Halifax Active Transportation

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

Originally Posted by JET

Resistance is futile
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...ed-cars-for-bikes-and-remade-its-streets

In the context of a bit of information not provided by the Guardian the 'feat' seems somewhat less noteworthy.

Paris Subway by A.J. Forsythe, on Flickr


I'm certain that support for bicycle lanes in Halifax would be much higher than it currently is if we had a public transit system like Paris.

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by Summerville

However, as a cyclist, you can see how many cars in traffic have only the driver,…one person. The bike lane BS is actually the politicians choosing to rely on bike infrastructure as a distraction from the difficult choices that will have to be made.

The funny thing is that those difficult choices don’t really involve bike infrastructure.

Yes, I think we can all agree that this city has been woefully behind the curve when it comes to investments in transit. That's not to say nothing has improved - my work transit commute now is much better than my university transit commute was 15 years ago. All of the investments in new busses, bus lanes, signal priority, etc. have had an effect. But at this point it definitely feels like we're maxing out what standard busses can achieve, and given how long it takes to build a higher order transit system things are going to get worse before they get better.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Arrdeeharharharbour

I'm certain that support for bicycle lanes in Halifax would be much higher than it currently is if we had a public transit system like Paris.

Wouldn't a transit system like that largely eliminate the need for bike lanes?

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Wouldn't a transit system like that largely eliminate the need for bike lanes?

I wouldn’t think so. Bike lanes would still be needed for shorter trips where taking the train would be less practical. If anything it might increase the need for them as more people from the suburbs would find it more convenient to take their bike on the train and then cycle to their destination once they got off. These people would normally just jump in their car to go the whole way, as cycling 5-10+ km would be outside the range of the average commuter.

If anything, it would decrease the need for car traffic in the busy city areas. Take the train and then walk or bike to your destination vs drive in heavy traffic, try to find parking, pay a small fortune to park there… and then walk to your destination.

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Wouldn't a transit system like that largely eliminate the need for bike lanes?

Not really. It obviously varies by person based on factors such as fitness, how easy it is to get your bike out, distance to transit stop, etc, but I generally find trips of 1-5 kilometres ideal for walking, 3-15 kms ideal for biking, and 5+ kms ideal for transit or driving.

There's overlap in the categories there because the facts of each trip matter (weather, how long until the next bus, frequency of the bus on the route for that destination, etc.).

I live 5km from work and often prefer biking because it's (a) free, and (b) the fastest way to get there. However, transit wins out on days where it's cold or rainy.

And if we're talking higher order transit--like the fast ferry or light rail--the stops are farther apart so bike lanes really help with expanding the catchment area.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

I think there's a real blindness to how much they're used. Bike lanes ARE used. Quite regularly. However, bikes a) are much smaller than cars and less visbily noticeable, and b) are not stuck in traffic so zoom by and are only in your field of view for a few short seconds.

The bike lanes are also smaller and the amount of space dedicated to bike parking is a tiny fraction of car parking.

[Offshore1]

Originally Posted by JET

Resistance is futile
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...ed-cars-for-bikes-and-remade-its-streets

Well that's great for Paris, but they average only 4-15 days per winter with snow, and it doesn't stick around. Quite a difference between there & Halifax which sees snow anywhere from November to April, and lots of it on times. Hardly conducive for cycling for a good part of the year.

[LikesBikes]

Lots of winter cities have great bike cultures like Montreal, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oulu. At the end of the day, our city streets geometrically cannot fit that more cars on them. Also, we cannot afford to widen them, nor should we even if we could as it would destroy much of our city for minimal benefits. Therefore, the only real solution to our traffic is to think about how we use our space more efficiently. This means investing in a better transit system but also trying to get short trips to be done by walking or biking which means safer conditions for cyclists through things like bike lanes, modal filters, and off-street pathways.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I wouldn’t think so. Bike lanes would still be needed for shorter trips where taking the train would be less practical. If anything it might increase the need for them as more people from the suburbs would find it more convenient to take their bike on the train and then cycle to their destination once they got off. These people would normally just jump in their car to go the whole way, as cycling 5-10+ km would be outside the range of the average commuter.

My familiarity is mostly with the subway/rail systems in NYC and D.C. where bikes are not generally found on those modes. I guess it depends on whether you are trying to cater to every interest group or just to move the most individuals as efficiently as possible. I would think the latter would be preferable in the nacent stages of such efforts rather than trying to do too much for too many and thus raising costs and slowing implementation. But then, this is HRM.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

My familiarity is mostly with the subway/rail systems in NYC and D.C. where bikes are not generally found on those modes. I guess it depends on whether you are trying to cater to every interest group or just to move the most individuals as efficiently as possible. I would think the latter would be preferable in the nacent stages of such efforts rather than trying to do too much for too many and thus raising costs and slowing implementation. But then, this is HRM.

Halifax buses have fixtures on the front where people can stow their bikes while they ride the bus, and the Dartmouth ferries have bike racks on them (I have actually used them). It would stand to logic that any LRT or whatever system that we would have (if it were ever to become more than fantasy) would include a way to take your bike with you. It only makes sense that the entire transit system should have continuity.

I can’t speak to the large cities that you are referring to.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Offshore1

Well that's great for Paris, but they average only 4-15 days per winter with snow, and it doesn't stick around. Quite a difference between there & Halifax which sees snow anywhere from November to April, and lots of it on times. Hardly conducive for cycling for a good part of the year.

Montreal sees more snow (and snow that lasts) and has steeper hills. They've had to expand winter cycle infrastructure due to demand... including extending the municipal bike rental service through the winter seasons. It's been a couple years of winter now, and I understand that there's enough ridership to justify the expense of clearing lanes and maintaining the rental infrastructure for the remainder of the year.

Montreal's bike system didn't happen overnight though. I've been for business meetings with the same organization for eight years now and have seen a slow increase in the number of colleagues with whom I'm meeting biking to meetings.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

Montreal sees more snow (and snow that lasts) and has steeper hills. They've had to expand winter cycle infrastructure due to demand... including extending the municipal bike rental service through the winter seasons. It's been a couple years of winter now, and I understand that there's enough ridership to justify the expense of clearing lanes and maintaining the rental infrastructure for the remainder of the year.

Halifax is not exactly San Diego but I think people there tend to exaggerate how problematic the climate is or how it compares to other places. It does get snow but if you look at Environment Canada, it says that about 1/3 of the time, at Shearwater, there's no snow on the ground in Jan/Feb, and a 10 cm snowstorm or greater happens about once a month on average in the coldest months (not actually a procession of snowstorms throughout the winter you'd think from a lot of media coverage or commentary). These normals go back to 1990 so I'd imagine that in the city, with snow clearance and salting, in recent years, there's probably no snow at all on roadways most of the time even in Jan/Feb. Dec/Mar are borderline which can be wintery when below normal or fall/spring like when above normal.

There can be worse than average winters and it sounds like this one was unusually snowy but those are included in the averages; it's about as likely to see a winter with long snowless periods.

A while ago I looked at recent temperatures as a downtown weather station (Halifax Dockyard) and the high temperature in winter averages about +3. Which again is not tropical by any means but also isn't any sort of extreme in North America or European cities, many of which have lots of outdoor culture and cycling. And Halifax does not get the months of 30+ weather which are also bad for outdoor activities.

[Keith P.]

^^^ All I know is that this past winter was (and continues to be) soul-crushing. I cannot tell you how many mornings I got up to make my coffee and the readout on my weather station told me the outside temp was south of -15. We had very few breaks where things would actually melt and the cold and snow seemed never-ending. It isn't done with us yet.

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

^^^ All I know is that this past winter was (and continues to be) soul-crushing. I cannot tell you how many mornings I got up to make my coffee and the readout on my weather station told me the outside temp was south of -15. We had very few breaks where things would actually melt and the cold and snow seemed never-ending. It isn't done with us yet.

It was nice to actually have a winter this year!

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by someone123

Halifax is not exactly San Diego but I think people there tend to exaggerate how problematic the climate is or how it compares to other places. It does get snow but if you look at Environment Canada, it says that about 1/3 of the time, at Shearwater, there's no snow on the ground in Jan/Feb, and a 10 cm snowstorm or greater happens about once a month on average in the coldest months (not actually a procession of snowstorms throughout the winter you'd think from a lot of media coverage or commentary). These normals go back to 1990 so I'd imagine that in the city, with snow clearance and salting, in recent years, there's probably no snow at all on roadways most of the time even in Jan/Feb. Dec/Mar are borderline which can be wintery when below normal or fall/spring like when above normal.

There can be worse than average winters and it sounds like this one was unusually snowy but those are included in the averages; it's about as likely to see a winter with long snowless periods.

A while ago I looked at recent temperatures as a downtown weather station (Halifax Dockyard) and the high temperature in winter averages about +3. Which again is not tropical by any means but also isn't any sort of extreme in North America or European cities, many of which have lots of outdoor culture and cycling. And Halifax does not get the months of 30+ weather which are also bad for outdoor activities.

There is one person in my office of 18-ish who bikes to work most of the winter. In spring-summer-fall, there are 2-3 who bike. This is despite no place for a shower (I guess you'd have to plan on not getting too sweaty?). I live close enough that I walk - in most weather/seasons.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

^^^ All I know is that this past winter was (and continues to be) soul-crushing. I cannot tell you how many mornings I got up to make my coffee and the readout on my weather station told me the outside temp was south of -15. We had very few breaks where things would actually melt and the cold and snow seemed never-ending. It isn't done with us yet.

One thing that does stand out is that it was a long winter and almost like a "double-dip" setup with colder conditions happening early and late in the season. It's very depressing when winter sets in early on in December and lingers in March or even with cold days into April.

However for the rest of the country outside of BC this past winter in Halifax would have been considered mild. I'd guess Montreal has rarely or never had a winter as mild as what Halifax just experienced, and it has better cycling infrastructure, they managed snow clearance, etc. etc.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Friends in Toronto have described their winter as being quite bad this year. From their descriptions I would conclude it was worse than Halifax’s as experienced by myself.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Friends in Toronto have described their winter as being quite bad this year. From their descriptions I would conclude it was worse than Halifax’s as experienced by myself.

One thing I notice is how there's often mis-translation or different standards. People in Halifax will complain about too much below 0 weather in December but in most of Canada that's just normal.

I was in Calgary not long ago and there was snow and ice covering all surfaces, for days, in March. Some people were biking around in snow tires.

I also find my NS relatives have an overly rosy view of the climate here in BC. Yes, it's better in the spring. We had a big wind storm last night though and it's not really warm out. It's +9 today. Often the worst weather here isn't so much due to cold but due to long periods of very dark and rainy weather. Tying it back to the thread, there are tons of cyclists that operate in that rainy weather.

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Friends in Toronto have described their winter as being quite bad this year. From their descriptions I would conclude it was worse than Halifax’s as experienced by myself.

I would concur as my Company's head office and production are in Oakville.
They had a brutal amount of snow apparently compared to the last ten years.

[Dmajackson]

I was in Dartmouth yesterday evening doing my regular walk getting some updates for the blog. I happened to see this impressive sight at the MacDonald Bridge traffic lights. I commute through this area daily and seeing a handful of bicycles queued at the bridge approaches is a regular occurrence. Positive experiences like these are why I enjoy exploring Halifax. It's amazing what you see when you get out of a vehicle and just spend some time walking around.


HalifaxDevelopments.ca (Photo by David Jackson)