Nova Scotia

Halifax Transit reverses ferry ban on bicycle trailers

Municipality reversed its decision following feedback from cycling community.

Municipality reversed its decision following feedback from cycling community

Halifax Transit briefly banned bicycle trailers from its ferries Tuesday, but reversed its decision hours later.

Bicycles with trailers are once again allowed to be transported on Halifax Transit ferries just hours after the municipality banned them from the Halifax-Dartmouth water crossings for safety and limited space reasons.

Tweets sent out from the Halifax Transit Twitter account Tuesday night said the reversal came following a review of operations. Halifax Transit said it received feedback on its initial decision to ban them.

"We regret any inconvenience or concern this announcement may have caused for any of our passengers," read one of the Tweets.

Abrupt ban and reversal

Earlier on Tuesday, the Halifax Cycling Coalition slammed the municipality's abrupt ban.

"By not allowing bicycles with trailers on the Halifax ferries, you're limiting peoples' ability to use bicycles as a form of transportation," said Kelsey Lane, the group's executive director.

Lane said parents with young children use the trailers and that banning them from ferries goes against promoting active transportation.

Cyclists with trailers traveling between Halifax and Dartmouth cannot ride across the Macdonald Bridge right now because the Big Lift re-decking project removed the walking and biking lanes. The bridge commission is aiming to get cyclists and walkers access to the bridge daily again by the end of 2016.

Although the municipality reversed its ban on the trailers, the ban on two-wheeled electric and gas-powered scooters on ferries still stands.

With files from Moira Donovan