------------------------------------- Others with respect to Schedule Adherance - again, I'm not even gonna try...

-Saturdays: Evening Trips Added/Extended: - 12:00am trip to Bridge extended to Dalhousie, partial trip to Bridge departs Westphal at 12:30am

---------------------------------------------------------- Extra trip Westphal-bound departing Dalhousie at 11:40pm

-Sundays: Morning Trips Added - Departs Tacoma at 5:59am to Inverary/Strath, departs Dalhousie-bound at 6:12am

Route 14:

-Saturdays: Morning/Evening Trips Added - Downtown-bound departing Leiblin Park at 5:46am, Leiblin Park-bound departs Scotia Square at 11:51pm

-Sundays: Morning Trip Added - Downtown-bound departing Leiblin Park at 6:28am

Route 20:

-Saturdays: Evening Trip Added - Herring Cove-bound departing Upper Water/Cornwallis at 12:12am

-Sundays: 1 - All trips to service Downtown Halifax on Sundays

--------------2 - Adjustments + Morning Trip Added - Trips depart Downtown at :08/:38, Downtown-bound trip added departing Herring Cove at 6:05am

Route 52:

-Schedule Adjustments within Bayers Lake 7 Days a Week (didn't notice anything in the Guide, but I may have missed it - the 52's listing is a mess...)

-Saturdays: Evening Trips Added - Bayers Lake-bound departing Colford at 11:39pm, partial return to Lacewood departs Bayers Lake at 1:05am

-Sundays: Morning Trips Added - Bayers Lake-bound departing Alma/Dutch Village at 5:37am, departing MT Garage at 5:57am, Burnside-bound departs Bayers Lake at 6:11am

Route 58:

-Sundays: Morning Trips Added - Woodlawn-bound departing Bridge at 7:15am, Bridge-bound departing Dorothea/Lucien at 6:51am

Route 59:

-Sundays: Morning Trips Added - Colby-bound departing Bridge at 5:53am, Bridge-bound departing Ashgrove/Cole Harbour at 6:23am

Route 61:

-Saturdays: Morning Trip Added - Halifax-bound departing Auburn/Forest Hills at 6:42am

Route 68:

-Saturdays: Morning Trip Added - Cherrybrook-bound departing Montague/Hwy 7 at 6:08am, return Bridge-bound departing Cherrybrook at 6:16am

Route 80:

-Weekdays: Evening Trips Added - Halifax-bound departing Sackville Terminal at 10:55pm, Sackville-bound departing Upper Water/Cornwallis at 9:37pm, 10:37pm, and 11:37pm

-Saturdays: Evening Trips Added - Halifax-bound departing Sackville Terminal at 10:37pm, Sackville-bound departing Upper Water/Cornwallis at 12:27am

Route 87:

-Sundays: Morning Trip Added - Bridge-bound departing Sackville Terminal at 6:05am

All in all, a lot of early morning and late night additions, especially on Sundays, plus the overhaul of the 10's schedule.

In other news, 964 is officially retired. Also, apparently Metro Transit has been forced to push back its mandate on retiring the Classics until the end of 2017 due to the rusting issue plaguing most of the 2002 and 2004 D40LFs. Because of this, 960 - the last active Classic in the old paint scheme - is supposed to get body work, and the repaint that comes with it (Wilson also posted a photo of 972 fresh from the body shop - makes me wish they'd keep it in the garage the rest of the winter so it can have a summer of looking good and shiny).

[2822]

How much longer will the first gen LFS be around?

[Bud8Amp88]

Last I had heard, they were up for retirement as early as the end of 2015, mainly due to the size of the XD40 order, but if they've pushed the Classics back two years, it's probably safe to say the LFSes will stick around for at least as long. They normally don't see a whole lot of service these days anyway - a couple on the 41/42, usually one or two on the 81, and the rest only come out for rush hour service on the Urban Express routes...