Raise the Hammer

My dad used to use a jocularly-delivered line on me 'when I was growing up':

How can I trust you with the big jobs when you can't handle the small ones...?

A confession: I'm not convinced that there's enough in place in Hamilton to handle 'the big jobs'...and that's as far as I'll go right now in 'finger-pointing'.

HSR has not been maxxed-out where its potential is concerned, it's not a well-run enterprise, certainly not as good as the last system I used daily, that of Brighton-Hove in the UK. (With wonderful electronic displays at stops that told you when the next few buses would be...not demanding that YOU phone THEM at YOUR COST to retrieve this information...) So even in this regardl, I'm a little skeptical of 'upgrading' to another level of service.

A level that that seen in the balyhooed proposals, to me probably isn't appropriate for Hamilton's needs.

And I say this as a lifelong user of the HSR going back to the 60s, most recently as an east-west rider, from one extreme of the city to the other.

The other night, a group of commenters here got together for yet another bout of coffee-'n-chat, RTHers v6.0. The venue on this occasion was Homegrown Hamilton. With our gracious host Mike Pattison sitting in, we had a blast exchanging ideas and disagreements as well as witnessing some amusing diatribes and tirades.

The main subject of the evening...with Town Halls Hamilton in the background...was LRT. Throughout, we heard some entirely divergent...and far more reasonable...approaches to both our needs and our wants.

Mike tells me that Monday evenings will soon be featuring a 'town hall/open mic/moderated mayhem' civic engagement theme. I know that good things will come from this. All who read here should consider attending.

As well, anyone who's interested in a more casual interlude should email me at mystoneycreek@gmail.com for an invite to the next get-together.

Speaking up is a great start. Dialogue, even better.

Comment edited by mystoneycreek on 2011-09-30 08:20:23