Halifax Transit

[D40LF]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Halifax cuts late-night ferry service
August 7, 2012 - 6:10pm BY PAUL MCLEOD STAFF REPORTER
UPDATED 8:55 p.m. Tuesday



Full Article on thechronicleherald.ca

IMO this isn't too bad of a compromise.

They go on to say the service will be ramped up in 2015 for the MacDonald Bridge closures which is good. By this time King's Wharf will have four or more inhabited buildings including the Iconic Tower (if all goes to plan) and some new developments near the ferry on both sides of the harbour will be completed so the new demand might keep the late-night service alive in the longer-term.

As for the late-night-bus service debate I think starting out with one route (Route 1) is a good start but shortly after that is implemented service should expand to four core routes (1, 52, 80, 87). The idea is to take existing high demand routes and run them between major terminals connecting 24/7 areas.

Route 1 - 15 minute frequencies minimum 24/7 along the entire route.

Route 52 - Normal daytime service with consideration for rerouting in Burnside. At night run basic service with a minimum 30 minute headway from Lacewood to Burnside Transit Centre.

Route 80 - Maintain existing service during daytime hours. At night run with a 30 minute headway from Cobequid - Scotia Square. Consider creating a nighttime detour to Mumford Terminal where it will terminate to service on the 1, 52.

Route 87 - Maintain existing service during daytime hours. At night run with a 30 minute headway from Cobequid - Bridge. To provide better service reroute through Bedford.

These four routes would provide basic service between the four major terminals in Greater Halifax. All of the routes service at least one 24/7 area (Windmill in Burnside, DT Halifax, North Street, and Mill Cove). All four major communities will be serviced and some transit dependent areas like Highfield Park will have service for employment purposes.

I'd also want to see better service on the 10, at least on Sundays, its a nasty slog on that thing, & late night service only goes till the last bus leaving Scotia square at 11:28pm currently..
Also theres nothing between Alderny ferry/Portland Corridor & Tacoma after 9pm weekdays or Saturdays, nothing after 5pm Sundays..
I also would love to see better service on the 10, relating to wheelchair accessible service, its ridiculous, only 1 bus out there usually during the day, that's accessible, its a major route from the Halifax side into the inner parts of Dartmouth, its sickening, that I have had to see 3-4 wheelchair users & seniors that live out here in the Tacoma/Westphal/Montebello areas, have to do the nasty routing of 52-66-54, to access their area's..
(( btw, there are a LOT of Group Homes in this area as well, so disabled people could really benefit, as well get some of the strain off Access-a-bus during the good weather months..))

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by D40LF

I'd also want to see better service on the 10, at least on Sundays, its a nasty slog on that thing, & late night service only goes till the last bus leaving Scotia square at 11:28pm currently..
Also theres nothing between Alderny ferry/Portland Corridor & Tacoma after 9pm weekdays or Saturdays, nothing after 5pm Sundays..
I also would love to see better service on the 10, relating to wheelchair accessible service, its ridiculous, only 1 bus out there usually during the day, that's accessible, its a major route from the Halifax side into the inner parts of Dartmouth, its sickening, that I have had to see 3-4 wheelchair users & seniors that live out here in the Tacoma/Westphal/Montebello areas, have to do the nasty routing of 52-66-54, to access their area's..
(( btw, there are a LOT of Group Homes in this area as well, so disabled people could really benefit, as well get some of the strain off Access-a-bus during the good weather months..))

The new buses coming should help the area early in the new year. They are all 60ft (stretch buses) that are going into service on Route 52 but this will free up some smaller ALF buses that could be used on routes like the 10 on off-peak hours. One of the '5 Big Moves' include improving routes that have chronic lateness problems (52, 80, 10, etc). I imagine the 10 will get fixed in the next couple of years.

The best way to help Route 10 would probably be to build a proper terminal in Dartmouth North somewhere's near Tacoma Centre. They could then either replace the local portion with another route or run alternating service points (ie "60" in Eastern Passage). The major corridor (Dalhousie-Tacoma) could then run at high frequencies (5 min peak, 15 min off-peak, 30 min late-night). The new terminal would service 10, 54, 56 (rerouted), 66, 72, and a new Woodside Express (via Hwy 111). Core routes would service Halifax Peninsula (10), Alderney Ferry (54), and Woodside ("111" Express).

[Dmajackson]

TEN R.O.W. PROJECTS IN TEN YEARS (Theoretical idea by DJ):

Project #1: Windmill Road Express Corridor

- New Inbound lane between Akerley Blvd and Victoria Road for right-turns and bus traffic
- Extend Outbound lane to same length.
- New bus signalization at Victoria Road intersection
- New bus/truck/bike lane on Akerley Blvd (westbound center-lane)

Project #2: Gottingen Street Bus Lane

- New all-day northbound bus lane between Cogswell Street and North Street (MacDonald Bridge)
- Consider peak-hour northbound bus lane between North Street and Young Street

Project #3: Burnside Drive Express Corridor

- Widen Burnside Drive to six-lanes in conjunction with Expressway.
- Use new lane for right-turns and a new express/MetroLink service from Cobequid Terminal to Downtown.
- Provide stops at all intersections.

Project #4: Bedford Highway Queue Jumps

- New queue jump lanes where possible on Bedford Highway
- Install bus signalization where possible
- Focus on Sunnyside-Cobequid, and Flamingo-Windsor Exchange

Project #5: Oxford Street Express Corridor

- Detailed in previous post
- Convert Route 1 to BRT
- Relocate all stops to after-stoplight locations only
- All-day bus lane in both directions between Bayers and Coburg

Project #6: Spring Garden Road Closure

- Close the main portion of SGR to public traffic (Queen-South Park) during daytime hours
- Allow public traffic through from 7pm-6am
- Look up Stephenson Avenue (Calgary) for basic idea

Project #7: Mumford - Bayers Bus Link

- New transit/emergency only corridor along railcut between Mumford Road and Bayers Road
- Extend and realign bus routes accordingly
- Improve railcut with tunnel system and two rail tracks

Project #8: Alderney Drive Improvements

- Widen Alderney Drive between Alderney Terminal and Wyse Road.
- Seven lanes (4 through, 2 bus, 1 turning) between Portland Street and Park Avenue
- Four lanes (2 through, 2 bus) between Park Avenue and Wyse Road
- Widen Southbound lanes at minimum within timespan. Widen Northbound lanes when possible with appropriate relocation and redevelopment of adjacent lots

Project #9: Chebucto Road Bus Lanes

- In six lane portion of road (Mumford-Connaught) take outside lane and convert to bus, right-turn only lane in both directions
- Provide a bus priority jump/signalization at Connaught Avenue

Project #10: North Barrington Street Express Corridor

- Widen to four or three lanes (reversing) north of Devonshire Avenue
- Provide bus layaway north of Devonshire Avenue
- Widen to five lanes (4 through, 1 SB bus) if possible south of North Street
- If not possible reconfigure to provide bus priority in southbound direction

[scooby074]

Well you kinda had to see this coming.... MetroX's airport run killed the private Airporter bus.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/business/148641-private-operator-halts-airport-bus-service

[Phalanx]

Originally Posted by scooby074

Well you kinda had to see this coming.... MetroX's airport run killed the private Airporter bus.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/business/148641-private-operator-halts-airport-bus-service

That's unfortunate. I took a trip this July, and still opted for the Airporter shuttle because it was far more convenient in terms of locations, and timing, than the new Metro Transit route.

[jslath]

Originally Posted by scooby074

Well you kinda had to see this coming.... MetroX's airport run killed the private Airporter bus.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/business/148641-private-operator-halts-airport-bus-service

They were in trouble before Metro X launched the airport run. I'm sure another smaller company will launch a shuttle service between the airport and hotels.

[Dmajackson]

Tender will be awarded next week for some improvements around the Ragged Lake Transit Centre. It consists of a right-turn lane off of Prospect Road (to Ragged Lake Blvd), and a new bus-only ramp from Grassy Lake Blvd to the Highway 103 off-ramp. All buses would use the new ramp so the traffic lights entering Ragged Lake will be removed. This should help reduce the dead-heading of buses especially heading to Lacewood/Fairview areas (direct freeway connection). If bus lanes are ever installed on Bayers Road this would help those ones heading downtown.

The only other direct benefit would be a slightly quicker service on Route 22 (Armdale).

http://halifax.ca/council/agendasc/documents/121023ca1112.pdf

[scooby074]

Originally Posted by jslath

They were in trouble before Metro X launched the airport run. I'm sure another smaller company will launch a shuttle service between the airport and hotels.

Hope so.

The hotels are really going to feel it.

Having the MetroX do a downtown hotel loop as part of the run might be a good idea.

[q12]

The airporter was at the airport today getting passengers...

[scooby074]

Originally Posted by q12

The airporter was at the airport today getting passengers...

Interesting. Charter perhaps? The charter part of the business was going to continue.

AFAIK the Airporter ceased Sunday Oct. 14. http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/148641-hotels-bemoan-loss-of-airporter-bus-link

[someone123]

Has anything like this been contemplated? It could be for bus service but could possibly be converted for LRT (though some parts are quite hilly). Dunbrack seems like a much better route than the Bedford Highway because it is wider and there is more population within walking distance. There is a ton of potential for increased density along this corridor.


(hosted by me)

[teddifax]

Originally Posted by someone123

Has anything like this been contemplated? It could be for bus service but could possibly be converted for LRT (though some parts are quite hilly). Dunbrack seems like a much better route than the Bedford Highway because it is wider and there is more population within walking distance. There is a ton of potential for increased density along this corridor.


(hosted by me)

What is TOD?

[someone123]

Transit-oriented development.

[teddifax]

thanks!

[hollistreet]

Originally Posted by someone123

Has anything like this been contemplated? It could be for bus service but could possibly be converted for LRT (though some parts are quite hilly). Dunbrack seems like a much better route than the Bedford Highway because it is wider and there is more population within walking distance. There is a ton of potential for increased density along this corridor.


(hosted by me)

No matter where you go along Dunbrack you are less than 2km from the Bedford Highway or the 102. If you came up Main Street and then on to Dunbrack you would encompass a huge population within walking distance of a rapid transit route. Very interesting!

[halifaxboyns]

Good idea - my only issue would be the significant grade change from the railway cut to the Mumford Terminal - but considering the actual right of way of the railway cut there might be room to build an on and off ramp on either side. But that might require blasting...

[Halifax Hillbilly]

There's certainly more than enough space on Dunbrack. A corridor like this, plus maybe one on Lacewood and Dutch Village would provide good coverage to Clayton Park/ Fairview/ Rockingham. Use some local routes to fill in the gaps and it would be an ENORMOUS improvement.

It's interesting to consider how much service is in this area already: 52 (often running every fifteen minutes), 17, 42, 2, 4, 16, 18, + a variety of peak time express buses like the 31, 34 and the 35. There's no lack of service in Halifax, it just doesn't add up to fast, frequent and reliable service very often. Kudos should be given to Metro Transit for the rescheduling on Portland to create a high-frequency corridor. Hopefully we move to the next step and prune some routes, but that will take political will in addition to staff effort.

[jslath]

Originally Posted by Halifax Hillbilly

There's certainly more than enough space on Dunbrack. A corridor like this, plus maybe one on Lacewood and Dutch Village would provide good coverage to Clayton Park/ Fairview/ Rockingham. Use some local routes to fill in the gaps and it would be an ENORMOUS improvement.

It's interesting to consider how much service is in this area already: 52 (often running every fifteen minutes), 17, 42, 2, 4, 16, 18, + a variety of peak time express buses like the 31, 34 and the 35. There's no lack of service in Halifax, it just doesn't add up to fast, frequent and reliable service very often. Kudos should be given to Metro Transit for the rescheduling on Portland to create a high-frequency corridor. Hopefully we move to the next step and prune some routes, but that will take political will in addition to staff effort.

I encourage everyone to take a look at what Ottawa has been doing with her transit system. Transitways (limited stops, transit only road network) blend in with bus only lanes in the downtown core. With a little work and willpower, something similar can definitely be implemented in Halifax (like what is being contemplated above). Ottawa's OC Transpo isn't without her own problems but Halifax's Metro Transit would benefit from studying it. It's been my experience that Ottawa views transit as an investment but Halifax views it as an expense; it's amazing what can be accomplished with a different mindset.

To help with congestion, OC Transpo recently purchased over fifty (I think 77 in total) double decker buses- I'd love to see these in downtown Halifax.


(photo by me)

[musicman]

These busses all came through the port of halifax before going to the cummins shop in burnside. Nice busses. They would look great going through downtown halifax..

[Hali87]

Dunbrack-NWAD has always seemed to me like a no-brainer for an Ottawa-style busway. It's semi-limited access, speed limits of 60-80, and links almost all of the major population areas on the Mainland. I think there are vague plans in the works for MetroLink services from Lacewood and South Centre, but what I think would work even better here are buses that stop at every intersection along the artery, collecting passengers from the various subdivisions. Northwest Arm Drive has been built up substantially over the past decade, but many of these new areas have little to no transit service.

Ideally, there would be a South Centre-Northwest Arm Drive-Bayers Road-Downtown route, a Kearney Lake-Dunbrack-Bayers Road-Downtown route, and a Lacewood-Bayers Lake-Main-NWAD-South Centre route. As it stands there are no transit connections between the Mainlands North and South that do not require a detour through Mumford.