Halifax conference shows transit issues run nationwide

Working towards a common goal has its benefit, as a Halifax conference demonstrated Monday.

“There is a lot of scalability and the lessons learned in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver definitely apply to midsize systems like here in Halifax,” says Jon MacMull, a spokesperson for the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA).

CUTA is hosting its 2024 spring summit and annual general meeting in Halifax.

Issues around staffing and operator safety are top of mind for many in attendance as is the switch to an all-electric fleet.

“The electrification part is really interesting because the different systems are all at different stages so we’re kind of in the middle,” says Dave Reage, executive director of Halifax Transit.

Reage admits larger cities are further along in modernizing their equipment but that provides a template for his department to follow.

“Buying the buses (is) actually the easy part and then we have to design the infrastructure in the garage to charge them and the big thing is trying to figure out how do we actually put them into operation, how do you make it reliable,” Reage says.

“There is growing demand for a transit as our country's population continues to grow,” adds Edmonton city councillor Andrew Knack.

Knack says ridership there has never been higher and the key has been in scheduling.

“Most cities have shifted more towards running more frequent buses than trying to get to every single corner, every single part of the city. That has typically driven up ridership across the country,” he says.

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