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November 2008
Getting on the go
How does transportation pave the way for developing HRM?
By Lindsey Keilty
If the attraction of new people is the common thread that binds together all of the future development plans Halifax currently has in place, then transportation is the sewing machine that will stitch all those new citizens into the existing fabric.
Without an efficient, broad-based transportation system to get people from their homes to work, school, shopping, entertainment or wherever they need to go, all the development plans in the world won’t change our city.
That’s why the regional development plan lays out five key areas of transportation to be improved as the rest of the plan is rolled out: roads, public transit, active transportation, traffic demand management and parking.
Gridlock on major commuter routes fuels the need for alternate forms of transportation throughout Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Three of the five key areas – public transit, active transportation and traffic demand management – are aimed at reducing the demand for the other two, thereby freeing up resources and reducing the impact on the environment at the same time.
As part of the Regional Plan, Active Transportation incorporates a variety of self-propelled modes of transportation that utilize on- and off-road facilities. In addition to promoting physically active forms of transportation, environmentally-friendly modes are vital in not only a sustainable future, but also in attracting and retaining socially conscious, up-and-comers to Halifax.
Public transit is rapidly emerging as the method for getting all those single-occupant cars off the roads. In the most recent municipal budget, $155 million has been applied toward transit over the next five years.
As part of the five-year plan, Metro Transit has started plans for a new garage, as it has outgrown the current facility. Then, 30 articulated (double) buses will be purchased, which will provide the opportunity to transport double the passengers with the operating costs of half the fares.
Why all this increased focus on transit? The reason may lie in Metro Transit’s improved numbers over the past year. Ridership is up this summer over the same period last year. Sales of conventional transit passes increased by 1,894 over July 2007, which translates to an additional 95,000 pass trips. There’s also another figure to consider: the price at the pumps.
“If anything, rising fuel costs only highlight the continued, pressing need for funding and implementation,” says Metro Transit spokeswoman Lori Patterson. “Public transit is an integral part of any community and I think people are really starting to realize that.
“Traditionally, urban transit serves one downtown core, but in today's world that's all changed. With business parks at either end of the city and commuters coming from all around, we need to expand our accessibility,” Patterson says. “With the cost of fuel, people are looking at public transit as part of the solution.”
However, as Patterson herself points out, “only so many buses can fit on the roads and roads present a whole other set of infrastructure that has to be funded.” That’s why Metro Transit is strongly supporting the implementation of a fast ferry service from Bedford.
“The fast ferry expansion is also important, as our water is so under-utilized,” Patterson says. “It makes a lot of sense in the long-term, because the water will always be there.”
The only catch with all the city’s plans to date is that they remain just that: plans. So far little has taken place to implement these initiatives. That’s an area of concern for Halifax’s business community.
Halifax Chamber of Commerce president Valerie Payn suggests a stronger business-like attitude would benefit the continued success of the Transportation Plan.
“There's been a lot of work, effort and consultation put into the planning process; the challenge is now to move forward and get things underway and implement,” Payn says. “In terms of responding to things like environmental concerns and particularly rising gas prices, what could be helpful is for the government to act in more of a business mindset and build in some flexibility.
“(The government has) to be able to make some judgments; for example, if the price of gas spikes and they rush out and buy a fleet of buses and then the price and demand goes down, then we're left with some capital expenditure that might not have been the best.”
In an ever-changing market, Payn says it's ideal to be flexible and adaptable to change. "In a plan that was laid out five years ago, by the time all the consultation and the planning is done, the market is likely to have changed, so it's nice to be able to react to that in a business-like way,” she says. "Using a business model would help those who created the plans to adapt and move forward, rather than going back and second-guessing the plan.”
The Transportation Plan, as laid out in the Regional Plan, is integrated in lock step, meaning if buses need to be purchased, money is put toward bus terminals first, to ensure the plan is sequential. Payn recognizes this business model, but suggests that execution should be swift in order to stay on par with, or even ahead of, other major municipalities.
“The pace of change has to be balanced with affordability and usability, and we need to keep up with the other great cities in the country. We're in competition at all times for business, as well as for people and families and they have to see that we have just as much or more to offer, and we have in many cases,” Payn says.
“When it comes to transportation, we want to stay ahead of that curve as well and be the best we can be with the resources we have so that people will want to come live here and work here.”
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