Council delays decision on Moving Forward Together transit plan

Halifax regional council debated Tuesday about 23 changes to the Moving Forward Together Plan for Halifax Transit, but no set decision was made.

Although council approved the Moving Forward Together Plan in April, there were 23 amendments that needed to be addressed. These mostly focus on decreasing bus services in different areas.

Many councillors said at the meeting that they needed more information before they could make any decisions.

“I am not going to make a motion now because we don’t have enough data,” said Coun. Waye Mason. “I will do that when we already have all the information.”

While some stated that the matter could drag on, Mason said the extra time was necessary.

“We need to take time for the vote,” he said. “It is worthy for us to spend time on right decisions.”

Council asked for an interpretation of the motion passed on April 12. This will be presented on Dec. 6.

Some residents showed up for the meeting to express their discontent about the proposed changes, including Alan Ruffman.

He and his wife came from Ferguson’s Cove because they don’t want to lose an important bus route in their neighbourhood. They told reporters they couldn’t do anything, like going to an exercise class, without the route and that they were given a guarantee there would be a transit system in place.

Nathan Brett of Purcell’s Cove was also at the meeting.

“The biggest problem is that the new transit plan doesn’t make areas connect to each other,” he said in an interview. “In that design, the system is not efficient and we got our service cut.”