Macdonald bridge redecking prompts 2 shuttle services

Getting across the harbour is about to get more complicated, but Haligonians will at least be able to shop around for shuttle buses over the next 18 months.

Two similar but separate shuttle services will operate during the Macdonald bridge's redecking, called The Big Lift.

Starting later this month, Halifax Transit will be shuttling passengers in the evening, when the bridge will often be closed to traffic.

Starting in June, Halifax Harbour Bridges will be running a free 24-hour service meant for people who normally walk or bike across the bridge, since those lanes will be closed for the full span of work.

The two services are meant for different types of commuters. However, choosing between the two will be a day-to-day decision, says Andy Canning, who cycles over the bridge to work.

"My biggest surprise was hearing about the two sort of competing shuttle services," said Canning, who works at Ideal Bikes in downtown Halifax.

"It really depends on the day, which one I'll use."

The Halifax Transit shuttle will require a transfer or bus fare, since it's meant to connect passengers with regular bus routes. Starting at 6:30 p.m., on routes that normally use the Macdonald bridge, people will need to get off and transfer to the shuttle and then transfer back in Dartmouth.

In Halifax, the transfer points are Scotia Square, then stops along Gottingen Street to the base of the Macdonald bridge.

When the Macdonald is closed, the shuttle will then go over the MacKay bridge, offering stops on the other side at the Highfield terminal and then the Bridge terminal. On nights when the Macdonald remains open, people will still be required to transfer to the shuttle, and then it will take them over that bridge straight to the Bridge terminal.

Shuttles to also run while bridge open

Maintaining the shuttle even when the Macdonald is open is a way to keep things consistent for riders and drivers, says Halifax Transit spokeswoman Tiffany Chase.

"From our perspective, our shuttles are really about our service continuation when the bridge is closed," said Chase. "We can't, on a turn, suddenly decide we're going to change how the operators are working."

Halifax Harbour Bridges is budgeting $1.5 million to run its free shuttle, which will leave every 20 minutes on either side of the bridge.

"We felt the need to provide some alternative for those people who currently walk or bike the bridge," said spokeswoman Alison MacDonald. "It doesn't cost any money to cross the bridge if you're running."

In Dartmouth, the bus will leave from a spot just north of the bridge near the corner of Wyse Road and Faulkner Street, where the NSLC used to be.

"On the Halifax side it's proving more difficult to choose a place," said MacDonald. The tentative location is the corner of Cornwallis Street and Lower Water Street, but Halifax Harbour Bridges is looking for another option, she said.

More ferry runs

Their shuttle is designed differently, with bike trailers behind each bus, and it will be operated by Commissionaires Nova Scotia, which currently offers security staff and bylaw enforcement officers. Halifax Transit didn't "have the capacity" to run both services, said MacDonald.

Canning, who has been commuting by bike for 15 years, said there are enough bridge cyclists in the summer that Halifax Transit's front-mounted bike racks couldn't accommodate all of them, making another option necessary.

"Neither of them are really palatable, but I've come to live with it because they need to fix the bridge," he said.

"For both of them, the big thing if they want to continue and keep people biking across the bridge ... is to make both of these services as convenient and as rapid as possible," he said. "Most people who bike, the majority they do it because it's so quick."

It takes Canning four or five minutes to cross the bridge by bike.

The daily decision on how to cross will come down to the drop-off and pick-up locations more than a free ride versus a bus ticket, he said. Canning sometimes works in Bayers Lake, and getting dropped at Lower Water Street on those days wouldn't appeal.

"The bad thing about it is if you have to go up north, west, Bayers Lake — anywhere else but downtown ... they're going to be dropping you at the very bottom of the hill," he said.

Alderney ferry service will also be more frequent on weekday nights and on Sundays, partly to help cyclists and pedestrians, said Chase. The Alderney ferry terminal also has revamped bike facilities, including covered racks that can accommodate 20 bikes, a repair station, and sliding doors that make it easier for cyclists to enter.