The Nova Scotia Islamic Community Centre (NSICC) is calling for better access to public transit service to its location for its users.
“This has really become a major problem for them,” says NSICC spokesperson Mohammed Imran. “Some of them have even stopped coming because they were not finding any other avenues to visit to our centre.”
Many students and families who attend the centre multiple times a week live downtown and without cars.
“They have to, you know, take the cabs or find carpooling or trying any other mechanisms,” Imran says.
A situation that isn’t ideal for those with limited incomes like students, or for immigrants who don’t yet have drivers’ licences.
“We have seen a major growth in the past few months or years, they are building up a new school and a new subdivision has been created,” Imran says. “We are not that far from that subdivision, but I still haven’t seen any improvements within our centre.”
Located along Larry Uteck Boulevard, the closest bus stop to NSICC is a nearly 20-minute walk without consistent sidewalks, while the route that connects to downtown is 40 minutes away by foot.
“I have seen myself families walking through from the sidewalks with their children,” says Imran.
Imran says the community’s request to Halifax Transit would be to extend the existing bus route the additional five minutes down the road to accommodate for residents.
A petition with more than 500 signatures lobbying for the bus stop in front of the centre even gained the attention of HRM Councillor Pam Lovelace.
“The community centre, the school, the foodbank that’s run out of the Islamic Community Centre on Larry Uteck road, those are all stifling because of a lack of connectivity,” says Lovelace.
She met with students, staff and members of the community centre on Sunday to learn more about the request.
“I really think that we need to take a step back and ensure that these very vital corridors are connected and part of the transit route system,” she says.
Lovelace took the matter to Halifax Transit, looking for solutions to the problem.
“According to Halifax Transit, it’s not feasible to create the connectivity to extend the route,” says Lovelace.
Halifax Transit told Global News in a statement that, “staff collect requests for service such as this, however they are typically considered collectively during preparations of service plans, when all of the requests can be evaluated and prioritized based on growth and demand.”
Lovelace says she thinks it’s time to get to work and build a plan, looking to start a conversation around how to ensure that all corridors are adequately and effectively serviced.
“I really think that we need to take a step back and ensure that these very vital corridors are connected and part of the transit route system,” says Lovelace.
One of the largest centres of its kind in the Atlantic Maritimes, NSICC is able to host up to 1,500 people and regularly garners hundreds for daily prayer services.
It’s in an area seeing rapid development and population growth, but no new bus routes have been accessible to serve centre visitors since it was built 20 years ago.
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