The future of Hamilton's public transit

[HAMRetrofit]

Dion just needs to speak three words: cities, transit, and environment. He will get the urban vote across Canada if does that.

[SteelTown]

It'll probably take until an election is called before the Conservatives will commit to funding MoveOntario 2020.

[raisethehammer]

Dion is a loser...no way he'll win anything.
canadian politics is more out of touch with normal people right now than ever before.
they're sitting on a fat surplus thanks to Canadian cities and Ontario.

[SteelTown]

I liked Kennedy as he represents the new brand in my opinion but ick Dion won because of him so boo! I kinda like Bob Rae. Whoever is the next Liberal leader it'll be from English Canada, as the Liberal leaders rotate from French to English leaders.

[go_leafs_go02]

so..i purchase my monthly pass this month, and to my bewilderment, there is still a magnetic strip on the pass!

why wouldn't they update the passes if they knew they would have new fare boxes? i don't understand!!!

really makes counterfeiting quite easy to do too.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

so..i purchase my monthly pass this month, and to my bewilderment, there is still a magnetic strip on the pass!

why wouldn't they update the passes if they knew they would have new fare boxes? i don't understand!!!

really makes counterfeiting quite easy to do too.

Ya, I think they're working on it apparently? They probably have all the passes made up for the year already.

When *I* bought my bus pass the other day, I was very upset to learn that Shoppers no longer gives Optimum Points on bus tickets or passes! I guess I'll be buying my drug store needs somewhere closer now. The only reason I shopped at Shoppers was b/c of that deal. But hey, there's a PharmaSave in the Medical Arts Bldg that's WAY closer than Shoppers

[oldcoote]

HAMILTON (AM900 CHML) - Hamilton's Mayor suggests it could be the money that the city needs to establish a downtown bus terminal away from Gore Park.

Fred Eisenberger confirming that the city has recieved a provincial grant of 7.5 million dollars, for capital projects related to the transit system.

The funding was initially suggested last fall, within the McGuinty Government's economic statement. Eisenberger adding that Hamilton's share was confirmed in a letter from the Minister of Transportation on Friday.

A proposal to establish a downtown bus terminal away from "the Gore" will be before Hamilton politicians in the next couple of months. The Mayor suggests it might focus on portions of MacNab and Hunter Streets.

Other possibilities include new busses and funding to operate additional transit lines, including the new airport run.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by oldcoote

HAMILTON (AM900 CHML) - Hamilton's Mayor suggests it could be the money that the city needs to establish a downtown bus terminal away from Gore Park.

Fred Eisenberger confirming that the city has recieved a provincial grant of 7.5 million dollars, for capital projects related to the transit system.

The funding was initially suggested last fall, within the McGuinty Government's economic statement. Eisenberger adding that Hamilton's share was confirmed in a letter from the Minister of Transportation on Friday.

A proposal to establish a downtown bus terminal away from "the Gore" will be before Hamilton politicians in the next couple of months. The Mayor suggests it might focus on portions of MacNab and Hunter Streets.

Other possibilities include new busses and funding to operate additional transit lines, including the new airport run.

Provincial Grant Could Move Busses Out Of The Gore
Mar, 04 2008 - 3:10 PM


HAMILTON (AM900 CHML) - Hamilton's Mayor suggests it could be the money that the city needs to move forward with a plan to move city busses away from Gore Park.

Fred Eisenberger confirming that the city has recieved a provincial grant of 7.5 million dollars, for capital projects related to the transit system.

The funding was initially suggested last fall, within the McGuinty Government's economic statement. Eisenberger adding that Hamilton's share was confirmed in a letter from the Minister of Transportation on Friday.

A proposal to move busses away from the "gore" will be before Hamilton politicians in the next couple of months. The Mayor suggests it will focus on portions of MacNab and Hunter Streets, tying into the existing GO Station.

Ward 2 Councillor Bob Bratina adds the funding could accerelate the process by about two years.

http://900chml.com/news/news_local.c...news_local.cfm

[SteelTown]

It would be nice if they could use the money and cover Hunter Street with a roof for the bus stops and possibly expand the GO Station with more retail space and seating space, there's not a lot of areas to sit and wait at the GO Station.

[go_leafs_go02]

good..they're looking at the GO station as a central hub. still think that is the best bet to anything.

I don't think expanding is really that necessary, maybe adding some perimeter seating and stuff would be good, along with some shelters built along Hunter St, that could possibly be climate controlled so waiting isn't a hassle like it is at MacNab terminal if you are waiting for quite a while.

[hamiltonguy]

The only way that I could see both included is Downtown Buses looping at Hunter (after passing through the Gore Area) and Mountain Buses looping at MacNab after stopping at Hunter.

Generally I think that this would work, better than either of them alone as it would serve both the Gore, and the Go Station without transfers.

[HAMRetrofit]

Another option is to convert Hunter into a two way transit only arterial from Wellington to Bay St. All buses from Main and King could be routed down Hunter through this stretch.

[mishap]

I was all for a downtown ternminal, until I saw the plans. The designs for MacNab St are disappointing. Imagine funnelling almost all buses along King to MacNab. As it is now in rush hour, buses sit and wait several light cycles to make the turn from John to King. Barton buses are often waiting back on Main just to enter John. With routes 2, 3, 5B/52(some), 34, 51, you're looking at about 25 buses an hour. Now imagine sending all mountain routes the same way. Even if you reroute Barton and Cannon, as has been discussed, that's still a huge increase in buses making that turn. Without some pro-transit measures, which I have not seen, it's only going to slow the system down, and will cost more in the long run to add buses and drivers.

For MacNab, the preferred option should be one that also allows access from James, and keeps two-way operation on MacNab itself. Why back onto James if you can't use it? In fact, shift nearly all mountain routes onto James both ways, so the focus of James is transit, and John is for traffic. While they're at it, they could spend a little and put a bit of a sawtooth pattern in the curbs along MacNab, allowing for tighter pull-ins.

As for the GO Station, no, the station itself would not work unless the platforms are rebuilt. Notice that the 51 bus uses pull-in, pull-out platforms. Hunter St, however, could be adapted for bus bays, and more so if the street went two-way. The only problem is that it's likely two or three blocks from where the LRT line will (hopefully) be built. Why are you inconveniencing HSR passengers, who mostly want to access other HSR services, just to get closer to intercity services?

As an aside, has anyone considered routing the LRT line a little further south through the core, along Jackson for example? Say between Bay and Victoria? Make Jackson an LRT-only corridor (except for property access where required). The two bus terminals and the LRT line would all be very close to each other. As a bonus, King is freed up, and could even be closed off in certain areas as Mayor Fred has suggested, and they can do whatever they want with Main.

Having said all that, should we ever get a north-south LRT to the mountain, there will be a lot of empty bus bays in the core. Something else we should consider.

[HAMRetrofit]

^ why not route the LRT down hunter? This way Main could become a two way street with dedicated street parking on each side. Hunter could become a transit only street with bays, shelters, and storage facilities. Hunter could be designed to accommodate more trains if needed or could be intermodal moving people between buses, LRT, and intercity rail/buses. It could have platforms and shelters designed specifically for it.

[markbarbera]

From today's Spec:

Half-price bus passes for the working poor

March 05, 2008
Nicole MacIntyre
The Hamilton Spectator

Transit users on a tight budget can now get a break on bus fares.

The city launched its new affordable bus pass program this week for employed but poor residents. The half-price passes -- 1,200 per month -- will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

Council approved the pilot program after increasing transit fares this year. A regular adult monthly pass costs $79.

The program is aimed at residents who are working but fall below the Statistics Canada low-income cut-off, which is $17,570 for a single person and increases about $5,000 for each additional family member. Applicants must be 18 to 64 years old. Students and seniors cannot apply. Residents on welfare or disability also do not qualify.

Once approved, residents are eligible for six months of discounted passes.

[coalminecanary]

I have advocated repeatedly for LRT on hunter before and been endlessly berated for it ;-)

[Da Warrior]

Nvm

[mishap]

Originally Posted by HAMRetrofit

^ why not route the LRT down hunter? This way Main could become a two way street with dedicated street parking on each side. Hunter could become a transit only street with bays, shelters, and storage facilities. Hunter could be designed to accommodate more trains if needed or could be intermodal moving people between buses, LRT, and intercity rail/buses. It could have platforms and shelters designed specifically for it.

I wouldn't rule out Hunter. It's just that when I came up with the idea many moons ago, there wasn't much talk about a Hunter Street terminal, or even an LRT line really.

There are a few reasons I originally went with Jackson St. It's only one block from either the MacNab terminal or the GO Station. It's a corridor with few private entrances, and traffic could be severely restricted, if not eliminated, along this stretch. Because it's narrow , buildings come close to the street. It's cozy, but not crowded, and shops could be built take advantage of this. Most of the stretch from MacNab to Bay belongs to City Hall, and any future addition to City Hall could incorporate an LRT station. I still have to figure out an ideal routing east of Ferguson, ie. where the line shifts north again, and to which street.

The idea for a Jackson Street LRT corridor didn't originate with the current LRT plans. It was part of a planning exercise years ago (unofficial at that - I don't work as a planner) to update the old north-south RT proposal, ca. 1980. The basic idea for the new plan was a full tunnel escarpment crossing from the base of Ferguson to Fennell and W5th (travelling roughly under the Claremont Access), with an upper bus terminal at Mohawk College, then shifting to Upper James. The line would be mainly at street level in the core, not elevated, which would help offset the cost of the longer tunnel. That also meant it required a street to run on.

The Jackson Street portion was intended to also serve as part of an East-West line, should one ever be built. If anyone out there is saying, "Hey, that kinda sounds like Calgary," that's no accident. So now that the E-W line is likely going ahead, there's no reason that the reverse could not apply for Jackson (or Hunter) should a N-S line be built later.

[DC83]

Wow, Mishap! So these plans are being actively discussed by the City & the HSR? That's pretty exciting in itself!
If so, I guess BRT is no longer the preffered east-west RT plan?

[chris k]

Originally Posted by HAMRetrofit

^ why not route the LRT down hunter? This way Main could become a two way street with dedicated street parking on each side. Hunter could become a transit only street with bays, shelters, and storage facilities. Hunter could be designed to accommodate more trains if needed or could be intermodal moving people between buses, LRT, and intercity rail/buses. It could have platforms and shelters designed specifically for it.

Another plus would be in the process of laying down tracks on hunter , they could widen the tunnel.
I agree, its a great way to get both things done