Raise the Hammer

Hi Jim, I know I'm probably wasting my time here, but here is point by point myth busting of your post. Many of the concerns you and many others keep spouting are addressed by the many reports, but guessing you haven't read those.

Myth: Ridership is down and this plan dumps bike lanes for more car lanes at Dundurn. Fact: Ridership is slightly down likely as a result of a fare increase and the fact that the system still does not provide great service. Also, the loss of bike lanes is not accurate, they are being temporarily removed or relocated. Once LRT is in place there will not be fewer bike lanes that there currently are.

Myth: We need LRT to build new sewers. Fact: this was never part of the original argument, but the fact that construction would require the replacement of a significant amount of infrastructure is an ancillary benefit. This was also only raised to satisfy Councillors and citizens from other Wards who wanted to know "what's in it for me?" The fact that we will have brand new infrastructure including sewers along the route means any funds for the next 20-30 years that would have been spent on this can now be spent elsewhere, including their Wards. Also, if we wanted to "fix sewers to fix sewers" along this stretch then we would also have to pay 100% of the cost, not Metrolinx.

Myth: The jobs are temporary construction jobs, the HSR will lose jobs and any development dollars will benefit only a sliver of Hamilton's population; rich developers.

Fact: Construction is slated to take 5+ years, this is hardly temporary and assumes these employees would not be involved in other projects that will come as a direct result of development caused by this project or future BLAST network phases. HSR divers are losing jobs, this remains to be seen, but the city seems committed to using the extra buses to expand service on other routes, so seems that they will just be driving other routes. Yes developers do stand to gain, but so does the entire city through economic growth (growing population, new jobs, customers supporting business).

Myth: As a transit project it is bad plan (Summarized here a bit) Fact: During peak hours B-Line is maxed out with some riders (albeit fewer than before) getting passed by full buses and many delays due to traffic volumes and buses using the same lanes as cars. There is already sufficient ridership along the route to support the LRT and make it cost effective. The LRT allows for future growth while adding more buses is not feasible since it will case further traffic congestion.

Hope this helps you reevaluate you position Jim, but I am inclined to believe that you aren't about to let facts stand in the way of your opposition.