MetroLink (Halifax)
MetroLink was Halifax Regional Municipality's former BRT (bus rapid transit) express bus service, operated by Halifax Transit. The system consisted of two limited-stop fully accessible express routes, connecting downtown Halifax's Scotia Square bus terminal, with the Portland Hills terminal in Cole Harbour on the Dartmouth side, and the Sackville Terminal in Lower Sackville. History
The MetroLink service was developed in 2003 between the Halifax Regional Municipality, the Province of Nova Scotia and Transport Canada's Urban Transportation Showcase Program, a five-year program designed to demonstrate and promote urban transportation strategies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The program selected cities across the country to showcase a number of different initiatives in reducing greenhouse gases. Halifax Regional Municipality's $13.3 million proposal for a bus rapid transit system was chosen, and $4.1 million was given by the Government of Canada toward this project. The remainder was funded by Halifax Regional Municipality ($8.06 million), the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Public Works ($785,000) and the Nova Scotia Department of Energy ($80,000). Twenty low floor buses were purchased from New Flyer Industries for the MetroLink service. These buses featured air conditioning, high-back reclining seats with foot rests, carpeted walls and ceiling to reduce road noise and vibration, a new livery and logo, and no advertisements both on the inside and outside. One of these buses, #600, was on public display on April 12, 2005, outside of City Hall. The bus was available for media and members of the general public to tour, and increase awareness of the new service. The service was launched in phases, with the first phase on August 21, 2005. The first phase saw the construction of a new bus terminal in Cole Harbour called Portland Hills Terminal, with a 230-space parking lot, including some spaces reserved for carpool parking. Two routes were created at this time, the 159 Portland Hills Link and 165 Woodside Link. The second phase was launched on February 20, 2006. This phase saw the construction of a new bus terminal in Lower Sackville called the Sackville Terminal on Walker Ave, with a 315-space parking lot. One new route was created, the 185 Sackville Link. Routes

159 Portland Hills Link (discontinued 2021)
The route 159 provided express service between the Portland Hills Terminal in Cole Harbour and the Scotia Square Terminal in downtown Halifax via Portland Street, Alderney Drive, Wyse Road, the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge and Barrington Street. The route was a limited-stop service, with stops at the Portland Hills Terminal, Penhorn Terminal, Alderney Gate Terminal, Bridge Terminal, and Scotia Square Terminal. As a result, the total one-way trip time was about 13 minutes. The route 159 operated Monday to Friday every 30-minutes during off-peak times, and every 10-minutes during peak (rush hour) periods. 159 Portland Hills Link was discontinued in November 2021 as part of the Moving Forward Together Plan and replaced with Express Routes 159, 161A, 161B, 165 and 168. The corridor route 5 Portland Hills also follows a similar route, it operates every 15 minutes at peak periods. 165 Woodside Link (discontinued 2014)
The route 165 provided direct express service between the Portland Hills Terminal in Cole Harbour and the Woodside Ferry Terminal via Portland Street and Highway 111. Passengers can transfer to and from the ferry, which provides direct service to downtown Halifax. The route 165 operated Monday to Friday during peak (rush hour) periods only, every 30-minutes. On May 20, 2014, coinciding with an expansion of the Woodside ferry service, route 165 was discontinued. It was replaced with the 179 Cole Harbour Express, fully integrated with Halifax Transit's conventional bus service. 185 Sackville Link (discontinued 2019)
The route 185 provided express service between the Sackville Terminal in Lower Sackville and the Scotia Square Terminal in downtown Halifax via Highway 101 and the Bedford Bypass, the Magazine Hill, Windmill Road the A. Murray MacKay Bridge and Barrington Street. The route was a limited-stop service, with stops at the Sackville Terminal, Wright Avenue in the Burnside Industrial Park, and the Scotia Square Terminal. As a result, the total one-way trip time was about 24 minutes. The route 185 operated Monday to Friday every 30-minutes during off-peak times, and every 10-minutes during peak (rush hour) periods. Fare Structure
Effective September 30, 2013
The MetroLink service had its own fare structure, separate from the rest of the Halifax Transit system. Cash fares costed an extra fifty cents over and above the regular fares. MetroLink had its own monthly bus pass, the MetroLink Pass, which could have been used on any Halifax Transit service. Passengers would have been able to use regular transit tickets or monthly bus passes (MetroPass), but must deposit an additional fifty cents into the farebox. Vehicles

In 2005, Halifax Regional Municipality purchased twenty new buses from New Flyer Industries of Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was assumed at the time that HRM would purchase New Flyer's D40i Invero model, which New Flyer was marketing towards BRT services, however HRM resisted and ordered 20 model D40LF instead, and were given fleet numbers 600 - 619. The D40LF was the current bus of choice at the time for Halifax Transit's regular fleet, so they opted to keep the status quo. These twenty buses featured a new livery on the outside, air conditioning on the inside (a first for Halifax Transit),  bike racks, carpeting on the walls and ceiling to reduce road noise and vibrations, and larger plush high-back reclining chairs with arm and leg rests and custom designed fabric design. Also differing these buses from the rest of the Halifax Transit fleet are onboard transmitters for the 3M Opticom system. Opticom is the system in place in HRM used by fire services and MetroLink, to allow emergency and transit vehicles to hold green lights and prevent them from turning red until the vehicle has got through the intersection. The system was also used to trigger transit priority signals at certain intersections, allowing MetroLink buses to move into the intersection using special bus-only lanes before the rest of the vehicles can proceed. This allowed MetroLink buses at a red light to "jump" ahead of waiting cars. Infrastructure

Bus stops
Part of Halifax Regional Municipality's plans for distinguishing the MetroLink service from the rest of the Halifax Transit system involved creating special bus stop signs, bus shelters and info posts at MetroLink bus stops. The new bus stop signs featured the same colours and design as the livery on the buses, the new shelters featured the gold and blue MetroLink "swirl" along the back wall, and the new info posts, which displayed maps and schedule information for the three former MetroLink routes, they were also done in the same gold and blue swirl, with the stop name vertically oriented along the side. Traffic changes
A number of changes were made to streets and intersections along the routes to help the MetroLink buses get ahead of the rest of traffic. The following changes were introduced:

 Bus-only lanes and traffic priority signals along Portland Street in Dartmouth for the route 159 and 165. The lanes and signals are located at the intersection of Portland Street and Woodlawn Road. The bus-only lanes allowed the MetroLink buses to bypass traffic waiting at a red light. Just before the light turns green, a special transit priority signal (a white vertical bar above the red stop light) comes on, allowing the bus to enter the intersection ahead of waiting vehicles. Bus-only lanes and traffic priority signals along Windmill Road in the Burnside Industrial Park for the route 185. The lanes and signals are located at the intersections of Windmill Road, Wright Ave and Akerley Blvd. They work in the same manner as described above. Former Planned development
Phase three of the MetroLink service was expected to take place within the next five years of the first three lines. This phase would have seen new terminals and MetroLink routes in other busy corridors such as Clayton Park and Spryfield. Plans existed to introduce a new route to service the Cobequid Terminal, also in Lower Sackville shortly after the 185 Sackville Link came into service. Destination signs on board the buses were even programmed with a route 184 Cobequid, and early maps of the MetroLink service showed a route 184 between Cobequid Terminal and downtown Halifax, however this plan seems to have been abandoned. 159 Portland Hills Link
165 Woodside Link
185 Sackville Link

A New Rapid Transit Strategy 
In May 2020, Halifax Transit presented a plan to regional council to implement a new Rapid Transit Strategy. The strategy proposes the creation of a new Rapid Transit Network comprising four new bus rapid transit (BRT) lines and three new ferry routes. The estimated capital cost is around C$300–325 million, while operational costs are estimated at $15–22 million. Halifax Regional Council unanimously endorsed the plan on 26 May 2020. As of 2021, Halifax is seeking funding for the project from other levels of government. Funding for the planning and design of one of the proposed ferry routes, the Halifax-Mill Cove (Bedford) service, was announced in June 2021. Halifax Transit plans to launch the service in 2024. Impacts

 The route 185 Sackville Line improved transit connections to downtown Halifax from Lower Sackville, since standard bus service on routes 87 & 1 takes 43 minutes in optimal conditions, and bus service on the route 80 (which travels via Bedford) takes 1 hour 10 minutes. Both routes 159 Portland Hills Link and 185 Sackville Link saw unprecedented ridership in the first few months of service. Initial rush hour schedules saw both routes running on 15-minute frequencies, however within months this was changed to 10-minutes. Also, both Portland Hills Terminal and the Sackville Terminal underwent expansions to their parking lots, bringing the combined capacity of both lots to 545 cars. Still, both parking lots were frequently full, with people parking on the driveways to the lots. References

External links
 Metro Transit's MetroLink website

Transport in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Transit agencies in Nova Scotia
Bus transport in Nova Scotia
Paratransit services in Canada
Bus rapid transit in Canada