MetroLink (Halifax)

The MetroLink service was developed in 2003 between the Halifax Regional Municipality, the Province of Nova Scotia and Transport Canada's Urban Transportation Showcase Program, a five-year program designed to demonstrate and promote urban transportation strategies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The program selected cities across the country to showcase a number of different initiatives in reducing greenhouse gases. Halifax Regional Municipality's $13.3 million proposal for a bus rapid transit system was chosen, and $4.1 million was given by the Government of Canada toward this project. The remainder was funded by Halifax Regional Municipality ($8.06 million), the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Public Works ($785,000) and the Nova Scotia Department of Energy ($80,000).[1] Twenty low floor buses were purchased from New Flyer Industries for the MetroLink service. These buses featured air conditioning, high-back reclining seats with foot rests, carpeted walls and ceiling to reduce road noise and vibration, a new livery and logo, and no advertisements both on the inside and outside. One of these buses, #600, was on public display on April 12, 2005, outside of City Hall. The bus was available for media and members of the general public to tour, and increase awareness of the new service.[2]

The service was launched in phases, with the first phase on August 21, 2005. The first phase saw the construction of a new bus terminal in Cole Harbour called Portland Hills Terminal, with a 230-space parking lot, including some spaces reserved for carpool parking. Two routes were created at this time, the 159 Portland Hills Link and 165 Woodside Link.[3]

The second phase was launched on February 20, 2006. This phase saw the construction of a new bus terminal in Lower Sackville called the Sackville Terminal on Walker Ave, with a 315-space parking lot. One new route was created, the 185 Sackville Link.[4]

Effective September 30, 2013[5]

The MetroLink service had its own fare structure, separate from the rest of the Halifax Transit system. Cash fares costed an extra fifty cents over and above the regular fares. MetroLink had its own monthly bus pass, the MetroLink Pass, which could have been used on any Halifax Transit service. Passengers would have been able to use regular transit tickets or monthly bus passes (MetroPass), but must deposit an additional fifty cents into the farebox.

In 2005, Halifax Regional Municipality purchased twenty new buses from New Flyer Industries of Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was assumed at the time that HRM would purchase New Flyer's D40i Invero model, which New Flyer was marketing towards BRT services, however HRM resisted and ordered 20 model D40LF instead, and were given fleet numbers 600 - 619. The D40LF was the current bus of choice at the time for Halifax Transit's regular fleet, so they opted to keep the status quo.

These twenty buses featured a new livery on the outside, air conditioning on the inside (a first for Halifax Transit), bike racks, carpeting on the walls and ceiling to reduce road noise and vibrations, and larger plush high-back reclining chairs with arm and leg rests and custom designed fabric design. Also differing these buses from the rest of the Halifax Transit fleet are onboard transmitters for the 3M Opticom system. Opticom is the system in place in HRM used by fire services and MetroLink, to allow emergency and transit vehicles to hold green lights and prevent them from turning red until the vehicle has got through the intersection. The system was also used to trigger transit priority signals at certain intersections, allowing MetroLink buses to move into the intersection using special bus-only lanes before the rest of the vehicles can proceed. This allowed MetroLink buses at a red light to "jump" ahead of waiting cars.[6]

Phase three of the MetroLink service was expected to take place within the next five years of the first three lines. This phase would have seen new terminals and MetroLink routes in other busy corridors such as Clayton Park and Spryfield.[8]

Plans existed to introduce a new route to service the Cobequid Terminal, also in Lower Sackville shortly after the 185 Sackville Link came into service. Destination signs on board the buses were even programmed with a route 184 Cobequid, and early maps of the MetroLink service showed a route 184 between Cobequid Terminal and downtown Halifax, however this plan seems to have been abandoned.

• 159 Portland Hills Link
• 165 Woodside Link
• 185 Sackville Link

In May 2020, Halifax Transit presented a plan to regional council to implement a new Rapid Transit Strategy. The strategy proposes the creation of a new Rapid Transit Network comprising four new bus rapid transit (BRT) lines and three new ferry routes. The estimated capital cost is around C$300–325 million, while operational costs are estimated at $15–22 million. Halifax Regional Council unanimously endorsed the plan on 26 May 2020.

As of 2021, Halifax is seeking funding for the project from other levels of government. Funding for the planning and design of one of the proposed ferry routes, the Halifax-Mill Cove (Bedford) service, was announced in June 2021. Halifax Transit plans to launch the service in 2024.

• The route 185 Sackville Line improved transit connections to downtown Halifax from Lower Sackville, since standard bus service on routes 87 & 1 takes 43 minutes in optimal conditions, and bus service on the route 80 (which travels via Bedford) takes 1 hour 10 minutes.
• Both routes 159 Portland Hills Link and 185 Sackville Link saw unprecedented ridership in the first few months of service. Initial rush hour schedules saw both routes running on 15-minute frequencies, however within months this was changed to 10-minutes. Also, both Portland Hills Terminal and the Sackville Terminal underwent expansions to their parking lots, bringing the combined capacity of both lots to 545 cars. Still, both parking lots were frequently full, with people parking on the driveways to the lots.[9]

• Metro Transit's MetroLink website