Common Questions

The Joint Regional Transportation Agency (JRTA) is a Crown Corporation created to address transportation issues associated with rapid growth in Halifax and surrounding communities. To carry out this mandate, the JRTA will collaborate with key partners to create a Regional Transportation Plan to ensure the transportation system is prepared for a period of unprecedented growth.

Nova Scotia achieved a major milestone in 2021 – the province surpassed a population of one million people, following a period of record growth. Over 63% of the population of Nova Scotia live within Regional Transportation Plan area.

The Halifax region has been growing at a rapid pace. Between 2016 and 2021 the population of Halifax’s downtown core increased by 26%.  This trend continued in 2022, as the HRM population grew by 4.5% and the province population grew by 2.89%. This pace of growth has exceeded even the most optimistic population growth rates and represents some of the fastest growing regions in Canada. 

Population and economic growth are key priorities for the province. The Government of Nova Scotia has identified a target to double the province’s population to two million people by 2060, with much of that growth expected in Halifax and the surrounding region. Planning for such growth requires collaboration across all levels of government, businesses, communities, and interest groups and a long-term strategy to ensure the region’s transportation system can support this in a sustainable and resilient manner. 

The Regional Transportation Plan is intended to create a long-term, cohesive approach to regional transportation, that guides integrated transportation and land use decision-making and infrastructure investments for all modes of transportation.

The purpose of the plan is to establish a coordinated and strategic vision for a regional transportation system that makes sustainable growth and development possible and improves the safe and efficient flow of people and goods into, out of, and throughout Halifax and the surrounding region.

The plan will consider all modes of transportation that facilitate the movement of people (walking/rolling, cycling, buses, ferries, trains, vehicles) and goods (trucks, trains, ships, planes) as well as the associated infrastructure (streets, active transportation facilities, highways, bridges, rail corridors, ports - marine, ground, air).

This coordinated regional transportation system will help create the right conditions to support our provincial goals in terms of economic prosperity, health, education, population growth and climate change and ultimately help build sustainable communities. This means better connecting people to key regional destinations, providing more sustainable transportation options to help reduce the cost of living and ensuring the efficient flow of goods to drive economic growth.

The regional transportation system includes major corridors and infrastructure that move a large volume of people and/or goods (e.g., highways, arterial and collector roadways, major bridges, key active transportation and transit links, goods movement corridors, rail corridors, etc.).

Local streets, minor intersections, and local transit routes are not intended to be a priority focus of this effort unless they provide, or have the potential to provide, an important regional function.

For the areas outside HRM, the intent is to focus more on the movement of people and goods between communities.

The RTP is a long-range strategic plan that will help guide transportation decisions on a broader regional scale beyond just HRM borders. The plan will play a key role in helping the province and municipalities align efforts toward a common goal. The plan will focus on key corridors that move a large volume of people and goods throughout the region. The plan will help identify specific actions and priorities over the next 5, 10 and 20 years that align with a longer-term vision.

The JRTA sits in a unique position to work across jurisdictions and all levels of government to promote collaboration. This provides a long-range lens for the regional transportation system to help maximize the impact of investments and cost-shared funding opportunities.

The JRTA works with a Transportation Advisory Board with six core partners. Each partner has a wealth of transportation planning knowledge and experience and have existing plans, strategies, studies, and projects that are important to, dependent on, or that will inform the Regional Transportation Plan: 

• Halifax Regional Municipality
• Nova Scotia Department of Public Works
• Halifax Harbour Bridges
• Halifax Port Authority
• Halifax International Airport Authority
• Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

Progress on existing initiatives and advancing new projects is key to building momentum and addressing current transportation issues. The JRTA supports the analysis, prioritization, and activation of key partner projects, including the pursuit of funding support. 

The JRTA is and will continue to champion regional collaboration to identify and support the implementation of regional transportation projects.

We’ve begun to engage various provincial departments with aligned and related planning initiatives and projects. The focus of this collaboration is on working together to take a multi-purpose approach to planning and infrastructure decision-making to maximize investments and enhance Nova Scotian’s well-being and drive sustainable growth.