Halifax Transit

Halifax Transit Bus Map and Street Signage Redesign

This new bus map is meant to clarify and simplify the existing transit map; it should be easy to use for everyone, including tourists. The existing map was found to be confusing and overwhelming due to an overabundance of information, lack of hierarchy, and lack of organization. Due to the peculiar geography of the city, a heavy amount of traffic is focused on a couple of streets in the downtown core, with up to 21 buses traveling along one road. The present system of using different colored lines to represent the different buses was not working, nor was the system of combining multiple routes into one thick grey band. The lines were too numerous and there weren’t enough colors to clearly distinguish different routes.

The solution to this problem is one black line representing several routes. To mark which routes run along a particular street, a box with the route number is placed on the black line. The route number is present to reinforce identification of the route and to aid those with color blindness.

The present system of marking bus stops was found to be confusing and lacking information. The bus signs are difficult to see, for both pedestrians and bus travelers. There is no indication of what direction or path the routes follow, nor any schedule or fares. The information was ordered according to the GoTime phone number, which should not be highest in the information hierarchy. There was no difference in signage between rush hour and regular routes.

Design Firm

Michelle Jospe, NSCAD University