Transportation

Tweak Transit Lane Design to Ensure Success

By Sean Burak
Published November 19, 2013

I've been observing and mingling with traffic through the core since the new transit lane opened on King Street.

It occurs to me that one major cause of the feeling of "gridlock" attributed by some drivers to the bus lane - and perhaps a major catalyst for driver frustration - may be the fact that between Hughson and MacNab, many of the buses on King are merging out of the bus lane and crossing the remaining two live lanes to turn left at James or into the terminal.

May I suggest that a very easy solution would be:

Bus priority signal
Bus priority signal

  1. A dedicated left turn signal for buses only at MacNab. Buses would get an advanced (or delayed) left turn signal allowing them to turn directly from the bus lane into the terminal, while cars and pedestrians still see red.

    This would only require one extra light to be installed on an already-existing signalized intersection. The signal could be visible only to buses, and could additionally be an obscure shape (i.e. not an arrow) that bus drivers are trained to understand but motorists won't mistake for a left turn arrow for themselves.

  2. Another transit-only signal at James, allowing buses to turn directly from their own lane. If the cycle timing with pedestrians is too complicated, all left-turning buses could be rerouted from James to MacNab, where they can utilize the transit signal to turn left, then go through the terminal and have free rein to jog across main to James. That would probably faster than negotiating the merge and turn at James itself.

If we don't recognize challenges and make tweaks accordingly through the pilot, it may fail due to improper design. If we actually want to learn from it, we need to be willing to make intelligent changes when we witness inefficiencies in our original design.

I'm also wondering if there has been any further discussion among city staff about removing the cyclist restriction in the transit lane.

Sean Burak was born in Hamilton but raised elsewhere in Ontario. He returned to his birth town at the turn of the century and has never looked back. Sean is the owner of Downtown Bike Hounds.

141 Comments

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By R (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 10:01:53

I also find the lights change quickly between that stretch.

Makes me wonder if they were shortened to back up the cars and influence bus lane results.

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By Rimshot (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 10:01:53

Bus Lane Pilot 2: Electric Boogaloo

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By kevlahan (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 10:33:35

Yes: the key is making small "tweaks" to the design to correct obvious problems as soon as possible. Flexibility is the key to actually learn from this pilot project and avoid having small aggravations build into massive opposition. It is also important to show that staff are actually listening to concerns and responding accordingly. The lack of any accommodation for cyclists is another problem that needs to be addressed soon.

I am worried, however, that staff seem to view this pilot project as something that cannot be altered in any significant way. I hope I am wrong, as this would be a tremendous waste, both of the possibility to do real-time optimization and of public goodwill. If these alpha-version bugs are not corrected soon people will begin to wonder whether this pilot was designed to fail...

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By JayRobb (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 12:24:17

Has anyone talked yet with the small business owners along King St. West with the "no more bus lane" and "bus lane = bankruptcy" signs in their windows?

Counted 15 businesses with these signs last night. It's not one or two outliers or a handful of new, undercapitalized businesses struggling to find customers. There are well-established restaurants and stores in the mix.

Before the signs went up and the Queen St. Hill reopened, nixing parking along King during rush hour seemed like an idea worth considering if it would diffuse opposition to a dedicated bus lane.

But with the signs up in pretty much every small business along those three blocks of King West, keeping 24 hour parking with far better promotion to shoppers and diners may be the best route to take.

At the same time, ignoring, discrediting and throwing these small biz owners under the bus will do nothing to build broad support for dedicated bus lanes or LRT.

If tweaks are coming to the transit lane, the concerns and ideas of folks who've got a whole lot of skin in the game should be heard and considered.

And complete street / transit advocates may want to stop by these businesses and spend some cash in a show of support and solidarity.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 16:04:47 in reply to Comment 94867

I couldn't help but notice that a couple of the businesses with those signs up have their own parking lots. Not sure I buy their complaint.

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By Just keep pushing that agenda (anonymous) | Posted November 29, 2013 at 23:37:19 in reply to Comment 94891

Jason, stop talking out of your ass.

I drove by there today, and from the start of the lane to the end, nearly every store had a yellow NO MORE BUS LANE or the BUS LANE = BANKRUPT signs. I doubt that's a move of solidarity between business owners. Seriously, go take a walk - they are posted a couple of blocks from your mansion on the paradise of Dundurn.

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 12:54:53 in reply to Comment 94867

My wife's stylist is one of the affected shops and mentioned it to her - it's the loss of the convenient street-side parking directly in front of their shops. Crossing King sucks, and the businesses along the South side generally had parking lots while the North side relied upon the meters. Now instead of pull-over-pay-meter-walk-three-steps to get into the shop, customers have to do the unnatural "park on the left side of the street, walk over to the pay booth, put ticket into car, then figure out how the heck to cross King".

This has seriously hurt the convenience factor for their customers.

In hindsight they should have skipped the South-side parking thing and just continued the Jackson Square approach to parking throughout King West - double-wide bus-lane with car-parking in the Northern-most lane, and cars allowed to cross the bus-lane to access the curb-lane.

Transit-lane should've been the second lane, not the curb lane. But then the city wouldn't have been able to shut down curbside parking at rush-hour. The horror.

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By DaveyOh (registered) | Posted December 02, 2013 at 16:47:39 in reply to Comment 94870

I think the loss of convenience is being overblown by the store owners. I can't buy that all their customers will say "well, I really love that store and I've been shopping there for years, but now I have to park across the street, so forget it". A few might, but I think that the vast majority of people who shop along there will just adapt with time.

A more efficient bus route may also lead to increased ridership. If I were one of those business owners I wouldn't be complaining about the dedicated bus lane. I'd be figuring out a way turn all those people sitting on the buses being paraded right past my storefront into customers.

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 21:09:48 in reply to Comment 94870

Addendum: I just remembered - on that hair appointment? She parked on a side street because she didn't know/understand the left-side parking thing. Seriously, how much damage has been done by the fact that drivers might have been completely unware of the available parking? You hardly see any traffic parked on the left - it's reasonable to assume most patrons don't know they can park there. Think about how that looks to prospective customer - the old parking spot is gone, and they don't know about the new one, maybe they just keep driving?

That could be doing some real catastrophic damage to these businesses. I mean, even pulling over onto a side-street is hard there since half of them are wrong-way streets.

Even if the city does bump the bus-lane over into the 2nd lane, they'd have to put some big loud signage to let drivers know that folks can get into the next lane. Remember the confusion with the parking next to the bus-lane downtown? Go back to the 1st bus-lane thread and you'll see folks wondering what the heck is the deal with the 2 bus-lanes by Jackson Square.

Yeah, there's a bad information problem there. I'm thinking a big green-P parking symbol in the rightmost lane. I mean, we get those big

\|||||/
-"NEW"-
/||||||

signs every time a new stop-sign or turning-lane changes in this city, a parking change deserves that kind of attention too since local businesses depend on those.

Comment edited by Pxtl on 2013-11-19 21:10:55

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 21:27:12 in reply to Comment 94946

Perhaps businesses can put up signs informing of this helpful info.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 16:03:52 in reply to Comment 94870

This exact idea was suggested back in June to city hall. Also written about here:

http://www.raisethehammer.org/article/18...

Very simple design, would have worked great.

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By JayRobb (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 14:47:33 in reply to Comment 94870

Great idea. That sounds doable.

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 13:42:01 in reply to Comment 94870

Yep - another advantage of "second-from-right" is that moving buses don't have to wait behind stopped buses. We can absolutely afford the real estate to accommodate this on the entire stretch of King.

Another idea - how about reworking the side street parking so that people can park at meters on the first block North of King on side streets?

Frankly, though, I still believe this anger is directed toward the wrong spectre. The real problem with King along that stretch is that it encourages freeway-driving-mentality. It's just an extension of the 403 on-ramps. If there was parking on the south side, and a bi-directional bike lane, and a bus lane, and only two lanes of traffic that were a bit narrower, then parking and crossing the street would be no problem at all. Is it the bus lane's fault that King is a nightmare to cross? Do people have trouble parking on one side of the street and crossing to businesses on Locke? No, because Locke is a human-scaled street.

The bus lane is a step in the right direction on that stretch. The real answer is to fight for more positive changes, not against the mechanics of the first step the city takes toward livability.

In the long term, the city really shouldn't get caught up in a fight over parking availability for every single street-fronting business. We need more people living downtown, and better transit/bike/pedestrian infrastructure is absolutely necessary for this to happen. That being said, we DO need a lot more street parking citywide, both to serve residents and businesses and to create buffers between traffic and sidewalks.

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 13:30:35 in reply to Comment 94870

Well, first of all, there is yet another example of favor toward pedestrianization - even someone driving to the core eventually has to cross the street too.

park on the left side of the street, walk over to the pay booth, put ticket into car, then figure out how the heck to cross King

The former two are pretty typical in most cities I've visited - park on one side of the street and use the nearby pay machine. The latter seems uniquely difficult in this region - crossing a busy street in the middle of the city core. My two cents for what they're worth is that the pedestrianization is the bigger weakness than the actual parking. Needs to be relatively easy to park, and then pleasant and easy to walk around. Then maybe it's not such a big deal to require a parking spot directly at the doorstep of the business you are visiting?

And complete street / transit advocates may want to stop by these businesses and spend some cash in a show of support and solidarity.

I would but I'm not allowed to bike there. (That was a joke :)

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 12:33:22 in reply to Comment 94867

Has anyone talked yet with the small business owners along King St. West with the "no more bus lane" and "bus lane = bankruptcy" signs in their windows?

Have you? I'd like to hear what their actual concerns are. Have they expressed them in more words somewhere? It's hard to fix a problem that they have failed to frame clearly. From what I have heard, walking along that stretch is a much more humane experience now. I don't see anyone throwing these business owners under the bus.

These signs are similar to the backlash about the Hunter Street bike lanes. What is the real issue? Is it parking?

This is why removal of parking a few weeks in seems pretty ridiculous. Whose concerns were being listened to when that tweak was made?

Why can't we keep the right curb parking AND the bus lane all the way to dundurn? Where is the traffic coming from to justify the widening of King from jackson square to the 403? Can't it be two travel lanes plus bus and parking through its entire length?

Terry Whitehead would never let that happen...

Comment edited by seancb on 2013-11-19 12:34:40

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 16:05:51 in reply to Comment 94868

Walking on King is more humane and enjoyable now than it's been in my entire life. At least we're headed in the right direction with this pilot.

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By lawlin' (anonymous) | Posted November 29, 2013 at 23:39:47 in reply to Comment 94892

It's actually in the left (or WEST) direction ;)

I've never had any qualms with walking along any of our major streets. Not sure why your experience has been so negative, but I'm glad that your walking experience was worth it.

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By Anon (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:15:00 in reply to Comment 94892

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 13:24:22 in reply to Comment 94868

Even Bay to Queen would've been enough - the curb lane was no-stopping after Queen anyways, and that would protect the precious truck route and Cannon->Queen->King commuters.

Holy crud, I just looked at a map... that's only three blocks. The city could get out there with a crew and some paint and have that done before the 5 o'clock rush-hour.

Comment edited by Pxtl on 2013-11-19 13:49:07

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 15:57:14

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By Robert D (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 23:38:07 in reply to Comment 94889

Have you timed car travel times to show they have gone up 20-15%?

I'd be curious in what your before and after times were, what times of day and days of the week you travelled, and whether this has changed at all now that the Queen St. hill has reopened effectively handling more traffic through to west Hamilton without going through the downtown core.

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 16:41:19 in reply to Comment 94889

That the pilot lane was not optimally done is not in dispute. However, we will continue this race to the bottom together if this region grows and intensifies with no changes from what we've been doing. At some point, no matter what, it is going to become more painful to drive than an alternative, because we won't all fit on King Street with our cars. The extent to which alternatives are quick and pleasant can serve to decrease congestion for everyone.

Not only should buses be passing single occupant vehicle congestion - trains are already doing so on the Lakeshore line. Some people decide that driving is now too much of pain compared to taking GO or HSR, and switch. That person now has more money to spend on those businesses you speak of, and a car trip just ceased to exist, making more room for you. How do I know? Did it myself.

But you have to build a better system of alternatives. And in every city that has gone through this, over and over, like clockwork, drivers resist and outcry at the horrific austerity, but the city gets livelier and better after the changes and their benefits take effect.

pick up you Money Mart or hit up the bingo hall. Amirite??

These are exactly the kinds of stereotypes that are obsolete. I don't think the demographic of cyclists and bus riders are who you think they are. We're a diverse bunch; more professionals than you may realize.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:09:27 in reply to Comment 94899

Sorry for the Hyperbole, but just look at the shops from catherine to bay street. Maybe 4 or 5 are viable businesses (maybe more), some good restaurants, but the bingo hall is a killer so are all the cash advance shops, and how many of those "other" shops are just a front for a money laundering operation (i.e. jumpoff type stores). Sorry again, but i just get frustrated living downtown last couple years seeing it getting better, then they take out 2 lanes on king st and were back to square one, i really hope those businesses survive it would be a shame to start again.

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:21:56 in reply to Comment 94903

I agree completely that we need more good businesses and fewer ugly payday loan shops. It would be wonderful to see more high quality retail along King. There are many things that can work together to make it happen. As condos and hotels go up, more and more customers will not be driving. LRT, or at least buses without the herpes ads, may attract more to leave the car at home and take the bus to Gore Park. Where they can have supper and a beer without diesel blowing in their face. Which is the reason I avoid eating and shopping on King - because it is smelly and noisy, not because of parking or cycle lanes or anything such. If Gore Park had a nice european style patio restaurant I'd hang out after getting off the GO train. But all these things need to work together to make the street and shopping area a nice place to be. I don't have a magic answer for you - other than one that probably makes your issue worse - which is that the bus lane should be a Tram / LRT track - although the result would be a busier core and more customers :)

Comment edited by mikeonthemountain on 2013-11-19 17:26:36

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:25:59 in reply to Comment 94905

Ya that's not gonna work ;) I don't know any major city in North America that has taken out two lanes on its busiest street for a bus lane. This is truly unprecedented. At least street -cars share the lane.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 21:29:02 in reply to Comment 94906

NYC, Chicago, Vancouver, Portland, Seattle etc...

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 21:32:38 in reply to Comment 94956

Funny, i've been to all those cities except Seattle, No where in New York is there a dedicated bus lane on any of the one way streets downtown, I actually just came back from Chicago (very nice city) and once again the main streets with shops dont have bus lanes, they are two way streets though.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 21:50:09 in reply to Comment 94959

6 lane street now 4 lanes. Full lane for bikes and full lane for buses. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010...

4 lane street shrunk to 2 for cars. Rest for buses. http://www.streetsblog.org/wp-content/up...

5 lanes down to 2-3. http://media.treehugger.com/assets/image...

It goes on and on in cities all over North America. Stop trying to hold Hamilton back in the stone ages.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:17:29 in reply to Comment 94967

Come on Jason (Farr maybe?) you can do better than those pictures. I wasn't 100% sure of my assertion about north american cities but you can surely find one major city in north america that converted its busiest one way street into a bus lane street. Else Hamilton will be the first, and do you think we're right for that?

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:00:57 in reply to Comment 94967

Thank you, you proved my point, those aren't the busiest streets (8th and 9th ave) in New York, the are side streets like King William. 5th ave is the busiest and imagine putting a bus lane there. You want Time Square though, where no one drives through, if you think hamilton can support a times square your dreaming, Gore Park is as good as it gets. And your other photos are computer generated?

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:14:13 in reply to Comment 94968

Y'know, pointing to busier streets in NYC probably isn't a good example since the busiest one is probably Broadway.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:58:46 in reply to Comment 94975

Haha. I was about to mention Broadway. Most of it is now bike lanes and pedestrian zones. But we can't compare a little street carrying 20,000 cars in Hamilton to sleepy streets in that quiet, traffic free town called NYC. Lol

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 23:09:00 in reply to Comment 94992

No, your not comparing the busiest one way street in Hamilton to the busiest one way street in NYC (5th ave), thats the problem with your thesis. Broadway is a side street that cuts across multiple Ave. streets. Plus its only a bike lane.

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By set in stone (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 23:28:31 in reply to Comment 94998

There is no comparison that will satisfy you; your route is set in stone and GET OUT OF YOUR WAY, YOU'RE IN A HURRY!

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 23:33:54 in reply to Comment 95002

See you completely miss the point with your hyperbole, my mind set (which you somehow claim to know) is who the eff decided to place me in gridlock traffic when EVERYTHING WAS FINE BEFORE!!

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By comprehension is fun (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2013 at 09:06:53 in reply to Comment 95006

You told everyone your mindset:

"It's bad man [...] I have to wait 2 lights to turn."

"just leave KING ST and MAIN ST alone"

"Bus is not viable for me"

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By Robert D (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 23:40:47 in reply to Comment 95006

You thought everything was fine before.

That doesn't mean everyone shared your opinion.

And that doesn't mean you're right.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2013 at 00:02:57 in reply to Comment 95008

What was wrong before? and if you say king st was just an extension of 403 and people are driving too fast, then its your subjective feelings that the city needs to bow to right? thats your logic? You get scared because we drive too fast for you?? Sorry but you must have a stronger backbone than that.

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By Hamilton Killers GO AWAY (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2013 at 09:09:20 in reply to Comment 95009

"If people don't want to be killed by cars, they should have a stronger backbone when they get hit. It's just your opinion that fast cars are fast. Facts say that I'm in a hurry"

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:19:41 in reply to Comment 94975

Have you been to NYC, i go every December last 6 years. 5th avenue is by far the busiest street with the most shops. Everyone knows that. If you want to compare the busiest street in Hamilton it has to be apples to apples.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:09:04 in reply to Comment 94968

Sorry ALL your photos are computer generated fantasy, loool nice try

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By LOLOLO (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 23:29:59 in reply to Comment 94973

LOLOL I DRIVE 2 MY BUSBOY JOB AND HAVE NEVER HERD OF AN ARKITEK RENDURING

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:04:07 in reply to Comment 94968

I'm all for a bus lanes on a side street, i'll just avoid that street. Hopefully its a street without many local businesses.

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:35:18 in reply to Comment 94906

Agreed. Other cities that have done this would not reserve two lanes so haphazardly.

They would reserve one lane, on a much larger number of routes, permit bike/taxi/HOV, and in some cases, applicable during rush hours only.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 16:07:02 in reply to Comment 94889

Considering the buses carry more people than all of the car lanes combined on King each day, yes it's very fair. Unless your definition of fair is making life more convenient for FEWER people. And nice try downplaying the severity of speeding cars on King. A human being was sliced clean in half crossing King a year or so ago. If you think that's fine for an urban, retail/residential street, let us know which street you live on and we'll start a petition to increase speed limits, flip it to one-way and time all the lights.

Comment edited by jason on 2013-11-19 16:08:40

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 16:35:41

I live on King William, which has been doing great the last few years, if you want your pedestrian street look to side streets like that, not a main street like King. I doubt you'd want to increase speed on that street, in fact i bet you wish there were more side streets like King William

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 16:36:35

It's unfortunate but people get hit everyday in Toronto, so once every year and a half/2 years in Hamilton really isn't that bad.You haven't addressed the business owners aspect, the people who work hard and contribute tons of tax revenue, should they just "figure it out"??

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 16:40:16 in reply to Comment 94896

I run a business steps away from King and I wholly support the bus lane.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 16:42:44 in reply to Comment 94898

what's your business?

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By it's BIKES (anonymous) | Posted November 29, 2013 at 23:43:43 in reply to Comment 94900

he sells bikes, he could care less about car traffic

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By trucks, homebuilders, speculators, oh my (anonymous) | Posted December 03, 2013 at 10:16:24 in reply to Comment 95336

Hey grandpa, why don't you reserve your anger for the trucking companies, home builders and property speculators who have city hall in their hands and are keeping taxes high and livability low? prrrrretty sure one guy at a small bike shop didn't spearhead a nefarious plot to get a bus lane installed in order to get rich and force you to wait an extra 86 seconds to blast through downtown in your dodge stratus

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By huh? (anonymous) | Posted December 04, 2013 at 23:24:30 in reply to Comment 95447

cool story bro, tell it again

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By highwater (registered) | Posted December 01, 2013 at 12:47:10 in reply to Comment 95336

You realize that this is a transit lane that specifically excludes bikes, right? How on earth do you suppose that supporting this benefits his business in any way? Maybe you are motivated solely by self-interest, but that doesn't mean the rest of us are.

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:26:23 in reply to Comment 94900

A link to my business is in every post I write here. I notice a few comments above that you basically deemed all of the businesses along king except "maybe 4 or 5" to be non-viable money laundering fronts. So which is it? We should listen to businesses? Or are they not viable enough to be worthy of consideration?

I can't help but feel that your posts are nothing more than concern trolling, while your underlying motivation is to speed your own commute up. If you are in a hurry, drive on Cannon - or take the bus now that it's a viable option.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:31:12 in reply to Comment 94907

Ahhhhh a downtown Bike Shop, you must have no bias in this argument at all lol. I like your business its what hamilton needs, but you are nothing short of a lobbyist looking to increase your bottom line. That's the ultimate troll.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 21:30:40 in reply to Comment 94908

Ya because bike sales always spike whenever a city installs a bus lane and forbids bikes to use that street.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 21:33:54 in reply to Comment 94958

Jason, i know your vision of bike lanes, this is just the beginning

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:42:21 in reply to Comment 94908

You know we are talking about a bus lane, right?

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:44:43 in reply to Comment 94913

Ya you're hoping they don't get rid of it, add your little bike lane, and pad your pockets.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:49:01 in reply to Comment 94915

So you're saying making king st more pedestrian and bike friendly won't specifically help your business while it hurts others actually on king st?? You're not even on King St. I'll say it again, no other major downtown street in Canada or U.S has two lanes taken out for a bus lane, maybe a streetcar and we can share that lane, but this is unprecedented.

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 18:12:07 in reply to Comment 94917

Making King more pedestrian and bike friendly will help EVERY business. Ask the new Coffee Culture how they did on parade day when the streets were full of people instead of cars.

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:46:07 in reply to Comment 94915

A path to riches if I've ever heard one.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:49:39 in reply to Comment 94916

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:53:25 in reply to Comment 94918

You got me - my "hidden" agenda is to help Hamilton become a great city to live in. It's very nefarious but you sniffed it out!

My business is proudly presented in every post I make, and in the signature to all of my articles. I have nothing to hide.

And who is it, exactly, that am I conversing with, my anonymous commuting neighbour?

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:56:38 in reply to Comment 94919

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 18:07:57 in reply to Comment 94923

King is a commercial street. You are so close to Cannon, why not take cannon to queen? King is free flowing from there.

I understand your frustration, as driving to Dundas is not terribly quick or straightforward - but that's what it's like living in a city. If we had proper LRT, you'd be able to walk 2 minutes to a stop downtown, and take a 12 minute LRT ride to Dundas. Our population is going to keep growing, and with every new person moving downtown, if we don't provide them with viable alternatives to driving, they are going to be one more car in your way every morning. You may not choose transit, but every person who does represents another car that's not in your way.

If the city implemented my idea of a turn signal for buses, we would see traffic flow equivalent to the way it was before the bike lane.

In fact, from Bay westward, the flow is already better than before since there's no more jam-up as cars come up the right lane and have to squeeze in when they reach the parked cars after Bay.

Comment edited by seancb on 2013-11-19 18:09:16

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 18:22:30 in reply to Comment 94926

It's bad man, stop trying to sugarcoat it, i turn onto King at Catherine at 8:30 am, used to be 8:45am (sorry for complaining) and I have to wait 2 lights to turn on because its gridlocked solid, i used to turn on the red and go, now i cant even get off my street.

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By GPS Fail (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:19:38 in reply to Comment 94933

And here's the problem.

The most vocal anti-bus lane ranters are just plain stupid. They cannot figure out that just a few blocks away, there's a free-flowing Westbound street with no pesky buses in the way.

Here's one who LIVES a few hundred metres from cannon but still can't master the wayfinding necessary to find his way there. Excellent work, Magellan.

Either he's a complete buffoon, or he actually enjoys sitting in "traffic" (for something like four minutes as if that's a big deal) and then spending all day complaining about it on the internet.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:23:04 in reply to Comment 94978

Haha, no GPS I'm not a COMPLETE idiot, even you must admit that the traffic on king is horrible (more than 4 mins, come on) And ya i can go out my way take cannon to get right back on king at queen and sit again in traffic.

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By Geeps (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:57:24 in reply to Comment 94980

If you think Cannon is "out of your way" from King William, there's going to be no pleasing you. Perhaps the rest of us should fund a private highway from your balcony to your office?

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 23:03:45 in reply to Comment 94990

That'd be awesome! haha no what you could do is leave King st the way it was and continue to sit back and watch the Hamilton Revival take place, I've been watching with eyes wide open for years now, and this bus lane just threw a wrench in the whole thing, now people will avoid downtown just like you told me to do.

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:33:51 in reply to Comment 94980

King is smooth as butter by Queen Street. The reason the bus lane screws up traffic is the one-two-punch of narrow King Street East and the buses wait till the last possible second to pull to the left at their turns at Macnab/James and snarl up traffic. The bus lanes are harmless by the time you hit Queen, and the road actually widens an extra lane three blocks later at Locke.

You haven't noticed this because people don't notice when things get better, only when they start to suck.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:33:24 in reply to Comment 94980

You're probably one of those guys who posts a picture of King st at 3 in the morning and says "OMG Wheres all this so called traffic????", aren't you.

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 20:59:07 in reply to Comment 94933

Oh man, no wonder you're cranky... you're driving the wrong way. Seriously, flamewar aside, just take Cannon to Queen and then take Queen to King. This is the city's Truck Route and there are influential businesses that will never let us hippies do too much damage to the Truck Route.

Even before the bus lanes, Cannon was faster than King in your neighborhood - King is only 2 lanes wide until like John street and has a zillion buses crawling through it so it's been a bottleneck for decades. Cannon's consistently 4 lanes throughout.

Long term, the plan is to build Light Rail Transit (think an on-street subway, not a street-car) on King. That's the whole point of the Bus Lane - it's a dry-run for the LRT... but the Bus Lane is only one lane wide. The LRT takes two. And at Catherine? That's the whole width of King. This is where the LRT gets really controversial: the current plan is to make King completely pedestrian-only between Catherine and John.

The good news is that LRT stops have traditionally been a huge economic driver since people who wear suits and don't frequent payday loan establishments will actually ride train-based transit, unlike buses where the bus shakes the crap out of you while the driver shouts at you.

Either way: take Cannon. It's always been faster, and it will be the only option if we get LRT.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:54:48 in reply to Comment 94919

I live in FilmWorks and commute to dundas.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:55:17 in reply to Comment 94921

Bus is not viable for me

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:56:53 in reply to Comment 94922

You should try cycling.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:59:15 in reply to Comment 94924

Ha you're good, i have a finite amount of time in my life, i don't want to add an hour everyday for cycling. I know some people like it, not for me sorry. Not for alot of people who live downtown and commute more than 10 blocks.

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 18:10:27 in reply to Comment 94925

It's fun - I'll give you a free rental bike for a week next season so you can try it. You might actually like it. Even if it's once a week it's a nice stress reliever :-)

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By Anon (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 18:29:15 in reply to Comment 94927

Comments with a score below -5 are hidden by default.

You can change or disable this comment score threshold by registering an RTH user account.

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By very sneaky (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:14:14 in reply to Comment 94934

OK, Anon(ymous Downtown Commuter)

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 22:24:35 in reply to Comment 94976

Why would i hide my identity when ive said harsher things in this column as "Downtown Commuter", this is someone else believe it or not more than one person is angry about this

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 18:17:26 in reply to Comment 94927

Haha not gonna happen man, i wear a suit and dress shoes to work. (sorry if that sounds snobby on here) not gonna pack it and dress at work lol

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By moylek (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 20:15:41 in reply to Comment 94931

Haha not gonna happen man, i wear a suit and dress shoes to work. (sorry if that sounds snobby on here) not gonna pack it and dress at work lol

Ahem. Some photos from Bike to Work day this year ...

Bike to Work Day on flickr.com

Bike to Work Day on flickr.com

Comment edited by moylek on 2013-11-19 20:16:58

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 21:34:50 in reply to Comment 94938

Ha looks photoshopped

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By moylek (registered) - website | Posted November 20, 2013 at 08:50:58 in reply to Comment 94962

Ha looks photoshopped

I guess that's a joke?

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By bikehounds (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 19:20:13 in reply to Comment 94931

Many of my customers wear suits and ties on their bikes. We are a no-spandex-zone :-)

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:33:36 in reply to Comment 94908

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By moylek (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 20:23:21 in reply to Comment 94910

2/4 of the year its just too cold out. I applaud your ambition, but this kind of business is an uphill battle in a cold canadian city.

In Hamilton? The roads are clear almost every day of the year, between the weather, traffic, ploughs and sunshine. I am able to ride my bike to work all but two to five days of the year. And some of those days I'm stuck at home anyhow because the University has shut down because of the weather.

My specialized equipment consists of ... well, not much. I have a pair of cheap, barely tinted sunglasses in my bag for riding into blowing snow on dark evenings. I keep a poncho strapped under my saddle, but I only use it in the worst downpours.

Otherwise, I just wear whatever I would walk in: overcoat, scarf, gloves, hat. Is it too cold to walk in this "cold, Canadian city" half the year, too?

Comment edited by moylek on 2013-11-19 20:23:59

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 18:12:14 in reply to Comment 94910

I thought conservatives were supposed to be tough bad-asses. When did they all turn into such whiners?

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 18:18:09 in reply to Comment 94929

Haha that's your response?

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2013 at 18:13:33 in reply to Comment 94929

Too cold today for bad-assing. Gotta wait til May two-four!

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:43:04 in reply to Comment 94910

Bike stores shorten their hours during the winter season since demand does drop, yes.

But this year round commuter respectfully disagrees - I need a bike store for parts and service and in the winter also quite often have to wait patiently behind the customer in front of me.

2/4 of the year its just too cold out.

That is a total exaggeration - even for a much colder city than us such as Calgary. Good bike stores in Montreal and Calgary are doing very well. I doubt it is any different here.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 16:49:11 in reply to Comment 94900

I know you see the signs up on businesses already, it's just going to get worse. Keep holding out though.

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:32:13 in reply to Comment 94901

It'd be a shame if those signs were creating ill will (if only subconsciously) that further reduces visits and becomes a self fulfilling prophecy? Were cars stopping at the curb at the doorstep of these business really the tipping point between profitable and not? I'm genuinely asking due to skepticism.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:53:38 in reply to Comment 94909

And Ill Will??? why would they bother, if its actually hurting the businesses then they will give their opinion, don't try to belittle there character saying its out of Ill Will? La Luna just reopened after a huge reno, and im sure this is the last thing they expected the city to do to them.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 21:35:23 in reply to Comment 94920

Laluna has a parking lot.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 21:39:28 in reply to Comment 94963

Clearly its not big enough, and its not there own lot, other businesses use it too

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 19:35:57 in reply to Comment 94920

don't try to belittle there character saying its out of Ill Will

Yeah sorry how that came across it was tricky to articulate - I was thinking of Hillbilly Heaven in the news recently. But all I'm saying is that if "closing because of king buses" becomes a meme it should be because of real data, not just knee jerk. Hmm ... moving parking being such a problem ... we all form all kinds of habit loops don't we!

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 17:35:57 in reply to Comment 94909

Yes drivers liked to park and pop in, for restaurants, but especially the shops.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 21:24:56

I love how you Libs keep down voting my comments without responding, you know your vision for this city is slowly falling apart with this stupid bus lane exposing how faulty your theories are. No one that drives now will "switch" to the bus or a bike, you're dreaming. And newcomers will come with the cars they have.

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By Troll Toll (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 23:01:36 in reply to Comment 94953

I love how you trolls keep replying to your own comments exposing how faulty your capability for reasoning is.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 23:29:03 in reply to Comment 94995

It's funny cause all i have to say is Simpsons Monorail episode and you guys immediately know what i'm talking about. If you think LRT and Metrolinx are on your side and want to "help our city" and not take advantage of our liberals then you really don't understand capitalism. Man i wish i worked for Metrolinx, they are raking it in.

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By DowntownInHamilton (registered) | Posted December 10, 2013 at 19:24:27 in reply to Comment 95004

Mono means 1

and

Rail means rail

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 20, 2013 at 09:18:22 in reply to Comment 95004

One last thing ... May I encourage you cultivate some clarity and see things as they really are, not worse than they are? Stop seeing Liberal Conspiracies everywhere. Every paranoid conspiracy you think you've seen here is a figment of your imagination - the Bike Store Lobby, the Liberal Agenda, the War on the Car, the comparison of Hamilton's LRT to the hilarious plot of a fictional cartoon town ... ridiculous.

Metrolinx was tasked with coming up with an awesome transportation plan that services huge numbers of people and catches up service to the 21st century. They put together a plan that covered millions of people, was comprehensive and modern. We neglected it for decades, and as a result the 400 highways have the worst congestion in North America. It will take a bit of effort to fix. Don't mistake expert inputs and citizen engagement as a "conspiracy" just because it is a little different from what you have become used to. Because nobody is about to take your car away from you. Just make alternatives better, that's all.

Over the past decades we were all taken advantage of by various agendas which gutted our city and quality of life. There is a lot of work to do to repair being years behind. It's a lot of work balancing the needs of such a diverse population. Congestion is going to get a lot worse if we do nothing.

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By Downtown Commuter (anonymous) | Posted November 19, 2013 at 21:29:58

And i'm done my rant, had to get that off my chest, I was holding my breath last few weeks waiting for the bus lane to smooth out, gave it sometime but the project seems to be sending the city in the wrong direction, i had to vent. Thanks for your attention, have a good night.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 20, 2013 at 10:01:06 in reply to Comment 94957

yowzers, we now know that 'done my rant' really means "I'm heading to the can for a minute. Be right back"....

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By g. (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2013 at 02:31:28

make main street two way and so many of these issues disappear.

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By seriously (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2013 at 12:59:31 in reply to Comment 95012

and catharine, and bay, and queen.....etc

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By Potamun (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2013 at 14:23:05

I wonder if this difficulty of the buses being in the right lane on King before James, and then needing to hop over to the left immediately for the terminal could be resolved by moving the buses to the left lane along King once the street widens (say, just after Walnut), and installing the sort of mini-sidewalk that you see with streetcars or buses that use the central lanes as a thoroughfare. So, somewhere safe for pedestrians to hop off (rails, shelters, etc.) and wait to cross the street, but without buses impeding traffic flow by cutting across.. This works quite successfully for buses in San Francisco, and streetcars in Toronto.

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By bikehounds (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2013 at 14:40:36 in reply to Comment 95033

I had the same thought - It wold be great to get rid of the fence along gore park and have a left-side bus lane with a pedestrian island, but the cost is likely quite prohibitive for a pilot. A single additional light at an existing traffic signal is something that could be implemented in a day at moderate expense.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 20, 2013 at 15:10:04 in reply to Comment 95034

plus, according to businesses on King West, people can't cross the street in Hamilton. So all those people would just be stuck in Gore Park wandering around.

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted November 20, 2013 at 15:50:53 in reply to Comment 95035

To be fair, one business and I didn't even speak to the business directly, I just got the info second-hand from my wife.

And even then, would they even know why they're not getting customers? Bus lane comes in, customers stop coming, theories abound.

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By Lets not shift problems (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2013 at 15:51:53

So now we have the LRT advocates telling everyone to get off King Street and take Cannon because its a free flowing street. This may help King Street gain some sense of normalcy from a traffic point of view but isn't diverting traffic from a predominantly commercial thoroughfare to a predominantly residential street not only shifting a problem from one person to another but its actually promoting the opposite of making Hamilton a great place to live work and raise a child. Come on folks lets find a way to solve our problems not foist them onto someone else

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By bikehounds (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2013 at 15:58:30 in reply to Comment 95037

There is going to be temporary pain while we transition to a balanced transportation network. It takes time for people to shift routes and modes. Since cannon exists now, and LRT does not, then it makes sense to use it during the transition.

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By Rimshot (anonymous) | Posted November 23, 2013 at 17:18:42

Am I the only one who read that headline as "Twerk Transit Lane etc"?

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