Raise the Hammer

However, having lived in streetcar-laced neighbourhoods for much of my life, I can tell you that the congestion they create on the roads (let's not forget the construction phase) is a real negative. With BRT, there is far more flexibility. Based on my experience living in a community with streetcar access in every direction, I can tell you that I prefer buses, and as a passenger, preferred to take the bus for one reason in particular - they remained on schedule. TTC's solution to the lack of reliability for streetcars was to spread them 10 minutes apart. It created a traffic nightmare along King, Queen, and Roncesvailles streets. It still took an average of 45 minutes longer to get to and from destinations as opposed to the bus route.

If you were a motorist sharing the road with a streetcar, it was nightmarish. I am more inclined to want buses on the road. First, they don't impede traffic flow like streetcars do. Second, they do not require the millions of dollars in construction coupled with prolonged traffic delays to lay tracks. Third, they are more reliable for those on a schedule. Fourth, they have the ability to detour in the event of traffic delay or road construction. Fifth, they will negatively affect business by reducing accessibility, despite many who believe otherwise. The last places to see regeneration in Toronto were the streetcar routes of King/Queen - even as they approached the concentrated (and business-rich) downtown core. Finally, I do not believe that Hamiltonians ought to foot the bill for such a large project at this time. We do not have the business tax base we require and it is too impractical to ask home owners to foot the bill unless they work on building business presence in the city. We need to work on repairing and replacing other infrastructure, namely the sewer and water systems for the city. I say work on improving overall transit within the city and accessibility overall, work on getting to and from the city with Metrolinx, and work on bringing business in.