Alternatives for Growth

Public Comments on 

~ Transportation ~

Mount Saint Vincent University - May 15, 2004

• Where does the money come from to improve the transit system?
• Public transit doesn't work for Burnside, and roadways are jammed.
• Bicycles can't get around Burnside safely.
• Commuter rail is ignored in Dartmouth.
• Ferry links (Wright's Cove ignored).
• Bus Rapid Transit does not accommodate people working in Burnside when they are dumped at the bottom of the park and forced to walk to work from there.
• Buses not an option from Lacewood to Downtown (takes over an hour).
• Ottawa from 20km out only takes 20-25 minutes (new standards needed in HRM).
• Provide a transit system that accommodates everywhere.
• It's dangerous to bike from rotary to south-end.
• Bus system is lousy, particularly in Lower Sackville.
• Bicycle system is lousy in Lower Sackville.
• Move businesses out of downtown to decentralize traffic commuting to CBD.
• Would be great to reduce the # of kilometres driven to work around HRM.
• No mention of hydrogen transportation.
• Bus systems have very limited accessibility to disabled persons.

Cole Harbour Place - May 19, 2004

• Will Lawrencetown always have a 2-lane highway and will people always know what to expect? Is this what your saying?
• New York is a Regional Centre where outlying areas are connected very efficiently.
• Modes other than cars move volumes of traffic very efficiently
• Like the emphasis on public transit in Regional Plan.
• Big differences seen in this area, now Halifax gets everything (especially transit).
• Not enough routes in Cole Harbour, therefore were forced to drive.
• Sit in traffic for over an hour on Portland Street during peak times.
• A good transit system is the answer.
• Boston has a decent highway system of ring roads. We should allow for expropriation to build this highway in HRM.
• HRM needs an inner and outer ring of roads to connect major thoroughfares.
• Takes 2 hours to get from Cole Harbour to Mount Saint Vincent by transit.
• Need another mode of transit other than cars and buses.
• Circumferential Highway was supposed to move traffic efficiently, but major shopping centres and subdivisions were built along this route.
• Peak hours to Burnside takes 12 minutes by car and 2 hours by transit.
• We need a transit solution.
• Make best use of corridors already in place (Portland Street).
• Management system needed on traffic lights, possibly 40 cars on Portland Street compared to 1 on Portland Estates Blvd.
• Ramp should be twinned near new Chrysler dealership to improve Portland Street.
• Sheet Harbour needs great transportation improvements.
  What happened to the train corridor Halifax -> Bedford -> Sackville -> Windsor?
• Much improvement is needed on roads. Intersections to speed up the traffic flow at rush-hour and on weekends. Portland Street is not good and getting worse. Also X Portland and left turn lanes
• More highways required in this area or stop the building
• Encouraging mass and alternative transportation forms is good, but we also need to address vehicle (car) traffic because we will continue to use cars for convenience
• Bicycle friendly routes throughout would be welcome (*4)
• Bicycle friendly can include multi-mode trips. Bike racks on buses, bike routes to major bus terminals
• Good visuals, but traffic improvements not evident. Explanatory detail would be nice Where are highway improvements in the Cole Harbour and Portland Street area? A disgrace
• Cogswell Interchange allows for free flow movements. Get rid of it, you get lots more stop & go, signals, pollution, etc. Think wisely before eliminating it
• Ferry service should have later hours, especially to Dartmouth
• More Holiday service for ferries
• Bus lanes in downtown core - need quicker services
• Cars need roads, improve existing roads.
• Development has exploded over the last 10 years, however road development did not keep pace and was severely under funded
• Less reliance on cars , it's down right scary to walk anywhere in this city. How many people have to be killed by cars? How many pedestrians have been killed? Car accident injuries debilitate people for years, is that progress? More walking!, more biking please!
• More train and boat access points - takes cars and people off the roads
• Free parking at bus terminals

Michael Wallace Elementary School, Dartmouth - May 20, 2004

• Will we get a study for a LRT train?
• Rapid transit carries people into our regional centre and Bedford West area more likely for bus rapid transit
• Greatest opportunity is the transit corridors and multiple hub centres.

St. Margaret's Centre, Upper Tantallon - May 26, 2004

• If all of these alternatives are based on transit, how do we improve the system or get people out of their cars?
• Will HRM ever get below 70% of people driving to work if we don't have a subway system?
• How can we better manage our transportation structure?
• Every container unloaded in Halifax Harbour that travels by rail must exit through Bedford, this needs to be looked at.
• All alternatives are based on transportation.
• People want mass transit improvements and more people to choose these alternatives to cars, so it opens the roads for people driving their cars.
• This is the 4th best city in Canada when looking at the percentage of people driving to work (70%), and we're only behind 3 cities with subways (Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver).
• Rail link, rail link, rail link
• Hammonds Plains Road needs relief!!
• Need bicycle and walking paths along highways 3, 333 and Hammonds Plains Road etc. Stop making excuses, just make it so! Park and ride is inadequate. Need HRM open to transit also along 3, 333 and Hammonds Plains Road. These could be van sized, but should not be private or just for commuting to work as in van pools. Need hourly vans/buses!
• Why not plan "protected bicycle paths" to the transit centres? And a bicycle parking lot close to the bus stops?
• Focus on mass transit (ferries, rail, and/or buses). Restrict or dis-incent personal auto use, especially in urban core.
  

Brookside Junior High School, Hatchett Lake - May 31, 2004

• What style of transportation/transit could most effectively be brought into the Prospect area?
• Is there a possibility of park and ride in this area?
• Are the park and ride's working well in HRM?
• What about commuter rail along the old rail cuts?
• Our area needs to be evaluated a little better, especially with the volume of traffic on the Prospect Road being the same as a 100 series highway
• We need quality service of transit before people will use transit or before you can encourage people to use transit
• A shared taxi system will drive the cost to the user up, and people may not want to use it again
• Public Transit
• Timeliness (i.e. frequency of availability) will create a mind set of dependability and perhaps increase ridership in critical stages
• More frequent trips before spreading them out
• More frequent trips + park and rides = increased buses available for linkage with varied-time carpooling

Four Harbours Legion, East Ship Harbour - June 2, 2004

• Will our roads be depleted further if we are not selected as a hub?
• We don't want street lights and we want to keep the tax base low
  

Lake Echo Community Centre, Lake Echo - June 3, 2004

• Has work been done on the feasibility of a high speed transit system?
• Has there been any study on a subway or overhead rail?
• Transportation issue is the one that needs to be addressed (the one cost item to HRM)
• Widening Main Street is the wrong thing to do

Sackville High School, Lower Sackville - June 7, 2004

• There is a lot of expenditures being put on transit, but how many people will be able to use this transit system to do errands or travel to work which compares with the conveniences of a car?
• Has there been a study as to how many people would actually use transit after millions of dollars of improvements are put into the system?
• How do you actually reduce overall traffic on the roads with the BRT's when there is population growth occurring and a greater actual number of cars on the roads compared to today?
• Do any of the scenarios include implementing transit as far as Hubbards?
• Would the BRT go from Musquodoboit Harbour and Hubbards?
• What is a BRT?
• What would be the time frame for a trip from Sackville to Downtown Halifax on a BRT?
• Would these buses be just like an ordinary Metro Transit bus?
• Metro Transit doesn't pay any attention to the needs of Beaver Bank
• The major expressway through the peninsula in the 1970's (Harbour Drive) was the planning of the day, we now need planning for today
• Ferry or rail a must
• What bus do you take from Hubbards to Ecum Secum?
• No bus service to Burnside
• Number 87 bus should have 30 minute service
• Number 80 and 87 buses should have 24 hour service

Basinview Drive Community School, Bedford - June 9, 2004

• What will you do about the ferry when the Bedford Basin is frozen over in February?
• Will the only real mode of transportation be by bus?
• Does anyone have a plan for where roads will go or where the ferry will be located?
• 100,000 more people means 100,000 more cars, so has there been anything done to change the mind set of people to take transit?
• Did you ever study the report on implementing commuter rail from Windsor Junction to Downtown Halifax?
• Transportation is a part of everything in this plan
• The amount of trucks on Lower Water Street is 'insanity'
• Bike lanes are pie in the sky
• We need to have a handle on the traffic we have now
• We can't get downtown in a decent time by bus today
• I am confused, my concern is that communities have already been developed. They already have their own services, but transportation still has to be addressed
• Nobody is addressing the transportation problems we have now
• Children are forced to walk to their school bus on the Hammonds Plains Road, and its not safe
• I'd like to see concrete visions of transportation routes for buses or whatever. We need something to compete with the car
• People in Kingswood are buying 2 cars because the bus system doesn't work
• Trip to Dalhousie from Bedford is no better by rapid bus or ferry for total time. Driving to Dalhousie takes me 22 minutes on a good day, where a 14 minute ferry ride and a 20 minute walk, or waiting 15 minutes for a bus to get to Dalhousie wouldn't work.
• Hub based alternatives will provide more options for integrated transit and employment
• Maybe a high density peninsula is the answer to congestion and people commuting to downtown
• Instead of funnelling all traffic to Capital Region, why not de-centralize some of the major government offices and major banks out to outlying areas and spread the traffic and employment to those areas
• Lets not totally redevelop Cogswell Street Interchange. Leave some green/open space there once developed. Once green space is gone, it's never regained!!
• Ferry route with several stops in Bedford Basin from downtown, like Hamilton Harbour in Bermuda
• Nothing associated with improved transportation. Is reduction the only alternative???

Eastern Shore District High School, Musquodoboit Harbour - June 10, 2004

• What about the proposed new road ? The land around this road...
• What density is needed for a better bus service
• If transit is not yet well used and well operated in Dartmouth, how can there be a good transit system in Musquodoboit Harbour?
• What does 'transit friendly communities' mean? Mixed use? Trail ways???

Musquodoboit Valley Bicentennial Theatre, Middle Musquodoboit - June 16, 2004

• No questions or concerns identified
  

Halifax City Hall - June 17, 2004

• Smaller and more frequent public transit and ferries
• Don't waste time on a grandiose ferry to Purcell's Cove. We need smaller ferries not 200 plus passenger ones
• Small ferry taxis for transport across and along the harbour
• More ferry terminals would be a good idea
• Pedestrian/cycle path along the shoreline from Woodside, through Bedford and into Halifax
• Improve sea walks, bike paths (healthy and tourist draw). Think Vancouver's sea wall
• The harbour is a beautiful and valuable asset, make use of its potential, especially for transportation

St. Agnes Church, Halifax - June 21, 2004

• We have very few sidewalks or walking trails in Clayton Park, can't we start this development now instead of waiting for the plan to be implemented?
• Will there be a LRT to help alleviate traffic problems?
• All of these 'sub-centres' seem like service centres to me. This may be a chance to de-centralize employment and alleviate traffic problems
• The 3 alternatives have a lot of emphasis on public transit
• I like alternative A, but it seems to focus on getting people around the urban core during peak traffic times. We need service for all other trips around the city as well and increased service levels at all times of the day
• Expand road transportation system to ease traffic flow (NO!)
• I like A, but we need more transit within communities, not just focussed on downtown
• I am for Alternative A with large widened roads and transportation alternatives for inner core (NO!, YES!!)
• Protect existing neighbourhoods from traffic
• More density please! (Better for transportation, pedestrian flows, attract local business)
• More 'pedestrian only' streets downtown
• Bike paths please!
• I agree, water as transport link, across Arm for instance
• Don't let suburban traffic degrade existing neighbourhoods for residents who walk to work
• Hope it was an oversight.... You omitted a transportation link from Spryfield to Purcell's Cove in order to access the Mainland South - Eastern Chebucto Peninsula ferry. #20 bus route would be a logical choice, of course you'd need to extend it along the Purcell's Cove Road. Nevertheless, user population info for such a ferry is likely too small. You should be focussing on small scale solutions like North West Arm ferry. Most people taking a ferry in this area are going to Dalhousie, SMU, hospitals. It's out of the way to go to the waterfront than backtrack west. The recent North West Arm ferry trial was a 'people's community' project. Should encourage these approaches.