Media Clipping — Friday March 20, 2008, The Chronicle Herald

Traffic Tieups Costing Millions

By Amy Pugsley Fraser

An upcoming rural express bus service will help make the route from Hammonds Plains a road less travelled, says the area councillor.

A new Tantallon commuter route, which will originate at the Hubley Centre Mall in Upper Tantallon and make only two stops along Highway 103 at exits 4 and 3, will hopefully be launched this fall, says Coun. Gary Meade (Hammonds Plains-St. Margarets).

"It's going to be a very important service," Mr. Meade said of the direct route that would have buses running every 15 or 30 minutes during peak morning and afternoon travel times.

Currently, a bus runs twice daily to downtown Halifax from the shopping centre but it makes stops all along the way, he said.

"It's the milk route and it takes an hour and 15 minutes to get downtown."

The new half-hour service will entice more riders, Mr. Meade said.

A park 'n' ride for about 200 cars would be located either in the Sobeys parking lot or at the nearby St. Margaret's Centre.

"We're negotiating with Sobeys right now."

There is no set cost for the service, but it will likely be higher than the $2 that MetroLink commuters are charged to go from Portland Hills or Lower Sackville into downtown, Mr. Meade said.

However, it will be well worth the saving in gas and parking costs in downtown Halifax, he said.

A report on the service will come before council in the next few weeks.

The new bus route folds perfectly into a new study released Wednesday by GPI Atlantic Inc.

The study reveals that even though 71 per cent of Halifax's residents live in Metro Transit's service area - and 90 per cent of those in urban and suburban areas live within 500 metres of a transit stop - the vast majority don't use public transit.

In fact, 76 per cent of commuters use private vehicles, while only 12 per cent ride buses and 11 per cent walk or cycle.

However, the report notes that the popularity of Metro Transit's new express bus services shows that many commuters are willing and ready to switch to mass transit if it is fast and convenient.

Mr. Meade says those elements will be key in winning over new ridership from his district.

"And I imagine after awhile that people who live in Hubbards and Chester will come in and park their cars and go into town that way too," he said.

Other express routes are also in the works, Mr. Meade said.

Those include express transit services between the downtown core and communities along the Highway 107 and Highway 102 corridors.

Like the service to Upper Tantallon, the other routes would provide regional transit express services designed for the commuter market from local stops and park 'n' ride lots in the highway corridors.

They include the Musquodoboit Harbour corridor, including Porters Lake, Lake Echo, East Preston and Minesville, and the Enfield corridor that includes Fall River.

Metro Transit is in the process of naming the new express bus service.

Copyright © 2008, The Chronicle Herald