Raise the Hammer

Is it possible that there are those of us who love this city, want to see more bike lanes and complete streets, and appreciate a robust mass transit system but still believe the LRT is a bad idea?

It represents a reduction in service. Do any of you even ride the bus? I don't have a license. I hate cars. I ride my bike and I take the bus. The HSR is fantastic. It runs very well. What issue does the LRT solve? The odd flyby? Those only occur between September and April in the mornings and the next bus is always 5 minutes behind. I may have experienced a flyby twice in my life. Does that constitute a need to spend a billion dollars on an inflexible train system? Really think about it. Think of the Westdale street festival. If the LRT ran through Westdale Village you wouldn't be able to close the street. As it stands, buses are simply rerouted. How does Supercrawl close the street down with an LRT running down it? The 02 Barton just goes *around*. Please explain how locking the B-Line onto rails improves the system?

Right now on the HSR I can stop every couple of blocks. Say I'm going to Locke. I'll get out at Pearl or Strathcona. What are my LRT options? Queen or Dundurn. Great; especially when it's raining or the sidewalks are covered in ice. Will the other routes still run down King? It's my impression that they won't. If they will, then why are we putting *one* bus line on rails? What's the point? If they're not running then you've just reduced service by a large magnitude. If it's late at night it's HSR policy to even stop between stops so you can get home safely. The LRT simply can't stop at a non-designated stop. How is this better? If the HSR decides one day to move or add a stop to Locke; guess what? They can do it by bolting a sign to a pole. How is this bad?

I'd love to see electric buses and dedicated bike lanes. The buses could be BRT or not although I would prefer they were; anything to reduce traffic in the core.

Buses are flexible, reroutable, redeployable depending on population growth, can easily be swapped out for breakdowns, can move around cyclists, are able to be rescheduled to meet needs, and employ more Hamiltonians at good paying jobs (OC Transpo let 600 bus drivers go when their LRT came online. Just what Hamilton needs; more unemployed. http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/large-scale-cuts-coming-to-oc-transpo-1.2982502)

Buses can go anywhere anytime and can go up the Mountain. Can a train? No. Buses even go through Mac Campus. The train will have one stop on Main Street. It's a step backward.

On top of all that is the cost. It's ridiculous. And we'll be back at Queen's Park in 20 years begging for a few million to add a Gage Park stop and finish the extension to Eastgate. Imagine; every time you want to see a new stop you have to secure millions in funding. I can add a bus stop with a print out from an ink jet printer.

In short, buses are better. The HSR is doing a great job. An LRT is a step backward in terms of service. Hamilton rocks and will rock even without a shiny train. It will rock even harder with e-Buses.

Comment edited by JimC on 2016-09-17 15:21:31