Halifax Transit

Halifax, Bus Simulator is a roleplay/transit bus simulation under the parent group Nova Scotia Transit Network (NSTN for short) that operates out of the Municipality of Halifax. The group was formally created under the represented transit authority Halifax Transit. Later after a moderation dispute moved to a new group Halifax_Transit(2020/Early 2021).

Founded by RobDevz ( Formally Known As, Zertanx ), with Azrucki being co-owner, After Azrucki retired from the Roblox Transit community entirely, xsw_q co-owned HT from mid 2020 to early 2021.

Marianisskinny owned HT and 1SeeEverything (Eli) co-owned HT for awhile from early 2021 - until about April when RobDevz Formally Came back refreshed and ready to quickly turn the community around into new horizons. Introducing multiple new routes and areas regularly, along with updating buses, allowed the game to constantly achieve a high success rate.

(Ironically, the group being Canadian/American owned). This group is known for its free drive concept that did not require joining the group in order to operate and ride- one of the only groups with a North American base to do so (having almost 24 hour availability). This group is not affiliated with the system in real life. Later this group rebranded as a Bus Simulator.

It currently remains as a Bus Simulator and still remains as a full open access model. Training is not necessary to drive buses, although you have to apply to become a moderator or admin.

At its peak, the group had almost 1500 members before a sanction / shutdown, although the number of people joining the group has begun to increase following the decline. After issues with false Roblox moderation a new group was made, after the original group reached over 2,000 members. However the former new group has currently exceeded 1400 members once again.

The group had a temporary closure on February 4, 2021 after an ex developer THEREALZXG4MING made claims that he had created an entire revamped version of the map, striking controversy and speculation which ended up with Halifax Transit. Temporarily sanctioned after a full year of operation; however, it resumed operation on February 6, 2021 once the sanctions were lifted, and the pretenses over the sanctions were reviewed and found to lack foundation, and evidence submitted by RobDevz ( Formally known as Zertanx ) contridicted the claims made by THEREALZXG4MING.

NOTE: The group name is now known as "Nova Scotia Transit Network" with close to 1,300 group members. ( Last confirmed: May, 06, 2022 )

History
December of 2019, the group's game was opened. It was based off Halifax Transit's Burnside Garage and had a few routes out of the division that were key mainline services along with one ferry route. Buses that were drivable at the time were ex-MBTA New Flyer D40LFs with the W2 chassis and a NovaBUS LFS built by PoizGamesAlternate. The game also had four major terminals: Water Street, Mumford, Lacewood and Bridge, along with the main cross-harbour ferry between Halifax and Dartmouth. Ferries were also added to the game, which were initially group only but were later public.

Following the rise in popularity of the group, developer JackoNiceo (who built buses for Maple Transit Commission) was hired to build updated versions of various buses. These were added in the game by Mid 2020 and most were still in use in 2021, the group had 3 public models available. All of these buses were built by JackoNiceo, which were the NovaBUS LFS, NovaBus LFSA and New Flyer XD40. Additionally a D40LF by VoltronPaladin1 and a D30LF RobDevz ( Zertanx ) created from the D40LF model. Additional fleet modifications have taken place by RobDevz ( Zertanx ) and developers. There were also plans for a DE60LFR but this never came to fruition.

In January 2021, a Halifax Police option for group admins was added to ensure buses were available for passengers and drivers- also allowing simulation of police activity and call outs.

Despite ferries being underutilized, the majority who did use them drove them into bridges and this resulted in the removal of ferry services after multiple game shutdowns due to the owners getting fed up of misuse.

On February 4, 2021, the group and game were temporarily closed after THEREALZXG4MING made claims of creating the map that was developed by Zertanx and his developers, and sanctions were issued. This left hundreds of players out of work and without the free drive to play in the group, but some players were very angry at Matthew for doing the damage he did to Zertanx. Some players supported Zertanx even when Halifax Transit was shutdown.

On February 6, 2021, Halifax Transit reopened its group and game following support from the community, with a planned major update scheduled for February 15, 2021. the group also restarted its Discord server.

On April 15th, 2021, there was a dispute with Quayxvon to take the D40LF and D30LF out of Halifax Transit. Although it was later shown to Voltron and the developers from RobDevz ( Zertanx ) Previous communication with Quayxvon indicating they had permissions to keep said buses. Quayxvon was later sanctioned from Halifax Transit for defamation and disrespectful discord messages he had sent to multiple staff members.

As of May 2021, the group's original game was deleted after the original account hosting the game was terminated by Roblox moderation. A new game was set up by the group as an improvement of the original, called "Halifax Transit Reimagined". Beginning May 31, 2021, the New Flyer D30LF is also back in operation after being rehabbed. As of June 2021, the New Flyer D40LF was also returned to service, with a FOV slider also added for all players so people no longer require an admin to FOV them for screenshots.

On September 22, 2021, the in-house XD40 was replaced with an updated WAVE chassis XD40 built by RUBI Industries to try and bring a more realistic bus experience. Unlike other buses in the fleet, the WAVE model is not restricted to 31 mph (50 km/h), making it useful for express service or fast highway runs. Two retired buses from the first generation XD40 fleet can be seen at Burnside Depot which had suffered a fire. At the same time, HT also introduced their livery pack, which includes an old livery (Metro Transit) XD40 and an express-branded LFS for an extra charge (gamepass buses). In 2022, this was expanded to include an express livery D40LF and a Pride livery NovaBUS LFS. Furthermore, the police team was removed from the game and replaced with transit supervisor operations.

In May 2022, the in-house NovaBUS LFS was replaced with the RUBI/WAVE model, allowing it to run faster and also be more stable. Likewise, the "Gus" meme LFS, with the fleet number 1 was added as part of the gamepass livery pack. However, only one "Gus" vehicle can be operated per server, which adds to its rarity. At the same time, a public New Flyer C40LF was also added to diversify the fleet (and provide a different livery) for users without the gamepass.

In late May 2022, the New Flyer D40LF and C40LF were upgraded with new bodywork and changed to RUBI's WAVE Chassis, giving both models randomly generated fleet numbers. This allowed the buses to now reach a top speed of 68 mph (108 km/h) with dynamic sounds. In addition, all 40' models now have randomly generated fleet numbers that are based on fleet numbering in real life. As Halifax did not have D30LFs in real life, these models were removed for the time being (until fictional numbers can be set up for them). NSTN also began updating the game to further make it mroe realistic, allowing people to virtually visit Halifax from their computer.

Controversy
On February 4, 2021, a user known as "Matthew" ( THEREALZXG4MING ) on Discord managed to steal the group's game and pose as RobDevz, calling him out and framing him for an unknown action. This destroyed the group's reputation overnight. Eventually, Société de Transport de Summit and Toronto Transportation Systems alleged him of using copyrighted material and sanctioned the group over the user who framed RobDevz. This caused him to close the group and temporarily leave the Ro-Transit community, although people were continually asking if the group would reopen or not. However, the group's Discord server was deleted when the group shut down according to former staff.

According to a Roblox group post by RobDevz, the groups used false evidence (having believed the person who made the false claims) to create grounds for the sanction; the claim was solely designed to shut the group down. Furthermore, he considered it bias, stating that no counter evidence was considered and it was further used to force HT members to join STS and Toronto Transportation Systems. After THEREALZXG4MING was exposed in a google document released by RobDevz on Twitter, and the sanctions were removed. HT was reopened after two days of "hiatus".

Transit Vehicles

 * New Flyer D30LF ( Voltronpaladin1 - & Upgrades / changes from RobDevz and developers. )
 * New Flyer D40LF
 * New Flyer C40LF
 * New Flyer XD40 (RUBI Industries model only)
 * NovaBUS LFS (RUBI Industries model only)

Staff Vehicles

 * Transit Supervisor Ford Taurus
 * Transit Supervisor Chevrolet Silverado 2020 Model

Transit Vehicles

 * New Flyer C40LF [1st Version, Retired]
 * New Flyer D30LF [1st Version, Retired]
 * New Flyer D40LF [1st Version, Retired]
 * New Flyer D40LF [2nd Version In Service]
 * New Flyer XD40 [RUBI Industries Model Only]
 * Nova-Bus LF Series Articulated [1st Version, Retired ]
 * Halifax Ferry [1st Version, Retired ]
 * Nova-Bus LF Series [Former-Translink, Retired]
 * Nova-Bus LF Series [JackoNiceo model, Retired]
 * Metro X Suburban

Police Vehicles (Admin Only- Operated by Halifax Regional Police)

 * Ford Interceptor Utility ( Retired )
 * Ford Crown Victoria ( Retired )
 * Dodge Charger ( Retired )
 * Ford Explorer ( Retired )
 * GMC Command Tahoe ( Retired )

Staff Vehicles

 * Transit Supervisor Ford Taurus
 * Transit Supervisor Chevrolet Silverado 2020 Model