mass transit

Thursday April 16, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 16, 2020

LRT versus BRT showdown coming to Hamilton

Thanks to the provincially appointed transportation task force, it appears we’re heading into a final showdown over whether LRT or BRT is the best rapid transit system for Hamilton.

February 1, 2020

The task force, formed after the Doug Ford government killed the planned LRT project, says the province and its transportation agency Metrolinx should now consider both systems equally and analyze which best deserves the $1 billion in capital funding that was originally earmarked for light rail.

If neither are feasible, the task force suggests plowing the money into two-way, all-day GO rail service to Hamilton.

If nothing else, there’s a kind of poetic if rough justice in all this. 

There’s always been a strong sense among light rail opponents that the bus rapid transit option was previously given short shrift by both Metrolinx and city staff.

Certainly the city’s 2008 rapid transit feasibility study discussed both systems. But Metrolinx’s 2010 case-benefit analysis basically sidelined the BRT option by concluding LRT delivered the highest economic development bang for the buck.

The problem was that a lot of Hamiltonians felt — and still feel — that the pros and cons of both systems were never fairly compared and publicly debated.

That was supposed to happen after the 2014 municipal election. It didn’t. You may recall that back then Fred Eisenberger ran for mayor on a platform that included a promise to create a citizens’ panel to study all rapid transit options and make a recommendation to council.

Coronavirus cartoons

Instead, brief months after he was elected, Eisenberger hotfooted it to Queen’s Park for private meetings with then-premier Kathleen Wynne and transport minister Steven Del Duca, at which he successfully secured provincial dollars for LRT.

In May of 2015, Wynne came to town to announce the province was providing $1 billion in capital funding. Eisenberger’s proposed citizens’ panel was reduced to window dressing. BRT supporters were suddenly marooned.

It’s been anything but smooth sailing for LRT supporters since then, of course. But no matter how controversial the issue, no matter how many stops, starts and delays the project has experienced, LRT has been the only option on the table.

Until Ford came along, that is. 

During the 2018 provincial election, Ford threw things into a tizzy by offering to let Hamilton council spend the $1 billion on other transit and infrastructure projects. It’s often forgotten, but in the heat of that election New Democrat leader and Hamilton MPP Andrea Horwath said an NDP government would also give council the option to spend the money on other transit projects.

Neither the mayor nor council seriously pursued the offer after Ford was elected. A few months later, it was taken out of their hands. The province cancelled the project because of projected cost overruns and then created the task force.

So now BRT is back on the menu as a main course not just a rejected entree.

Briefly, the task force suggests the BRT option could follow both the B-Line corridor from McMaster to Eastgate and the north-south A-Line corridor from the waterfront to the airport. Recommendations include fully dedicated bus lanes and platform boarding.

For LRT, the task force suggests if there is insufficient funding for the Mac to Eastgate route, phasing should be explored, and the province should look to Ottawa and city council for extra funding.

It’s not clear, of course, how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the recommendation that, regardless which system wins out, the contract should be awarded or construction begin within two years.

It’s also not clear if or how COVID-19 will impact the social patterns and policy assumptions that sustain rapid transit systems.

Frankly, it’s an open question whether urban intensification, highrise living and the growth of public transit will be as appealing in a post-COVID world leery of future virus lockdowns, compared to the lure of backyards and the self-isolation of cars. (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Tuesday April 15, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday April 15, 2017

Crucial vote looms for Hamilton’s LRT project

The survival of Hamilton’s $1 billion LRT project is balancing on a knife-edge.

Hamilton’s LRT gallery

If on Wednesday a deeply-divided council votes against submitting the updated environmental assessment to the province, Mayor Fred Eisenberger and others see it as the kiss of the death.

At this point there’s no telling how the vote will go, other than it’ll be a squeaker.

Only six of the 16 members of council, including the mayor, are firmly committed to keeping the train rolling.

That means, with Robert Pasuta on sick leave and unlikely to attend, Eisenberger must find at least two other supporters.

The most pliable in the mushy middle are probably veteran Tom Jackson from the east Mountain and rookie Arlene VanderBeek from Dundas.

Both are playing their cards close, virtually guaranteeing a cliffhanger.

“I haven’t decided,” says Jackson, who’s grown increasingly cynical about the project since the James Street spur was arbitrarily “de-scoped” by the province.

“I’ve pretty much decided how I’m going to vote, but I’m going to wait for the discussion,” says VanderBeek, noting she needs to find the balance between what’s good for Dundas and the rest of the city.

Stoney Creek’s Maria Pearson, another potential swing pro-vote, is equally guarded. Pearson says she’s still taking in information but admits she has “major concerns.”

To add extra suspense, the results of the councillor-funded poll gauging community support for the project are expected to be released Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the mayor has gone into overdrive — some say belatedly, some say desperately — to rally support. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Saturday January 14, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday January 14, 2017

Hamilton’s $1 billion LRT project may be getting a game-changing shakeup.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger says Metrolinx is considering killing the 2-kilometre James Street North light rail spur line for an alternative that has “greater value and cost efficiency.”

“I don’t know what and when the province is going to announce anything on this but I do know it’s been a topic of conversation.”

Multiple sources have told The Spectator the idea is to replace the James North spur with an express bus service from the waterfront to the airport on James and Upper James — essentially building the A-line route that’s part of the planned city-wide BLAST bus network.

According to sources, an announcement originally planned for Monday is now expected in a couple of weeks.

The proposal does not affect the 11-km east-west LRT route from McMaster to the Queenston traffic circle.

Eisenberger notes the James spur was an “add on” to the provincial funding announcement in 2015 and as such had never undergone a cost-benefit analysis.

“I assume that Metrolinx has done it now and I’m pretty confident it shows that it’s not the most viable business case … for an LRT on James.”

If the spur line is replaced with express buses from the Mountain to the waterfront, Eisenberger thinks it’ll be a better bang for the buck in terms of growing public transit across the city and will likely enjoy good political and public support.

A Metrolinx spokesperson said via email there “will be more news in the coming weeks.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Tuesday December 6, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Tuesday December 6, 2016 New push to add LRT stop at Bay Street A late plea for a Bay Street LRT stop is one of several requested route changes project planners will chew on before spitting out a final design next spring. The city's light rail transit stakeholder committee will formally receive a letter from the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce Nov. 29 asking for a Bay Street stop on the east-west leg of the planned $1-billion LRT line. "It is not a stretch to assume that the Bay Street Station would immediately become the second-busiest station between the two end nodes of the B-line," reads the letter signed by representatives from large downtown players such as McMaster University, the art gallery, Carmen's Group and Vrancor. The city and project lead Metrolinx need to submit an updated environmental assessment Ñ including a finalized route Ñ to the province for approval next spring. But there is still time to consider "reasonable" change requests based on public feedback, said city LRT point person Paul Johnson. "We are looking at a number of requests now, things like pedestrian crossings, intersection changes and yes, stop locations," he said. "Just don't ask us to move the whole thing to Main Street. No, we are not going to look at that.Ó Johnson said public suggestions to date have already resulted in a relocated stop to the border of the International Village. Planners are also revisiting the possibility of a Gage Avenue stop based on a "surprisingly strong" reaction from the public. Similarly, businesses in the International Village have convinced planners to scope out an additional pedestrian crossing along that section of the King Street line. Other merchants have helped tweak partial intersection and street closures. Johnson wouldn't comment on the likelihood of Bay Street being adopted as a new stop, but noted there are some challenges to adding any new stop. It costs "a few million doll

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 6, 2016

New push to add LRT stop at Bay Street

A late plea for a Bay Street LRT stop is one of several requested route changes project planners will chew on before spitting out a final design next spring.

The city’s light rail transit stakeholder committee will formally receive a letter from the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce Nov. 29 asking for a Bay Street stop on the east-west leg of the planned $1-billion LRT line.

“It is not a stretch to assume that the Bay Street Station would immediately become the second-busiest station between the two end nodes of the B-line,” reads the letter signed by representatives from large downtown players such as McMaster University, the art gallery, Carmen’s Group and Vrancor.

The city and project lead Metrolinx need to submit an updated environmental assessment — including a finalized route — to the province for approval next spring. But there is still time to consider “reasonable” change requests based on public feedback, said city LRT point person Paul Johnson.

“We are looking at a number of requests now, things like pedestrian crossings, intersection changes and yes, stop locations,” he said. “Just don’t ask us to move the whole thing to Main Street. No, we are not going to look at that.”

Johnson said public suggestions to date have already resulted in a relocated stop to the border of the International Village. Planners are also revisiting the possibility of a Gage Avenue stop based on a “surprisingly strong” reaction from the public.

Similarly, businesses in the International Village have convinced planners to scope out an additional pedestrian crossing along that section of the King Street line. Other merchants have helped tweak partial intersection and street closures.

Johnson wouldn’t comment on the likelihood of Bay Street being adopted as a new stop, but noted there are some challenges to adding any new stop.

It costs “a few million dollars” to add a platform and amenities along a typical LRT line, he said. But he added potential intersection changes and land purchases can inflate the “real cost” dramatically.

The light rail transit line is also meant to be an express service, with an average distance between stops of about 800 metres. Project planners are aiming for peak period wait times of six minutes.

Stops at Queen Street, Bay and James would represent some of the shortest distances between platforms along the route, Johnson said, in some cases under 400 metres.(Source: Hamilton Spectator)