Halifax carpools could join buses in high-occupancy lanes

Halifax regional council backed Mayor Andy Fillmore’s idea at Tuesday ‘s council meeting to look into allowing carpools to use bus lanes.

Council passed Fillmore’s motion to prepare a staff report to start a pilot project of high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV) in the current bus-only lanes. The report is scheduled for completion in June. 

Fillmore said HRM is facing unprecedented traffic congestion and that it is the third-most congested city in the country. He said congestion decreases economic productivity, increases vehicle emissions, and that three of four HRM residents are most dissatisfied with the municipal government regarding traffic congestion.  

Fillmore said he views this as a cost-efficient and immediate way to help with traffic congestion.

District 7 Coun. Laura White was one of the three councillors who voted against the motion. 

“If this were worded as please list all the reasons why this is a terrible idea, maybe I could vote for it,” said White. 

“The best course of action would be to dedicate more lanes to transit. When you add lanes for driving, it encourages more driving.”

The other two councillors who voted against the motion were District 8 Halifax Peninsula Coun. Virginia Hinch and District 10 Halifax Bedford Basin Coun. Kathryn Morse. 

They both said they believed the idea is a step backwards and that it would be challenging to enforce. 

District 5 Dartmouth Center Coun. Sam Austin voted for the motion but had concerns. 

“I have to push back on the idea that the bus lanes are empty. You could have two blocks worth of blocked-up car traffic, and the bus that goes by is moving the same number of people.”  

Austin said his biggest worry was enforcement. He said everybody knows Halifax police do not have the ability to enforce the proposed rule. Also, if it’s not enforced, he said it will congest the HOV lane. 

“If we don’t have this paired with actual effective enforcement, this is going to be a disaster for our transit system.” 

District 9 Halifax West Armdale Coun. Shawn Cleary said cameras would be the most effective and efficient way to police single drivers in the HOV lane, but HRM does not have the cameras.

Similar to Austin, Cleary had his worries but ended up voting for the motion. 

“Information is power. Once it comes back and says what a stupid idea this is, the council won’t vote for it. Let’s get that information and see where we are,” Cleary said.

Mason Jones, a 23-year-old teacher who drives frequently in HRM, said he opposes the pilot project. 

“It makes no sense to me. Why congest the one lane that is made to transport the most people?” 

In an interview, Jones talked about his frustration with Halifax’s congestion issue, but doesn’t think this would be a smart way to solve it.

“You don’t lessen congestion by adding more opportunities for people to drive. You lessen it by allowing people other alternatives to getting from point A to point B, and transit is one of them.”