An Investigation Into The Potential Of Modern Streetcars In Halifax Nova Scotia

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An Investigation into the Potential of Modern Stree more

An Investigation into the Potential of Modern Streetcars in Halifax Nova Scotia. This work is a senior thesis project in partial fulfillment of the Masters of Planning Program at
Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Scotia. Patrick Klassen - January 8, 2009

Executive Summary
Halifax’s urban periphery has grown considerably over the past decades, led, in part, by the abundance
of affordable land and the attraction of a suburban lifestyle. To address this growing population,
Halifax has extended its services and constructed new roads and infrastructure in its peripheral
areas. The result of this trend has, to some extent, been a gradual decline in the activity and population
of Halifax’s downtown core. With anticipated population and employment growth over the next
20 years, this trend, if continued, will strain the ability of the City to provide and maintain services.
The planning response to these conditions has been a desire to focus future settlement and development
into existing urban areas, with a particular focus on the Halifax Peninsula. To achieve this, the
City will need to revitalize its urban core by establishing the conditions to better attract investment
and settlement. This study addresses such issues by conducting an investigation into the potential of
modern streetcars as a tool to address the city’s urban transportation and development agenda.
The study takes an investigative approach and examines the strengths and weaknesses of streetcar
systems in comparator cities to shed light upon their potential for application in Halifax. Through a
comparator analyses of six cities – Karlsruhe and Saarbrucken, Germany; Orleans, France; Tacoma,
Portland and Kenosha, United States – the study illustrates the benefits of the modern urban streetcar.
By providing an efficient, high capacity and reliable form of transit, with a sense of permanence (fixed
rails), a streetcar system has the potential to attract residents and investment, increase transit ridership
and stimulate core area business and pedestrian activity.
Following a comparator analysis, the study completes a case investigation of Halifax. The City, with
a dense population on the Peninsula, an agglomeration of urban employment and destinations and a
growing (transit) commuter population, exhibits characteristics that, when contrasted against the comparators,
suggest an increasingly supportive environment for the modern electric streetcar.

To test the streetcars potential, the study examines its possible alignment within the city’s core. The
results show that an urban system 7.4 km long could capture a total population of over 31,000 residents,
with an urban catchment density of over 4,100 /km2, a level higher than most comparators
examined. Such a system would also provide a direct connection to areas that have been identified
by the City for development, including the Waterfront Development Lands, Cogswell intersection and
the south Docklands (Pier 21). As illustrated through comparator reviews, the streetcar has the potential
to catalyze significant amounts of secondary investment in these areas.
The investigation of Halifax concludes that streetcars have potential in a future urban application. To
broaden this analysis, the study then examines the alternative to a streetcar (local bus). It concludes
that while running local bus service will have lower capital costs and potentially lower operating
costs, there are numerous personal mobility, transit operation, urban environment and economic spinoff
benefits from streetcar service that supports its implementation over busses on appropriate urban
corridors.
In summary, this study provides a rationale for the potential future application of modern streetcars in
downtown Halifax, with the following recommendations for the HRM:
1) Complete a preliminary design, layout & ridership study to: determine the costs associated with
the design, construction and operation a downtown streetcars line in Halifax; investigate any
technical constraints of alignment; forecast ridership; and explore potential external (Federal &
Provincial) infrastructure funding from which the HRM could benefit.
2) Research market demand for transit orientated development in Halifax, particularly commercial
and residential, with a particular focus on the downtown Waterfront Development Lands, the
Docklands (Pier 21) and the north end Gottingen and Agricola Street corridor. The research
should also investigate the potential for transportation orientated private-public partner within
these areas.
The findings of the study indicate that, while existing conditions may currently not be optimal, there is
considerable potential for the future of a modern downtown streetcar system. This potential justifies
further consideration and, at the least, provisions for such consideration within the Halifax Regional
Municipality’s future transportation plan. less