Metro Transit (Halifax)

Metro Transit is a Canadian public transport agency operating buses and ferries in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM).

Owned by the HRM, Metro Transit's operations area is the urban core in the western part of the municipality, namely the Halifax and Dartmouth Metropolitan Areas, along with adjacent outlying neighbourhoods and communities. Metro Transit is the largest transit agency in Atlantic Canada, carrying 18.5 million passengers in fiscal year 2007/2008.^[1]

History

The agency's roots trace back to its four predecessors: Nova Scotia Light & Power Company (March 1928-December 1969) and Halifax Transit Corporation (January 1970-February 1979) in Halifax, and Dartmouth Transit Service Buses Ltd. (April 1957-February 1978) and Dartmouth Transit (February 1978-February 1979) in Dartmouth. In March 1981, both Halifax and Dartmouth transit agencies merged their services to become Metro Transit, taking its name from the Metropolitan Commission. Metro Transit Centre, the agency's headquarters and bus maintenance facility, is located on Ilsley Avenue in Burnside Park, with a satellite garage known as the Rapid Transit Garage also in Burnside Park on Thornhill Drive.

Bus service

Currently there are 278 buses in the fleet, 177 of them low-floor vehicles, operating on 56 routes, including three Community Transit routes, three express routes operating as "MetroLink" which began service in August 2005, and a rural express route operating as "MetroX" which started in August 2009.

Regular service

Metro Transit operates 52 conventional transit routes within the metropolitan region of Halifax Regional Municipality (Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford and Sackville), including the areas of Eastern Passage, North Preston/Cherry Brook, Tantallon and Herring Cove. Routes are numbered according to the region or type of service provided:

Route number structure

Routes in the 00's, the 10's and the 20's are primarily Halifax-based routes. Routes in the 30's are rush-hour only routes serving Halifax. Routes in the 40's are university routes serving the Dalhousie University Studley campus which, until summer 2010 operated only during the academic calendar (September to April). Routes in the 50's, the 60's and 70's are Dartmouth-based routes. Routes in the 80's are Sackville and Bedford routes. Routes in the 100's are the MetroLink routes, and routes in the 300's are the MetroExpress routes.

Fare structure

In addition, a University student bus pass (U-pass)^[2] is available for Saint Mary's, Mount Saint Vincent, King's College, Dalhousie, Nova Scotia Community College (Halifax Campuses only) and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design students, and the cost is included in tuition fees. The Metro Transit fare structure can be found on the Metro Transit website.^[3]

Transfers are issued upon request on all Metro Transit buses and ferries. A transfer allows the user to transfer between multiple conventional route buses and ferries traveling in any direction without having to pay an additional fare. A transfer also allows users to transfer to MetroLink and Community Transit buses at a reduced fare. Transfers are valid for 90 minutes after they have been issued. Holders of a valid MetroPass or MetroLink Pass do not require transfers.^[4]

Transit routes

Active

Wheelchair – Uses Accessible Low Floor (ALF) buses only.

Rush Hour Service Only. 
Designated Bike Route. 
MetroLink Service (see MetroLink section below)
MetroX Service (see MetroX section below)
University routes that, until the summer of 2010 only operated during the university academic calendar year (September – April).

Defunct

• 3 Gottingen (1927–1989) Fate: merged with route 7.
• 8 Windsor (1963–1999) Fate: discontinued due to overlapping service from other routes.
• 11 Macdonald Bridge (1955–1988) Fate: merged with route 1, later partially reinstated.
• 12 Flamingo (1970–2003)
• 16 Stanley Park (1995–1998)
• 19 Fotherby (1990–2000)
• 22 Exhibition Park (1993–2004)
• 26 Shuttle (1993–2008)
• 30 Glenforest (1975–1999)
• 34 Rockingham Express (1982–1990)
• 35 Rosedale (1995–2000)
• 40 Mumford – Dalhousie (2006–2006)
• 48 Highfield (1990–1999)
• 50 Portland Estates (1980–1996)
• 50 BIO (2001–2004)
• 56 Westphal (1980–1989)
• 57 Mic Mac (1980–1989)
• 61 Bisett (1980–1996)
• 66 Forest Hills – Woodside Ferry (1987–1989)
• 68 Auburn (1980–1995)
• 68 Ross Road (1995–2000)
• 71 Forest Hills Express (1982–1989)
• 81 Bedford (1980–1985)
• 85 Bedford Express (1980–1991)
• 86 Bedford – Dartmouth (1987–1988)
• 87 Connolly (1990–1997)
• 88 Atlantic Acres (1993–1994)

University routes that only operated during the university academic calendar year (September – April).

Express service

MetroLink is Metro Transit's BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) express bus service that operates Monday to Friday. The system consists of three limited-stop fully accessible express routes, connecting downtown Halifax's Scotia Square bus terminal, with the Portland Hills terminal in Cole Harbour on the Dartmouth side, and the Sackville Terminal in Lower Sackville. The third route links the Portland Hills Terminal to the Woodside ferry terminal in Dartmouth during morning and afternoon peak service times.

Rural express

MetroExpress, or MetroX for short is Metro Transit's rural express bus service. There is one MetroX route, running between Tantallon to Halifax. There are two other planned routes that will service the rural commutershed of HRM. All routes are to terminate at Scotia Square in downtown Halifax.^[5]

Community transit

Metro Transit runs a Community Transit service, allowing residents in some suburban and rural communities access to the regular and express bus system operated by Metro Transit.

There are three Community Transit routes:^[6]

• Porters Lake, offering Monday-Saturday service between Portland Hills Terminal in Dartmouth and the communities of East Preston, Lake Echo, Porters Lake and Grand Desert via Portland St, Cole Harbour Rd, Forest Hills Pkwy and Highway #7.

• Beaver Bank, offering weekday service between the new Sackville Terminal and Beaver Bank Villa in Beaver Bank via the Beaver Bank Road.

• Sambro, offering weekday service between South Centre Mall in Spryfield and the Ketch Harbour fire hall Ketch Harbour via the old Sambro road and hwy 349. This route uses the same buses as the Metro X service does.

Cash fare on all three routes is $2.25 (Adult/Student) $1.50 (Children/Senior 5–15). Tickets and transfers from other routes are accepted, Monthly bus passes and U-Passes are accepted. Transfers are issued on request on these routes that allow passengers to continue their travels on other Metro Transit routes.

Access-A-Bus

Metro Transit also provides Access-A-Bus service which is a dial-a-ride service for elderly and handicapped residents in the region. This service was created in 1981, the same year Metro Transit was formed.^[7] There are approximately 20 Access-A-Bus vehicles .

GoTime

GoTime is the name of Metro Transit's automated vehicle locater (AVL) system. The generation system (unveiled over the winter of 2007/2008) uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to track buses throughout the system, providing information on location and schedule adherence to the transit control centre. This information is also used to update Metro Transit's real time bus departure system available to the general public.

Concept

Each bus stop sign has a blue 4-digit GoTime number on it. A passenger can dial 480- plus the 4-digit number to hear an automated message telling them exactly when the next bus on each route servicing that stop will depart, based on the information calculated above. Also, GoTime monitors are placed at every transit terminal, and a few major stops, listing each of the routes that service that stop and when the next two buses on those routes will arrive at that stop. This information is continually updated as the central GoTime system recalculates bus departure times, using the data collected from the buses. In addition to this, each bus is equipped with an on board computer which continually updates the driver on exactly how many minutes ahead of or behind schedule they are, to ensure schedule adherence. A web-based component was developed to provide departure times information via the internet in both standard internet and mobile internet formats.

Technical difficulties and limitations

As of 2010 the system’s functionality was limited to just scheduled transit data (as opposed to live transit data) with information displays at terminals malfunctioning on a regular basis.^[8] Metro Transit publicly announced the web-based GoTime system in the Winter of 2007–2008 utilizing a pamphlet distributed in buses that had an incorrect URL (http://halifax.ca/metrotransit/gotime) to the service. This component, which can be found at http://halifax.ca/gotime was never correctly or officially released to the public.

History

The new GPS-based system replaces an older system originally designed by the former City of Halifax between 1984 and 1987, one the earliest real-time passenger information and transit management systems in North America.^[9] The previous generation system used wheel rotation sensors to calculate the distance traveled from the start of the route, which was then transmitted back to the transit control centre. This data allowed the system to calculate the buses position along its route, as well as exact departure times for each bus stop ahead of it. In addition to wheel sensors, door sensors were used to determine when the bus was at a stop, and a series of electronic transmitters mounted to power poles along each route allowed the system to further calculate the buses position along its route. As with the current-generation system, the previous system also had a call-in system where a user could call the 4-digit GoTime number on each bus stop and hear an automated message telling them when the next two buses on each route servicing that stop would depart, monitors at all terminals displaying real-time departure information, and on board computers displaying information to drivers on how far ahead or behind schedule they are.

The hardware to support the previous-generation GoTime system had been steadily deteriorating over time, as the last major overhaul to the system was completed in 1996. There is reference to funds being allocated in 1998 for a GoTime upgrade,^[10] however, it is believed that the companies that were contracted to perform the upgrade, failed to do so when they each went bankrupt. Due to the instability of the system, it is believed that sometime between 2004 and 2005, the "real-time" functionality of the GoTime system was disabled, as phoning the system seemed only to tell the scheduled departure times, not actual departure times; the phone-in component used the words "scheduled to depart in" when real-time data was unavailable, and "will depart in" when the data was available.

Fleet

Current

Past

Ferries

Current service

Metro Transit also provides two passenger ferry routes, one connecting downtown Halifax with Alderney Landing in Dartmouth (which operates daily using two vessels) and the other connecting downtown Halifax with Woodside (Monday through Friday only using one vessel). The ferry services are integrated with the bus services; the fares are identical, and transfers are accepted between the two systems. The harbour ferries are utilised by over 3,000 commuters daily^[11] Each ferry carries up to 398 passengers. The characters of Phillip and Phillmore, the ferry twins from the children's TV show, Theodore Tugboat are modelled after these vessels.

Proposed high speed service

In recent years, following unfulfilled plans to implement commuter rail, the municipality has begun to plan several new high speed ferry routes on Halifax Harbour, including service to Purcell's Cove, Bedford, Eastern Passage and Shannon Park. These routes would be served by wave piercing catamarans capable of speeds of approximately 40 knots. Details have not been finalized, however it is likely that the downtown Halifax terminal would act as a hub, with all routes radiating outward. Studies and trials have been undertaken for a Bedford-Halifax route, which will likely be the first high speed service.

Fleet

Current

There are three ferries in operation:

• Dartmouth III – Built in 1979 in Pictou, Nova Scotia.
• Halifax III – Built in 1979 in Pictou.
• Woodside I – Built in 1986 in Pictou.

All three ferries are double-ended side-loading, and use two 230 hp Caterpillar model 3306 engines, each driving a model 12E/75 Voith-Schneider propeller.

Past

The Dartmouth to Halifax ferry service dates from 1752.^[12] Following is a list of earlier ferries as far as is known.

• Dartmouth II – Built in 1956 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, retired in 1979.^[13]
• Halifax II – Built in 1956 in Lunenburg, retired in 1979.^[13]
• Scotian – Built in 1946 in Pictou, Nova Scotia, retired in 1955.^[13]
• Governor Cornwallis – Built in 1941 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, retired in 1944 (destroyed by fire).^[13]
• Dartmouth – Built in 1934 in Lauzon, Quebec, retired in 1957.^[13]
• Halifax – Built in 1911, retired in 1956.^[13]
• Chebucto – Built in 1906, retired in 1951.^[13]
• Annex 2 – Built in 1878 in New Baltimore, New York, retired in 1909 (destroyed by fire).^[13]
• Arcadia – Built in 1884 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, retired in 1891.^[13]
• Dartmouth – Built in 1888 in Yarmouth, retired in 1935.^[13]
• Chebucto – Built in 1878 in Dartmouth, retired in 1892.^[13]
• Mic Mac – Built in 1878 in Dartmouth, retired in 1901.^[13]
• Boxer – Built in 1838 in Dartmouth, retired in 1864.^[13]
• Sir C. Ogle – Built in 1830 in Dartmouth, retired in 1894.^[13]
• Sherbrooke – Built in 1816 in Dartmouth, retired in 1830.^[13]

See also

• Transportation in the Halifax Regional Municipality
• Halifax Regional Municipality

References

External links

• Metro Transit's official website
• Complete route map for Halifax-Dartmouth area.
• Complete route map for Bedford-Sackville area.
• Schedules, maps for individual routes, riders guide.
• hbus.ca Community-based trip-planning service for Halifax