NDP leader wants Halifax transportation study released

With Nova Scotia's capital city continuing to struggle with traffic congestion and cost-of-living challenges — drawing comparisons to Canada's largest city — NDP Leader Claudia Chender says it's time for the public to see a government report on transportation in the Halifax region.

Chender was responding several days after a CBC News report showed that housing and transportation costs in Halifax for 2024 were similar to those in Toronto.

The Progressive Conservative government has announced steps throughout its mandates to try to boost housing stock, although Chender said more needs to be done on that front.

But when it comes to public transit in Halifax Regional Municipality, there has been "almost no action," she said during a news conference on Monday.

"We need action on that today. It's becoming less and less reliable to take transit in Halifax at a time when we need it more and more."

• Is it cheaper to live in Halifax or Toronto? This data says the relative costs are comparable
• Halifax traffic is more congested than before the pandemic — and things could get worse

Report still not public

Having an effective public transit system is a way to save commuters money while also addressing congestion on the roads, which has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, said Chender.

During its first mandate, the Progressive Conservatives created the Joint Regional Transportation Agency, an entity tasked with looking at transportation throughout HRM. The organization has since been rebranded as Link Nova Scotia and given a provincewide mandate.

Prior to that change, however, the agency produced a report looking at transportation issues and options to improve things for the Halifax area. The government first got a draft of the report a little less than a year ago before eventually getting the final report earlier this year.

To date, however, it has not been made public.

"One would have to assume that active transportation and public transportation are big chunks of that report that this government so far has not wanted to release, talk about or act upon," said Chender.

Some portions of the report, which contemplate expanding the highways leading to and around HRM and exploring a commuter light-rail system, were included in the Progressive Conservative platform during last year's provincial election.

But there have been no further details since then.

Speaking to reporters recently, Public Works Minister Fred Tilley could not say when the report would be made public or explain why it's taking so long to share it.

"We want to action the report, obviously, so we're looking at things that we can get actioned and in a timeline," he said.

"I understand the frustration with it, but we will be releasing that report once we have more information to share, as opposed to just sharing the report."