Halifax Transit

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

If only the head of the transit was required to use it. You would see changes quickly.

He would, but he never carries change and cannot find any places that sell tickets.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

He would, but he never carries change and cannot find any places that sell tickets.

I'm guessing he cannot find a place that sells the monthly passes either....

[atbw]

Looks like we'll be getting some electric busses by the end of this year, with the first 60 being here by the end of the 23-24 financial year.

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

The Skytrain in Vancouver doesn't require a driver. I just felt the desire to 'throw this out there' after reading once again about Halifax Transit route cuts and the troubles they're having hiring drivers. I can't imagine the trouble cut routes must cause some folks. Council certainly has proven their inability to provide necessary services to the good citizens of HRM.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Arrdeeharharharbour

The Skytrain in Vancouver doesn't require a driver. I just felt the desire to 'throw this out there' after reading once again about Halifax Transit route cuts and the troubles they're having hiring drivers. I can't imagine the trouble cut routes must cause some folks. Council certainly has proven their inability to provide necessary services to the good citizens of HRM.

To say it is driverless is not actually that true. What is true is that they do not have a driver on board. In some office though, there is someone operating the trains. If they ran short staffed, they may need to pull trains out of service.

As far as driver shortages, look around, most transit systems are facing the same thing.

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

I thought I'd give a shout-out for the free ferry Friday's which provided just enough impetus for a bunch of us to walk down to the ferry on the Halifax side and head over to The Canteen on Portland Street in Dartmouth for a fine meal followed by a couple of beers at Staggers Pub.

20220729_180321 by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

20220729_181321 by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

20220729_182633_HDR by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

20220729_200240_HDR by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

20220729_220054_HDR by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

20220729_220306 by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

20220729_220312 by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

20220729_220523 by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

[ScovaNotian]

Originally Posted by Arrdeeharharharbour

20220729_182633_HDR by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr[/URL

What happens if something taller is built on the lot next door?

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by ScovaNotian

What happens if something taller is built on the lot next door?

Like anywhere else, they would have a nice view of a wall.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by ScovaNotian

What happens if something taller is built on the lot next door?

You mean, make it like a modern-day version of a NYC tenement building? Then The Bright Side becomes The Dark Side. Seems appropriate given the location.

[Dmajackson]

Report on the current recommendation for moving forward with Mill Cove Fast Ferry.

Mill Cove Ferry Service - Phase 1

[MolteN]

Considering it's a goal at the Provincial government to double the population from the 1,030,547 we're at today to the ballpark of 2,000,000 by January 1st, 2060. Presents a unique opportunity for Canada considering Nova Scotia's small geography plus favourable climate with higher population density. To lay down the network for a hierarchical structure of public transportation infrastructure. In a perfect world this would be a bi-partisan issue but things like healthcare take a more urgent short term priority.

Siemens Velaro Novo 11 car high speed trains top speed of 320kph and a capacity of roughly 1000 people. This can be a nationwide network with service every 90 - 120 minutes and compete against airlines for medium and short distance travel, reserving planes for time sensitive business travel or international long haul flights.

Nova Scotia rail (NSR) on dedicated right of way with some shared lines with freight CN. Stadler KISS 160kph top speed double deck 7 car train, capacity of 735 with regional and express service every sixty minutes

Halifax Area Rapid Transit (HART)
Austal Volta 43V catamaran ferry fleet electric top speed of 70kph and capacity of 320 per boat service every ten to twenty minutes based on route. Terminals in Mill Cove, Larry uteck, Shannon Park, Alderney, Woodside. And three gate hub in downtown Halifax.

Stadler Metro trains of 5 top speed of 80kph capacity of 560 on elevated viaduct or sunken trench with service every ten minutes at stations spaced every 1600-1800 meters apart. Some tunnel sections on peninsula

Novabus LFS + LFS articulated HEV fleet capacity of 75-112 on grid BRT lines with transfers to metro stations or NSR stations. Suburban and exurban lines feed train lines. Service every ten minutes.

I realize that this is a very ambitious and unrealistic expectation for the next 37 years. But this infrastructure alongside proposed projects like the south end to Woodside tunnel and highway 113 and the middle Sackville masterplan will greatly improve the capacity to move people and cargo.

[KMcK]

kph?

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by MolteN

Siemens Velaro Novo 11 car high speed trains top speed of 320kph and a capacity of roughly 1000 people. This can be a nationwide network with service every 90 - 120 minutes

Do you have any concept of what it would cost to build, let alone sustain, a line like that in a country that's roughly 5800 km wide?

High-speed rail works fine in compact geographies with high population densities. Unfortunately, that's the exact opposite of what Canada is. And even where it does work, it often has to be subsidized.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by KMcK

kph?

suspect it means "kilometers per hour."

[someone123]

For as long as I can remember the rail debate has been stuck between the status quo and an opinion like "we can't afford HSR like they build in Paris or Shenzhen". But we have ultra low speed rail and there are a lot of places that aren't really all that rich or developed that have electrified rail lines and/or 200 km/h lines.

The Ocean runs at about 60 km/h but its effective end-to-end speed is more like 36 km/h.

[MolteN]

Originally Posted by KMcK

kph?

Kilometers per hour, the same measurement of speed on the speedometer

[MolteN]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Do you have any concept of what it would cost to build, let alone sustain, a line like that in a country that's roughly 5800 km wide?

High-speed rail works fine in compact geographies with high population densities. Unfortunately, that's the exact opposite of what Canada is. And even where it does work, it often has to be subsidized.

Considering roughly 21 million of Canada's 39 million lives in the Saint Laurence River Valley. And we already heavily rely on traditional methods of transportation. I see it as a healthy diversification. Especially if we want to get a national population of 100 million by the year 2100 that's hopefully more evenly distributed.

[MolteN]

Originally Posted by someone123

For as long as I can remember the rail debate has been stuck between the status quo and an opinion like "we can't afford HSR like they build in Paris or Shenzhen". But we have ultra low speed rail and there are a lot of places that aren't really all that rich or developed that have electrified rail lines and/or 200 km/h lines.

The Ocean runs at about 60 km/h but its effective end-to-end speed is more like 36 km/h.

It's unfortunately very common around this region to find every possible excuse to not exert effort in the short term in exchange for kicking the can down the sidewalk.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by MolteN

Considering it's a goal at the Provincial government to double the population from the 1,030,547 we're at today to the ballpark of 2,000,000 by January 1st, 2060. Presents a unique opportunity for Canada considering Nova Scotia's small geography plus favourable climate with higher population density. To lay down the network for a hierarchical structure of public transportation infrastructure. In a perfect world this would be a bi-partisan issue but things like healthcare take a more urgent short term priority.

The province wants to grow the population, but they are not funding the projects that will help grow the province.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by MolteN

Considering roughly 21 million of Canada's 39 million lives in the Saint Laurence River Valley.

Yes, and that means it might be feasible in the Toronto-Montreal corridor (if not Windsor-Quebec City) but is still blisteringly expensive to build. That leaves another several thousand km of nothingness we'd need to build through to go coast-to-coast as you suggested.

Seriously, you should take a sober look at the costs involved.

These are not "excuses" for not building out rail. Those who think they are really need to do some basic research.

I'd love to see nationwide high-speed rail, but it would be nice if our expectations and aspirations had at least a tenuous connection to reality.