Halifax Regional councillors have deferred a decision on whether to change the city’s transit redesign or keep it as is.
Members of council voted 11-3 in favour of deferring debate on a staff report that recommends against most of the 23 amendments councillors asked them to consider last April.
The goal of the transit overhaul is to boost ridership, and create a faster, transfer-based system. But several councillors and the advocacy group It’s More Than Buses say the plan – called Moving Forward Together – has missed the mark.
READ MORE: Frustration surrounds new Halifax Transit plan ahead of council review
District 6 Councillor Tony Mancini suggested deferring the debate, telling reporters Tuesday it was needed because there is not enough data and information available to justify the changes being made.
“Rather than having this discussion now and everyone defending their own territory within the region, why don’t we wait until we have all that information,” Mancini said.
He said the issue with the current plan is it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to.
“The frustration of the plan for me personally – and a lot of our residents – is that we need fewer cars in the downtown core, we need to encourage more people to leave their car at home and get on a bus and this plan doesn’t do it,” Mancini said.
“There’s nothing that’s in this plan that’s bold, and we were looking for a bold move.”
Mancini wanted to defer the motion until council also receives the Integrated Mobility plan in the new year. That deferral was later amended to only delaying debate until the next council meeting on Dec. 6.
READ MORE: ‘They should lead by example’: transit advocates on Regional Council
District 7 Councillor Waye Mason said he supported deferring debate because the Integrated Mobility plan would add another element to transit planning. He also took issue with some of the proposed main corridor routes presented in the Moving Forward Together plan which he says has too much duplication with several bus routes running on the same street.
“There’s things about the Moving Forward (Together) plan that I don’t like,” he said. “I don’t like the number of corridors going down that one section of Robie, I feel like there is some unnecessary duplication.”
Mancini also acknowledged there’s “confusion” among residents about the status of the plan. Municipal staff told members of council the plan is already in place, what’s outstanding is whether changes will be made to the plan, based on requests made at the April meeting.
READ MORE: Halifax transit plan going to council next week
Lorelei Nicoll, councillor for District 4, said another deferral was “ironic” given the name of the plan.
“We all had high hopes – myself included – that we were going to see something that was innovative,” she said. “What the public was expecting may not be there.”
But she said council will “just keep spinning” its wheels if the plan doesn’t move ahead.
Despite his reservations, Mancini said he didn’t want to see the plan stopped entirely, because “there are some good things” in the plan.
READ MORE: Halifax Transit revamp to get another review before final decision
Jeff Blair, a spokesperson for It’s More Than Buses said the group is happy to see council take a pause. He said the group is still hoping that council will change some of the proposed corridor routes.
-With files from Sean Previl, Global News
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