Halifax Transit is a Canadian public transport service operating buses and ferries in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Founded as Metro Transit in March 1981, the agency runs two ferry routes, 63 conventional bus routes (including corridor, local, and express services), three regional express routes (called MetroX), and three rural routes. Halifax Transit also operates Access-a-Bus, a door-to-door paratransit service for senior and disabled citizens.
Total ridership in the 2024/25 fiscal year was about 32.3 million, with the system carrying an average of 103,165 on weekdays. According to the 2016 census, Halifax had the seventh-highest proportion of workers taking transit to work among Canadian cities.
History
Preceding services Halifax was among the first Canadian cities to be served by an integrated public transportation system, pre-dated only by Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City.Wyatt, D.A. (2015). All-time list of Canadian transit systems: http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~wyatt/alltime/
The city's first transit service came with the establishment of the Dartmouth ferry service, first chartered in 1752. In 1816, the sail-powered ferry was replaced by a horse-powered boat, and in 1830 by a steam ferry. While private horse-drawn omnibus services are known to have begun in the city at least as early as 1854, the roots of Halifax Transit date back to June 11, 1866.
The Halifax City Railroad Company (HCR) began operations with five horse-drawn trams on rails that stretched from the corner of Barrington Street and Inglis Street in the south end to the city’s first railway station, near the corner of Duffus Street and Campbell Road (now Barrington Street), in the north end.Canadian Railroad Historical Association Bulletin 17 (1954) http://www.exporail.org/can_rail/Canadian%20Rail_CRHA_Bulletin_no17_April_1954.pdf
Notwithstanding a ten-year hiatus, horse-drawn street railway services continued in Halifax until April 1896 when the system, now operated by the Halifax Electric Tramway Company, completed the conversion to electric-powered operation. The street railway served Halifax until March 1949, when the war-worn trams were replaced by "trackless" electric trolley coaches.Cunningham, D. and Artz, D. (2009). The Halifax Street Railway: 1866–1949. Halifax: Nimbus
The bright yellow trolleys, operated by utility company Nova Scotia Light and Power, plied city streets exclusively until 1963, when they were supplemented by diesel buses for the first time. The system became all-diesel on January 1, 1970, the same day the City of Halifax took over operation under the name Halifax Transit.Leger, P.A. and Lawrence, L.M. (1994), Halifax – City of Trolleycoaches. Windsor ON: Bus History Association Some of Halifax's T-44 trolleybuses were sold to the Toronto Transit Commission for parts for their Western Flyer E-700A.
Dartmouth Transit provided transit service in Dartmouth, a separate city at that time.
Unification
Metro Transit, a single transit agency serving all of the greater Halifax-Dartmouth metropolitan area, began operations in March 1981. The system was created by the Metropolitan Authority, an agency representing the former cities of Halifax and Dartmouth as well as suburban Halifax County,An Act Respecting the Metropolitan Authority of Halifax, Dartmouth and the Municipality of the County of Halifax. Statutes of Nova Scotia. 1978. c. 9. to consolidate the transit operations of the Halifax Transit Corporation and Dartmouth Transit.
Metro Transit expanded in 1994 with the absorption of the Dartmouth ferry services formerly operated by the city of Dartmouth. Ownership of the transit service was transferred to the newly created Halifax Regional Municipality when Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and Halifax County were amalgamated in 1996. Since then, the service has been operated directly by the municipal government, and since October 2010 the agency has reported through the Transportation Standing Committee of Halifax Regional Council. The municipality announced on July 15, 2014 that it was changing the service's name to Halifax Transit to reflect the city's new brand.Halifax Transit brand unveiled The Chronicle Herald
MetroLink The MetroLink service, a bus rapid transit (BRT) express bus service, was developed in 2003 between the Halifax Regional Municipality, the Province of Nova Scotia and Transport Canada's Urban Transportation Showcase Program, a five-year program designed to demonstrate and promote urban transportation strategies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The program selected cities across the country to showcase a number of different initiatives in reducing greenhouse gases. Halifax Regional Municipality's $13.3-million proposal for a BRT system was chosen, and $4.1 million was given by the Government of Canada toward this project. The remainder was funded by the Halifax Regional Municipality ($8.06 million), the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Public Works ($785,000) and the Nova Scotia Department of Energy ($80,000).
Twenty low floor buses were purchased from New Flyer Industries for the MetroLink service. These buses featured air conditioning, high-back reclining seats with footrests, carpeted walls, and ceilings to reduce road noise and vibration, a special livery and logo, and no advertisements both on the inside and outside. One of these buses, #600, was on public display on April 12, 2005, outside of City Hall. The bus was available for media and members of the general public to tour, and increase awareness of the new service.
The service was launched in phases, with the first phase on August 21, 2005. The first phase saw the construction of a new bus terminal in Cole Harbour called Portland Hills Terminal, with a 230-space parking lot, including some spaces reserved for carpool parking. Two routes were created at this time, the 159 Portland Hills Link and 165 Woodside Link.Metro Transit GoTimes newsletter, August 2005 (PDF document)
The second phase was launched on February 20, 2006. This phase saw the construction of a new bus terminal in Lower Sackville called the Sackville Terminal on Walker Ave, with a 315-space parking lot. One new route was created, the 185 Sackville Link.Metro Transit GoTimes newsletter , February 2006 (PDF document)
Vehicles
In 2005, Halifax Regional Municipality purchased twenty new buses from New Flyer Industries of Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was assumed at the time that HRM would purchase New Flyer's D40i Invero model, which New Flyer was marketing towards BRT services, however HRM resisted and ordered 20 model D40LF instead, and were given fleet numbers 600 - 619. The D40LF was the current bus of choice at the time for Halifax Transit's regular fleet, so they opted to keep the status quo.
These twenty buses featured a new livery on the outside, air conditioning on the inside (a first for Halifax Transit), bike racks, carpeting on the walls and ceiling to reduce road noise and vibrations, and larger plush high-back reclining chairs with arm and leg rests and custom designed fabric design. Also differentiating these buses from the rest of the Halifax Transit fleet are onboard transmitters for the 3M Opticom system. Opticom is the system in place in HRM used by fire services and MetroLink, to allow emergency and transit vehicles to hold green lights and prevent them from turning red until the vehicle has passed through the intersection. The system was also used to trigger transit priority signals at certain intersections, allowing MetroLink buses to move into the intersection using special bus-only lanes before the rest of the vehicles can proceed. This allowed MetroLink buses at a red light to "jump" ahead of waiting cars.HRM Urban Showcase Proposal , page 7 (PDF document)
Fares Effective September 1, 2024, the MetroLink service had its own fare structure, separate from the rest of the Halifax Transit system. Cash fares cost an extra fifty cents over and above the regular fares. MetroLink had its own monthly bus pass, the MetroLink Pass, which could have been used on any Halifax Transit service. Passengers would have been able to use regular transit tickets or monthly bus passes (MetroPass), but they must deposit an additional fifty cents into the farebox. Category Cash Fare MetroLink Pass With Transit Ticket, MetroPass,UPass or Transfer Adult $3.00 $90.00 +50 cents Senior/Youth $2.25 $66.00 +50 cents Student $3.00 n/a +50 cents
Bus stops Part of Halifax Regional Municipality's plans for distinguishing the MetroLink service from the rest of the Halifax Transit system involved creating special bus stop signs, bus shelters and info posts at MetroLink bus stops. The new bus stop signs featured the same colours and design as the livery on the buses, the new shelters featured the gold and blue MetroLink "swirl" along the back wall, and the new info posts, which displayed maps and schedule information for the three former MetroLink routes, they were also done in the same gold and blue swirl, with the stop name vertically oriented along the side.
Traffic changes A number of changes were made to streets and intersections along the routes to help the MetroLink buses get ahead of the rest of traffic.Bus Rapid Transit In Halifax - page 3 (PDF document) The following changes were introduced:
Bus-only lanes and traffic priority signals along Portland Street in Dartmouth for the route 159 and 165. The lanes and signals are located at the intersection of Portland Street and Woodlawn Road. The bus-only lanes allowed the MetroLink buses to bypass traffic waiting at a red light. Just before the light turns green, a special transit priority signal (a white vertical bar above the red stop light) comes on, allowing the bus to enter the intersection ahead of waiting vehicles. Bus-only lanes and traffic priority signals along Windmill Road in the Burnside Industrial Park for the route 185. The lanes and signals are located at the intersections of Windmill Road, Wright Ave and Akerley Blvd. They work in the same manner as described above.
Former planned development Phase three of the MetroLink service was expected to take place within the next five years of the first three lines. This phase would have seen new terminals and MetroLink routes in other busy corridors such as Clayton Park and Spryfield.Metro Transit GoTimes Archives - MetroLink Service Summary
Plans existed to introduce a new route to service the Cobequid Terminal, also in Lower Sackville shortly after the 185 Sackville Link came into service. Destination signs on board the buses were even programmed with a route 184 Cobequid, and early maps of the MetroLink service showed a route 184 between Cobequid Terminal and downtown Halifax, however this plan seems to have been abandoned.
Impacts
The route 185 Sackville Line improved transit connections to downtown Halifax from Lower Sackville, since standard bus service on routes 87 & 1 takes 43 minutes in optimal conditions, and bus service on the route 80 (which travels via Bedford) takes 1 hour 10 minutes. Both routes 159 Portland Hills Link and 185 Sackville Link saw unprecedented ridership in the first few months of service. Initial rush hour schedules saw both routes running on 15-minute frequencies, however within months this was changed to 10-minutes. Also, both Portland Hills Terminal and the Sackville Terminal underwent expansions to their parking lots, bringing the combined capacity of both lots to 545 cars. Still, both parking lots were frequently full, with people parking on the driveways to the lots. More Parking Space to be introduced at Portland Hills Terminal - Spring 2006
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