Rapid Transit

[thistleclub]

The Star has posted the budget rollout calendar.

April 13-17 seems to be designated as the transportation announcement week. Samples:

Date: April 16
Item: Hamilton LRT Event TBD Minister Murray
Products: NR, Qs&As MOF: K. Macintyre (p); J. Hanganu (c); MOI: L. Harrold; MTO: None
What Is Being Announced: TBC
TB/MBC Approval: None
Status/Comments: None

Date: April 17
Item: Kitchener to Guelph Highway [And Transit Echos] Event TBD, Regional echos Premier Wynne, Minister Sousa, Minister Murray
Products: NR, backgrounder, Qs&As, regional template MOF: K. Macintyre (p); J. Hanganu (c); MOI: L. Harrold; MTO: None
What Is Being Announced: Construction of a new 17.8 km four-lane freeway from Highway 85 (K-W Expressway) to Highway 6 (Hamlon Expressway) in Guelph, north of the existing Highway 7. Construction is planned to start in 2016-17 and be completeed in 2020-2021
TB/MBC Approval: Tracking to the March 25th TB/MBC meeting.
Status/Comments: Project initially announced in 2012, including investment to acquire properties for the new corridor. New investment provides an opportunity for a progress announcement.

[MalcolmTucker]

Liberals are in full denial mode. May have been a trial balloon or a while timed credibility muncher against the PCs.

[Innsertnamehere]

$34 billion will be in the big move announcement on the 14th.. Including the Hamilton LRT as well as all day GO. I believe the $5.7 billion excludes that as the amount is unspecified in the document or it only counts the $2 billion annually that it will cost.

[thistleclub]

All-day GO? Can't wait for that announcement.

As was true before today, these promises are arguably not meant to be kept so much as held out for the opposition to take away.

There is every likelihood that the government will fall on this budget vote (or, alternately, that the Premier may drop the writ before things get any hairier), raising the possibility that this is little more than a month of advance campaigning on initiatives that may never come to be.

[Innsertnamehere]

^the initiatives have long been planned, at least in terms of transit. This announcement has been incoming for years. I don't see this bill as one that isn't one designed for the NDP to pass. There is a lot of spending there on things the NDP want.

[SteelTown]

Leaked Liberal budget documents mention Hamilton LRT announcement

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/44...-announcement/

A leaked document indicates the Liberal government is planning to make an announcement regarding Light Rail Transit (LRT) for Hamilton this month.

An 11-page communications rollout released Tuesday by the Progressive Conservatives mentions April 16 as the date for Transportation Minister Glen Murray to speak about the LRT before the unveiling of the budget on May 1.

The event where this would take place is listed as TBD — to be determined. The paper also mentions that officials from the Finance Ministry and Infrastructure Ministry would be involved.

City council is on record supporting an east-west LRT for Hamilton but not funding the estimated $1-billion cost. It is proposed to come one day in the second phase of a massive transit plan for the Toronto and Hamilton areas.

The system, however, has its questioners, including two local Liberal candidates for the upcoming election. On Sunday at a party event, both Premier Kathleen Wynne and cabinet minister Ted McMeekin indicated it is for the citizens of Hamilton to decide if they want LRT.

McMeekin said Tuesday night he knew nothing about an upcoming LRT announcement or an April 11 event where he is set to make a $730-million announcement on development services.

"There were all kinds of errors to that communication rollout," he said. "Many of the decisions that have been alleged to have been made in that rollout have not been made. I would not put any stock at all in that rollout. Some of the dates are wrong. Some of the issues are wrong."

He said it could have been a document prepared awhile ago but said Premier Wynne told him in the morning that "some of these things seemed strange to her."

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

^the initiatives have long been planned, at least in terms of transit. This announcement has been incoming for years. I don't see this bill as one that isn't one designed for the NDP to pass. There is a lot of spending there on things the NDP want.

Point being that these were promises from past elections, and that they aren't really news until the money is locked in and the shovels are in the ground. (FWIW, the Star reports that this is “an early draft that has since been amended.”)

The NDP calculus seems to me less about budget leverage -- many of these NDP-friendly measures were not NDP demands -- than how the party is likely to fare in a general election. If Liberals eke out a majority, that problematizes the NDP's promise of "delivering results." (Horwath's approval rating has also dropped since a year ago: She once held a 9 point lead over the incoming premier but that has fallen to 4. Her brand is blurring.)

[SteelTown]

They dedicate an entire day about Hamilton's LRT but the rest they bundle it with Transit Funding announcement.

The Liberals will probably use the day against Andrea Horwath. Will she vote against a budget that will build a LRT line in her own riding of Hamilton Centre?

[Innsertnamehere]

If an election does indeed come in June, I can't see the liberals winning a majority. A minority, yes (I actually think that is the most likely outcome), but not a majority. It will probably be a pretty weak minority as well.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Will she vote against a budget that will build a LRT line in her own riding of Hamilton Centre?

^Hard to predict but it kinda looks that way, doesn't it?

I'm generally disappointed with Horwath but I suppose she's just playing the political game. All things being equal, I'm sure she wouldn't intentionally undermine these potential transit improvements.

^Wouldn't is what I meant to say.

[thistleclub]

Those kind of calculations will only be enlivened by talk of "asset positioning."

In today's Globe and Mail, Adam Radwanski writes:

The government has announced it intends to unload the Toronto headquarters of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario but has yet to move forward on it; in last fall’s economic update, it raised the prospect of doing likewise with the prime real estate that is home to the offices of Ontario Power Generation. And other efforts to consolidate office space and sell underused lands could bring in hundreds of millions of additional dollars.

But such moves would represent only a fraction of the money needed to finance Ms. Wynne’s ambitious plans to build new transportation infrastructure in the Greater Toronto Area and elsewhere. If the “recycling” of assets is to play a major role in financing that expansion, it will need to be far more ambitious – and that is where the government’s commitment can be expected to get more ambiguous.

Sources suggest Mr. Sousa is poised to announce some sort of process to review Ontario’s larger assets – the ones that could bring in billions of dollars if all or some were sold off. Typically, four Crown companies are central to such discussions: Hydro One, OPG, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, and the LCBO.

Such a promise can be expected to be met with skepticism, and not just because of Ms. Wynne’s much-mocked penchant for striking panels. The fact that former premier Dalton McGuinty and his finance minister, Dwight Duncan, abandoned a brief flirtation with selling those assets raises some considerable doubt about the willingness of Ms. Wynne – who tilts to the left of her predecessor – to follow through.

At the very most, a serious move toward large-scale privatization would have to wait until after the next election.

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

The Star has posted the budget rollout calendar.

April 13-17 seems to be designated as the transportation announcement week. Samples:

Date: April 16
Item: Hamilton LRT Event TBD Minister Murray
Products: NR, Qs&As MOF: K. Macintyre (p); J. Hanganu (c); MOI: L. Harrold; MTO: None
What Is Being Announced: TBC
TB/MBC Approval: None
Status/Comments: None

Date: April 17
Item: Kitchener to Guelph Highway [And Transit Echos] Event TBD, Regional echos Premier Wynne, Minister Sousa, Minister Murray
Products: NR, backgrounder, Qs&As, regional template MOF: K. Macintyre (p); J. Hanganu (c); MOI: L. Harrold; MTO: None
What Is Being Announced: Construction of a new 17.8 km four-lane freeway from Highway 85 (K-W Expressway) to Highway 6 (Hamlon Expressway) in Guelph, north of the existing Highway 7. Construction is planned to start in 2016-17 and be completeed in 2020-2021
TB/MBC Approval: Tracking to the March 25th TB/MBC meeting.
Status/Comments: Project initially announced in 2012, including investment to acquire properties for the new corridor. New investment provides an opportunity for a progress announcement.

So far so good, In Vitro announcement happened and Development announcement as based on the Budget rollout calendar happened today.

[Innsertnamehere]

I wonder why they are focusing on the Hamilton LRT? On Monday they will essentially be announcing funding for all day GO on all lines, the DRL, yonge extension, Hurontario LRT, multiple BRT projects, etc. why the desire to create a separate event for the Hamilton LRT?

also, an unrelated question, but does HSR use PRESTO? is Hamilton under Metrolinx's jurisdiction as well or is it separate like Kitchener Waterloo?

[matt602]

Yes, HSR uses PRESTO but there's still tickets, paper passes and cash fare. I think the tickets and paper passes will be phased out over the next decade though. And yes Hamilton is under Metrolinx' jurisdiction as much as K/W is, I would assume. We usually get lumped into the GTA+Hamilton thing for GO projects and general transit projects. I think the bus lane was paid for by Metrolinx, as is the bike share thing.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

I wonder why they are focusing on the Hamilton LRT? On Monday they will essentially be announcing funding for all day GO on all lines, the DRL, yonge extension, Hurontario LRT, multiple BRT projects, etc. why the desire to create a separate event for the Hamilton LRT?

also, an unrelated question, but does HSR use PRESTO? is Hamilton under Metrolinx's jurisdiction as well or is it separate like Kitchener Waterloo?

I think Hamilton's getting a separate day because it's a separate metro. If Hamilton had more than one project they'd have probably all been announced together.

[Innsertnamehere]

Hamilton has more than one project though, the all day GO extension. that would probably just lumped in with the other GO expansions though as there are so many of them.

Also, Note that K-W isn't under Metrolinx Jurisdiction, though I think anywhere with GO service (Bus or train) should be IMO. Metrolinx only manages the GO service in the region, it has no serious interaction with the city. K-W also won't be using PRESTO, though apparently their system will be compatible, somehow.

[Jon Dalton]

I'm sure they will announce funding for our LRT just like the last Liberal government did before the election. They might as well announce funding for every other city's everything else at the same time which is what it looks like they're doing. It doesn't mean anything at this point.

[thistleclub]

LRT likely to be ‘really big’ election issue
(Hamilton Spectator, Meredith MAcLeod, Apr 11 2014)

Even the guy vying for mayor who says light-rail transit in the city is "dead" believes the issue will be the biggest of the campaign.

"I don't see another with the potential to bring people to the polls as much as LRT," said Brad Clark, the Stoney Creek councillor who entered the race last month.

"An awful lot of people are concerned about LRT taking our scant dollars away from infrastructure. They're not speaking up yet, but they will. It will be a really big issue."

Hamilton's council is on record as backing LRT. But that comes with a huge proviso: the province has to pay the entire tab, estimated at $800 million for the 14-kilometre east-west line.

Clark, a former Tory cabinet minister, says the message coming out of Queen's Park is the province won't pay. The Liberals have already pulled gas tax and HST hikes off the table in the face of opposition....

"The figure bandied about by (transportation) Minister (Glen) Murray and others at Queen's Park is $300 million," said Clark of the city's potential obligation.

He says money would be better spent on bus rapid transit and expanding the HSR to areas with no service. Clark also fears the province won't be willing to fix what he calls crises of congestion on the 403 hill, Linc and the Red Hill Valley Parkway if a huge chunk of change goes to LRT.

If LRT is the standout issue, it's also likely to be the most divisive. It separates residents and candidates along a bunch of lines: rural versus urban; Mountain versus lower city; drivers versus transit users; and simply those who think LRT pays off in economic uplift and those who think the fancy trains are all expensive hype.

West Hamilton Councillor Brian McHattie says the recent conversation is all wrong.

"The focus has been on costs, not benefits. In Hamilton, this is not about saving 10 minutes while crossing the city but city-building and economic uplift along the corridor."

He says King and Main streets are ripe for redevelopment that would bring up property values in large swaths of the lower city and lower taxes for those living elsewhere.

LRT will also bring residential intensification in existing neighbourhoods, he said, which is much cheaper than expanding boundaries and services to accommodate a projected 130,000 more people over the next couple of decades.

He says, based on past practice, Hamilton should be entitled to 100 per cent funding for LRT. But if the province came back and said the city had to kick in, say 10 per cent, "I'd like to think we'd listen to that."

Fred Eisenberger, who is vying to reclaim the mayor's chair after losing to Bob Bratina in 2010, says this election will be about "pressing the reset button" on LRT.

"To the credit of many, we had great momentum on LRT and a good staff team on the file. None of that exists anymore. In the void of information, misinformation takes hold."


Read it in full here.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

K-W also won't be using PRESTO, though apparently their system will be compatible, somehow.

Why won't they use it? Ottawa does and is no where near Toronto.

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by Beedok

Why won't they use it? Ottawa does and is no where near Toronto.

Details on transit smart card expected in summer
(Waterloo Record, Paige Desmond, Apr 2 2014)

A vendor is expected to be chosen this summer to deliver a smart card fare system for transit in Waterloo Region.

About $11.3 million has been budgeted to implement the electronic fare system that will be used on Grand River Transit buses, Mobility Plus, light rail transit and express buses....

The region won't use the Metrolinx Presto system in place in some other cities, after a vote last fall.

Top concerns were the inability to customize the system to the region's needs, and Metrolinx's unwillingness to enter into a competitive bidding process.