[caption id="attachment_4765" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Source: Statistics Canada"][/caption] Despite dramatic differences in population, density, infrastructure, and growth, there is remarkable consistency between commuting patterns in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Halifax, particularly when it comes to travelling by car. And incidentally, when it comes to getting us out of them, we seem to find buses and bike lanes unconvincing. A closer look at our most recent census data raises some surprising – and some predictable – findings about the way we get to work and how preferences change as our cities grow.

SAINT JOHN - It's been a mixed bag here in the Port City lately. Tuesday marked the 225th anniversary of the incorporation of Canada's 'original city'; Commercial Properties presented a town clock at the corner of King & Prince William streets, with organizers putting on a gala celebration at Harbour Station marking the beginning of an eight month extravaganza. The day before the festivities, marked the beginning of $35 million worth of construction work on the Saint John Harbour Bridge. Harbour Passage, the pedestrian route between the North End and West Side of the city and Uptown, is to be effectively closed this summer, autumn & next year (photos here). See you in 2012!

HALIFAX - About 25 people gathered in front on the Halifax Farmers' Market last Saturday to take part in Halifax's Jane's Walk. This year's walk, "Change of (s)Pace," wandered through the downtown, stopping to muse about all kinds of transformations the city is undergoing. photo by Alison Creba Hosted by Spacing Atlantic contributors, we followed the participatory principle that everyone is an authority on their community.  Anyone interested was given the opportunity to share thoughts and knowledge on their neighborhoods and city, taking up the megaphone whenever the urge arose.

A series that examines urban and architectural issues in Halifax by way of unbuilt proposals authored by different designers, this week featuring a project by graduate architect Paul Zylstra for a bus shelter at the intersection of Spring Garden Road and South Park Street. All drawings and images courtesy Paul Zylstra. Text by Dustin Valen HALIFAX - Criticism of public transit risks becoming a proverb for indignation. Notwithstanding long waits, bad moods, and iffy weather, public transit remains a necessity for many people. Languid discomforts taint our perception of public transit and sidetrack discussions about sustainability, the right to mobility, and the importance of economic diversity in our city. Not the least bit helpful is the searing objectivity that has inspired the design of our existing curbside bus shelters. More insidious than the status quo, these buildings do little to inspire the imagination and underscore the lack of value we invest in our public transit system. A more inspiring discussion surrounds a provocative first year studio project by graduate architect Paul Zylstra who, by creating a pragmatic connection between public transit and public space, transforms the humble bus shelter into an artful paradigm. A bus shelter personifies a community, signifying a place where people choose to live, work, and shop; a map of public transit across Halifax and its regional municipality reveals the densest and most frequented places in the city as well as daily routines of thousands of commuters. Although individually modest, each bus shelter is part of a vast network that is traveled in small segments by thousands of people every day — tiny outposts that safely negotiate passengers from streets to sidewalks.

HALIFAX - Spacing Atlantic contributors are hosting a Jane's Walk in Halifax this upcoming Saturday May 1st. Come join us as we wander the urban space, ponder the changes we face, and help to set the pace. The general theme of the Halifax walk is change, transformation, and transition — the downtown is in limbo and we want to muse about it. Meet us on Lower Water St outside the Farmers' Market at noon, as we set off to investigate an urban landscape in flux. Jane’s Walk honours the ...

HALIFAX - It goes without saying that there's plenty Halifax could do to improve its pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. Nothing, however, epitomizes this fact so much as the 'gate' on Quingate. One of the best used pedestrian and cycling passageways, the gate is nothing less than Halifax's most glaring bottlenecks. Yet unlike other bottlenecks, the gate happens to be the cheapest and simplest one to fix. A through-fare for many commuters, students and errand runners alike, the high volume of foot traffic and continuous flow of cyclists is literally confirmed by the regular spectators of ...

HALIFAX - This unprecedented spring sunshine has brought Halifax city dwellers out from our respective hovels and into the urban landscape. The warm weather has ushered in a sense of freedom and mobility, although perhaps for some more than others. For persons with disabilities, winter in Halifax represents being caged. The snow and ice, the inaccessible city infrastructure, and the limited availability of public transit options can make one a prisoner in their own home. For instance, if a person has a physical disability impeding them from climbing stairs, their access to Metro Transit buses is seriously limited. Of all the 52 different bus routes offered by Halifax Metro Transit, only 19 of those offer Accessible Low-Floor (ALF) buses. The absurdity of offering limited public transit options to those persons who most need mobility assistance is a serious oversight.

Brought to you in collaboration with the Ecology Action Centre and Halifax Cycling Coalition, SpokesPeople covers all things cycle-related. From the principles to the potholes, we're here to examine the realities facing the two-wheeled traveler. HALIFAX - The suspiciously placid early onset of spring has sent Haligonians outdoors in droves, as residents ditch the snow shovels of Marches past in favour of bicycles and rollerblades. In the city’s South End, this means an opportunity to test out the first leg of the long-awaited Halifax Urban Greenway (HUG), a multi-modal path for active transportation types of all stripes. The HUG is a work-in-progress, with long-term plans calling for the greenway to extend north to the Armdale Rotary, and south to Point Pleasant Park. The opening of this first trail section — running alongside Beaufort Avenue from Marlborough Woods north to South Street — is nonetheless cause for celebration, as it comes after nearly a decade of campaigning and planning. But just as surely as winter will rear its head again before finally calling it quits for this season, cyclists’ celebrations along the HUG are more likely to be muted, or at least “stop-start” in nature. In another victory for liability over practicality, the recent installation of signage on the HUG shocked cyclists with a sweeping assertion: “Cyclists are required to dismount at all intersections.” If you don’t get the point, the off-putting image of a cyclist inside a red circle with a strike-through should drive it home.