[thistleclub]

HSR going nowhere
(CATCH, Feb 12 2013)

HSR ridership went down last year, as Hamilton continued to buck a strong national trend of increased use of transit. In recent years HSR growth has consistently underperformed comparative Ontario bus systems and failed to reach a level of ridership even three-quarters of that achieved in the 1980s.

Provincially-compiled reports show HSR numbers rose less than 3.5 percent between 2006 and 2011. During the same years, transit systems in Ottawa, Mississauga, York Region and St Catharines registered 13-18 percent increases, even though the latter city actually saw a decline in population. London went up 20.4 percent in the same period, while bus ridership in Durham climbed 41 percent and Brampton jumped nearly 70 percent.

National transit average usage rose 22 percent from 2006 to 2010 and was still expanding strongly in the first six months of last year at an average annual increase of 3.2 percent. The Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) commissioned a country-wide survey that showed “94% of Canadians say it is important or very important for their community to have access to public transit”, including 91% of people who don’t use transit.

"Year after year we observe the same upward trend, with transit ridership growing significantly faster than population," notes CUTA president Michael Roschlau.

The stagnation in Hamilton allowed both St Catharines and Mississauga to climb past it in rides per person. In 2011, the HSR stood at just over 41 rides per capita, up less than one over 2005 while Mississauga hit 44 and St Catharines climbed from less than 35 to over 42 in the same period, and London shot up from 51 to 61. Ottawa sits at 103 rides per person.

Last year’s results from Hamilton offer no sign that things are improving.