Halifax Transit adds and cuts routes, looks to raise fares in September

Halifax Transit will add new bus routes and cut others this year to improve service, but a proposed fare hike this fall might be denied.

The department's proposed $68.2-million budget came before Halifax councillors at a budget committee meeting Wednesday.

The proposed budget would mean a 13 per cent increase over last year, driven mostly by salary and benefit increases and new services.

Council lukewarm on proposed fare increase

The budget includes a proposed $0.25 fare increase that would take effect in September. It would boost adult single fares from $2.75 to $3 and increase prices about nine per cent for passes and other fares.

That change would bring in about $700,000 this fiscal year and about $1.2 million in future years.

But Coun. Shawn Cleary asked staff to find other ways to raise those funds.

Dave Reage, executive director of Halifax Transit, said they would likely have to raise the tax rate slightly by 0.1 per cent if the fare hike was denied.

Coun. Tim Outhit said he would like staff to actually explore delaying plans or cutting employee vacancies.

"We're not comfortable yet," Outhit said.

Transit staff will return to council with options in the next few weeks.

Fares were last increased in September 2019, when they also rose 25 cents.

Several route changes proposed to improve service

The 2024-25 budget includes four changes under the Moving Forward Together Plan that were delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and staffing issues.

Route 1 Spring Garden will now service Gottingen Street in both directions, while Route 10 A/B/C Dalhousie will become a new key corridor route. The Dalhousie route will see more buses travelling on the main artery before branching out in three different directions around the city.

There will also be more express service to the Bedford area through a new route for Hemlock Ravine and more rush-hour trips for Route 196 Basinview.

Staff also suggested changes to keep up with new development and the city's growing population, including doubling rush-hour service for the Route 90 Larry Uteck from a half-hour to every 15 minutes.

"There'll be some very happy people out there," Outhit said during the meeting.

Route 54 Montebello will also be rerouted and extended to serve the future Port Wallace development in Dartmouth, which is expected to create around 4,900 housing units.

Douglas Wetmore of More than Buses, an advocacy group for better transit, said after the meeting that these are all positive changes that will make "a great difference" for riders.

"But … there's a lot of underlying problems that have been happening for months, if not years now, that we're not really seeing addressed by this budget," he said.

Wetmore said the group wants more specific improvements to the other key corridor routes — one through 10 — which are most often plagued with lateness and overcrowding.

Route changes could help reduce recurring lateness

Transit staff have suggested cutting four underperforming routes to free up about 10,500 bus hours that could help tackle those ongoing issues. Those cuts include two express routes to the Woodside Ferry (178 and 179), local Route 26 Springvale in Fairmount, and Route 57 Portland Hills in Dartmouth.

Reage said having a group of buses and operators available to go as-needed allows the department to adjust to traffic congestion or other problems which can crop up without warning to cause overcrowding or lateness.

"Rather than just being like 'well, bus broke down, you know, sorry, it's not coming,' we'll be able to put another bus in its place," Reage  told council.

Wetmore said he'd like more details about that pool of resources.

"We can't really say how big of a change that will make," Wetmore said.

Cleary said the Springvale route has seen low ridership because it's poorly designed and doesn't help kids commute to the neighbourhood school. He asked staff to look at improving ridership numbers. Any associated costs will return to council for a decision before the overall budget passes.

The final budget will be passed in April.

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