Transit strategy goes to council

If all the recent transit talk has your head spinning, you’re not alone.
City staff are expected to present a five-year transit plan to Halifax regional councillors tomorrow to put the multitude of proposals “in perspective,” chief administrative officer Dan English said.
English says the presentation will show how the Bedford-Halifax fast ferry can fit into the plan for expanding MetroLink and rural express bus service, without affecting other projects, such as a satellite garage. The garage has been identified as a pressing need to ease overcrowding at the Dartmouth terminal.
The aim of the presentation, he said, is to give councillors “a better understanding of what the challenges are relative to transit” before they head into the annual budget debate next week.
“I think it will be a more informed discussion,” English said.
Several councillors who oppose prioritizing the high-speed ferry have spoken out, urging their counterparts to reconsider launching the new project before attending to existing transit needs.
“There is a half-dozen pretty significant and serious issues that we have been discussing to some extent around public transit,” Cole Harbour Coun. Harry McInroy said last week. “It’s just a common sense thing from my point of view.
McInroy had intended to ask council to reassess the decision at last week’s meeting, but the discussion was put off until tomorrow.
-rachel.mendleson@metronews.ca