Planning underway for new commuter ferry between Bedford and Halifax

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

It ain't half bad to look at...IMO. It exceeds my expectations in its physical appearance. I see on the far left an umbrella table and also some space inside the building that appears to be beyond the bare minimum required to funnel folks onto a boat. This has the potential to be something quite pleasing on our waterfront. I'm looking forward to reading what is said following the announcement on Tuesday.

[q12]

https://haligonia.ca/bedford-termina...-space-292957/[/QUOTE]

[IanWatson]

It's officially funded! Circa $260 million.

We can debate the merits of various types higher order transit til the cows come home, but the fact that we're finally taking action on one of them is huge for this growing city.

[Dmajackson]

Bedford ferry to be added to Halifax Transit system by 2028, new terminal coming


Global News

Good news is the new Halifax terminal shown above will have a fourth berth which should make introducing Shannon Park ferry much easier.

[new2halifax]

Great news! I read about the community space and the library, which is great. But I also really hope they plan to add some serious retail space and entertainment services. Make it a destination, not just a passing through location. Attracting not just commuters but also tourists should be a priority.

[Keith P.]

As the saying goes, "There's many a slip, between the cup and the lip."

Having HRM and Halifax Transit doing this means it will be (a)late (b)overly expensive (c) have little regard for customer needs and (d)be plagued with poor service times, unreliable equipment and subpar employee performance. Transit cannot staff their existing 1970s technology cross-harbor tubs as it is to provide slow ferry service, leading to it being regularly out of commission. Now they are introducing new tech in the form of "fast" electric boats. What could possibly go wrong?

[q12]

A new bridge will be created over the rail tracks in Bedford:

[egb]

I feel like I'm missing something obvious but why wouldn't they have the road also go straight toward the terminal?

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by egb

I feel like I'm missing something obvious but why wouldn't they have the road also go straight toward the terminal?

Looks like they need the extended room to descend from the train overpass elevation down to the water level at a reasonable slope/grade.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

As the saying goes, "There's many a slip, between the cup and the lip."

Having HRM and Halifax Transit doing this means it will be (a)late (b)overly expensive (c) have little regard for customer needs and (d)be plagued with poor service times, unreliable equipment and subpar employee performance. Transit cannot staff their existing 1970s technology cross-harbor tubs as it is to provide slow ferry service, leading to it being regularly out of commission. Now they are introducing new tech in the form of "fast" electric boats. What could possibly go wrong?

While I take (and mostly agree with) your points, I'd take issue with the reference to the current ferries as "1970s technology cross-harbor tubs". There's nothing inherently wrong with the technology, design or performance of the ferries themselves.

[q12]

This might be an option...

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

The two story building in the foreground should provide the necessary population density to make this project a success! ...an attempt at humor. But seriously, I do hope that Mill Cove and area becomes a high rise growth area.

[Musquodoboit County]

So for a Mooseheads game or some downtown fun....might actually find cheaper parking in Bedford and take the ferry. "Bedford...the new downtown parking lot!"

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Musquodoboit County

So for a Mooseheads game or some downtown fun....might actually find cheaper parking in Bedford and take the ferry. "Bedford...the new downtown parking lot!"

Depends upon where you're coming from, I suppose, but if you want cheap (and want to have a drink downtown), just leave the car at home and take a bus. Driving to Bedford from somewhere else, to park in Bedford, and then take a ferry kind of negates the convenience of taking a car, but I'm sure there will be some people for which this will seem logical.

[Nouvellecosse]

I don't know that I'll ever personally have a need for it, but it might be a scenic(ish) mini-cruise in the way that the current ferries are. Nice for people in Bedford, Sackville and Beaverbank though.

[Musquodoboit County]

I think the only way these ferries will be successful is for high density built up around and ferry terminal. So this one in Bedford is a good start. Lots of potential around this terminal for some high density. I just hope they open the roof on height limits around any ferry terminal .
There is some excellent spots for big developments there. One being the wooded area between the fire station and mill cove plaza. Then there is that plaza itself that can be redeveloped with high rises. And of course there is the entire mass of infill that swallowed Crosby island.

[MonctonRad]

I like the design of the ferry terminal, and I think this is an interesting project, but, I view this as somewhat of a "boutique" public transit operation (and mostly just for Bedford). It will after all only move about 800 people per hour (which is a drop in the bucket at rush hour), and, is going to cost a quarter billion dollars.

Is this the best bang for the buck that HRM could come up with???

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I like the design of the ferry terminal, and I think this is an interesting project, but, I view this as somewhat of a "boutique" public transit operation (and mostly just for Bedford). It will after all only move about 800 people per hour (which is a drop in the bucket at rush hour), and, is going to cost a quarter billion dollars.

Is this the best bang for the buck that HRM could come up with???

I dno't think that's wildly different from the Alderney ferry--I can't find the peak-hour ridership, but the Integrated Mobility Dashboard shows that weekday ridership last month was between 1,600 and 2,000 per day. Assuming two-thirds of the ridership is peak hour, that's around 600-700 per hour at rush hour.

That sounds bad but consider that we have bus routes that move just a few hundred people all day. The big question, as ever, is how do we get more people onto these routes.

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I like the design of the ferry terminal, and I think this is an interesting project, but, I view this as somewhat of a "boutique" public transit operation (and mostly just for Bedford). It will after all only move about 800 people per hour (which is a drop in the bucket at rush hour), and, is going to cost a quarter billion dollars.

Is this the best bang for the buck that HRM could come up with???

When the Bedford Highway functional plan was done in 2019, peak hour one-way traffic was 1,500-2,000 vehicles per hour. Good chance most of those were single occupant. So a ferry doing 800 passengers per hour could take up to half the cars off the Bedford Highway. It obviously won't be that effective, but I'd hardly call this boutique.

[Keith P.]

No, it's boutique, as are many things relating to Bedford.

First, this has a single destination, DT Halifax. Most of those individuals are working office jobs. Sure, some may be flipping burgers or cleaning toilets but I don't think they are driving single-occupancy vehicles to those kind of jobs, or living in Bedford, for that matter. So it is targeted at a boutique clientele.

Secondly, that study is 5 years old now. Since them immigration has exploded, with lots of those people in new developments around Bedford. Because of that there is far more traffic on the Bedford Highway now (along with just about everywhere else, which HRM seems blissfully unconcerned with). If the objective was reducing traffic from Bedford to the peninsula, a single-destination ferry to the DT shore would be far down any list of options.