It’s finally happening. The city has started planning its redo of the ghastly, despised Mumford Terminal. The city has hired Dillon Consulting for phase one: figuring out where the heck to put the thing, designing how it will work, and giving a rough guess at how much it will cost to build. Dillon needs to...
Why are we holding back on low income transit passes?
Let's lift the participation cap on this important program for poorer residents
You will, I hope, be happy to know that 717 people in this city who make less than $33,000 a year were able to purchase a bus pass at a discount this September. Some of those 717 people are newly able to afford a pass to help them get to work, school, the grocery store, […]
Transit data: the gift that keeps on giving
Transit riders may think that they are already reaping the benefits of our latest bus technology upgrades, what with next stops being called out on board, and real time data being pumped out to the likes of Google Transit and Transit App. Sure, we are now more accessible, less prone to miss a stop, and...
People are really upset about this Armco thing: Tuesday, March 21, 2017
It'll be a heated council meeting today
This is Katie Toth, GIF queen and gal-about-town. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter and send me your best memes. News 1. How many people of colour go to Dal? The school can’t say. A CBC investigation has found that many universities in Canada don’t collect information on students’ race, which can be a problem if schools […]
Bringing bus lanes to Bayers Road
Transit corridor options study will analyze impacts on all modes of travel, a first for HRM
The city has set in motion an ambitious timeline to study and come up with functional design options for 2.5 to 6.5km of “transit priority corridors” on Halifax streets. That’s good news for transit riders, and ultimately for anyone who is getting stuck in vehicle traffic on the peninsula. In a request for proposals released […]
Happily, Halifax will see transit priority sooner rather than later
Bridge Commission approval still required on Macdonald Bridge measure
Halifax streets could see fewer buses stuck in traffic sooner thanks to the expedited implementation of a list of Transit Priority Measures (TPMs) originally planned to stretch into 2021. With new matching funds coming from the federal Public Transit Infrastructure Fund, eight of the 11 TPMs on Halifax’s list are “tentatively scheduled” for our next...
The return of Nova Scotia’s spoils system: Morning File, Thursday, February 2, 2017
News 1. NSCAD to accept students stranded by Trump’s immigration order “NSCAD University will be among a group of Canadian art schools accepting international students slated to go to U.S. schools now left stranded by President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration,” reports Chris Lambie for the Halifax Examiner. This article is behind the Examiner’s paywall […]
Low income transit pass program to grow this year, but passes will still be out of reach for poorest of the poor
Halifax is poised to make its Low Income Transit Pass pilot program permanent, and start talking to the province about getting transit passes into the hands of income assistance recipients. If council approves the recommendation from their Transportation Standing Committee, the city will start accepting applications for the new permanent program in May, with a […]
The parking violation death sentence: Morning File, Friday, January 27, 2017
News 1. HST hit to Nova Scotia Yesterday, I linked to Charlottetown Guardian reporter Teresa Wright’s bombshell that Atlantic provinces are being told to return “hundreds of millions” of dollars of miscalculated HST payments back to Ottawa. I wrote: Wright doesn’t put a dollar figure on the amount Nova Scotia owes, but assuming that the […]
Newer accessible buses considered unsafe by riders
By the end of March, Halifax buses will be 100 per cent of the accessible low floor (ALF) variety. That’s an important step forward in the slow march towards equal access for those of us with mobility challenges. Put that milestone next to the recent beta-testing of a new stop announcement system, and Halifax Transit appears...