Comment 118596

By mdrejhon (registered) - website | Posted May 16, 2016 at 11:03:29

It is noteworthy that Wards 1-4 has a total population of 112,015 as of Census 2011.

This is almost 25% of population concentrated in just 5% of Hamilton's area (All wards). Currently, it is the best possible targeting of a limited $1bn initial funding, even better density metrics than A-Line. Obviously, we'd love it if $1bn could cover all 5 proposed LRT routes, of the entire BLAST network, but that obviously isn't possible.

The LRT has to obviously begin somewhere.. But $1bn is only for Phase 1, and it is not build-and-forget. Ottawa just approved Phase 2 of their LRT in 2013 -- five years before finishing construction in 2018 -- they are still building their first LRT. Hamilton's possible equivalent could be a resounding 2018 election that includes funding for a Phase 2 extension -- six years in advance. Or even 2022 election, of course. In other cities, some incremental extensions gets built immediately or almost immediately after the completion of the original route. The same may actually end up happening to Cambridge sooner than later, especially if the ION LRT is a resounding success.

Comment edited by mdrejhon on 2016-05-16 11:03:40

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