Public consultation on draft Halifax Transit network redesign concludes April 24

Thursday, April 16, 2015 (Halifax, NS) – Halifax Transit is advising residents that the public engagement process on the draft network redesign – entitled the Moving Forward Together Plan – is wrapping up next week on Friday, April 24.

The Moving Forward Together Plan proposes a redesign of the existing transit network to make it simpler, smarter and more efficient.

The focus of the plan is to make it easier for Halifax Transit users to get where they’re going by:

• Investing in the most popular routes;
• Offering faster commutes during rush hour;
• Making transfers easier to use;
• Introducing new routes where they are needed; and
• Retiring or redesigning inefficient and underused routes.

Public consultation and engagement on the proposed plan has been underway since February to connect with residents and provide various opportunities for them to review and provide feedback on how we can make transit better.

The following snapshot of the public consultation demonstrates the significant interest and commitment of residents and stakeholders to engage in this process:  

• 47,448 unique visitors to www.maketransitbetter.ca
• 10,475 completed surveys on www.maketransitbetter.ca
• 2,480 in-person contacts
• 20 stakeholder and pop-up public engagement sessions held throughout the region
• 1 Twitter town hall which facilitated direct engagement with residents and allowed significant distribution of information to, and through, Halifax Transit’s (@hfxtransit) 23,000+ Twitter followers

A second Twitter town hall will be held with @hfxtransit on Monday, April 20, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., to accommodate interested participants outside of regular business hours. This is the final public engagement event in advance of the public consultation period ending with the close of the online survey at midnight on Friday, April 24.

Halifax Transit staff will be undertaking a thorough analysis and review of the comments received during the public engagement, and identifying any required adjustments to the plan in advance of bringing it forward to Regional Council for its consideration. It is anticipated that the final draft of the network redesign will be presented to Council in the fall 2015.

For more information and to submit comments on the draft network redesign visit www.maketransitbetter.ca.

Source: Release