Comment 111209

By ItJustIs (registered) | Posted April 29, 2015 at 12:56:28

A thoughtful op-ed. I acknowledge and respect the amount of time afforded it. Pro-LRTers here and elsewhere should be proud of this kind of effort.

There's so much to respond to, I'd be hesitant to jump into the fray simply because I'd never profess to have the facility within this discussion that Mr. Higgins has. So for the time being, I'll limit myself to this question:

If you're willing to put this kind of 'evidence' forward regarding ridership:

https://twitter.com/higgicd/status/56479...

does this mean that it's fair game for me to provide readers with photos of near-empty buses across the system?

I am in no way proposing that we don't have a problem delivering what I would refer to as 'humane transit'. I'm on buses daily. On various routes. Which are PACKED. The King leaving the GO Station and two stops later, it's standing-room only. The Delaware PACKED past Gage heading west. The Barton EXTREMELY PACKED; several weeks ago, it took me over an hour to get from Bell Manor Loop to downtown. On and on, et cetera.

However, I can also regale you with instances where there's hardly anyone on buses. I have a half-dozen Delawares going past my front door each hour, and depending on the time of day, I can see less than a half-dozen riders.

I think the LRT cause deserves better moments than one contained in the presentation of the 'Not enough ridership!' visual. Such an approach wins you absolutely no sympathy from those who don't see transit priorities in the ways that you do. And that goes for Councillors.

P.S. I live in Ward 3. And while being an ardent believer in better transit for Hamilton, I was against the bus lane as it was executed. So perhaps you could add a red dot in there for me...?

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