Nova Scotia releases plan on future transport needs for Halifax and surrounding area
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Toronto Star
06-08-2025
- Toronto Star
Nova Scotia releases plan on future transport needs for Halifax and surrounding area
Public Works Minister Fred Tilley says the goal of the Regional Transportation Plan is to transform the transportation system for Halifax and those areas within an hour's drive of the port city.
CTV News
06-08-2025
- CTV News
Nova Scotia releases first-ever regional transportation plan for Halifax area
A new 20-year transportation plan – said to be the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada – aims to improve highways, expand ferry services and look at a possible passenger rail system in the Halifax area. The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), created by Link Nova Scotia, lays out a long-term strategy to manage transportation options alongside a growing population. The plan focuses on Halifax and the surrounding 100-kilometre area, which is home to 63 per cent of Nova Scotia's total population. 'The RTP is a blueprint for the future of regional transportation,' said Public Works Minister Fred Tilley in a news release. 'It's a baseline for the Province to work in collaboration with partners and it will help guide us as we continue planning for growth and development. It will also support the prioritization of significant infrastructure projects and identify potential funding as we begin to address the greater needs of the travelling public.' The plan has 39 actions grouped into 10 strategies, looking at issues such as efficiency, reliability, safety, affordability, sustainability and resiliency. The plan notes transportation is the second-highest expense for Nova Scotia households, costing $11,000 on average annually. 'Improving the quality of both infrastructure and service for those who walk, roll, cycle, and take transit will help ensure that people have a viable range of options to get where they need to go without driving,' the plan reads. 'Providing these options can help households save thousands of dollars annually. 'Collectively, the actions in the RTP represent significant investment in the regional transportation system. Successful implementation will require support from all orders of government.' Of its 39 actions, the plan lists some priority ones: develop options for MacKay Bridge to address bottleneck start design of Highway 102 corridor start design for connection between Hammonds Plains Road and Highway 101 start design for connections to Mill Cove Ferry complete feasibility study on passenger rail service Other big projects include a core street review of the Halifax peninsula, a strategy for an inter-municipal bus service and future road corridors in Shearwater and Beaver Bank. Link Nova Scotia says it will provide regular updates on the plan's progress. 'There is much work ahead,' the plan reads. 'The RTP provides the broad outline to transform the Region's transportation system. 'Each of the projects, policies, and programs recommended will require further definition, collaboration among partners, discussions with municipalities, opportunity for public input, and consultation with First Nations and impacted communities.' More to come… Transportation plan announcement Nova Scotia unveiled its Regional Transportation Plan on Aug. 6, 2025. (Source: Emma Convey/CTV News Atlantic) For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CBC
11-07-2025
- CBC
Ridership on N.S.-Maine ferry remains lower than last year
Ridership on the CAT ferry service between Nova Scotia and Maine remains lower than last year. A news release from Bay Ferries Limited, which operates the service between Yarmouth, N.S., and Bar Harbor, Maine, says there were 24,613 bookings this season as of July 8. That's a drop of 19 per cent from last year, when there were 30,422 bookings by the same date. The news release says a "significant" drop in Canadian bookings is the major factor in the decline. It did not indicate whether bookings from the U.S. had also dropped. In June, the service reported a 20 per cent year-over-year drop in total bookings so far, and noted that the number of Americans taking the ferry to Nova Scotia was similar to last year. Fred Tilley, the minister of public works, which oversees the ferry, said there's a bright side to the falling number of Canadian bookings. "The fact that tourism to the U.S. is down is probably a good thing for Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada, and the fact that we can bring more tourists here is only positive for our economy," he said.
