Rapid Transit

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by BaconPoutine

How many other municipalities have projects that are ready to go? That's the real question.

The other 4 Ontario is prioritizing in its "ask" are in or around Toronto (Ontario Line, Scarborough subway extension, Eglinton West LRT, and the Yonge subway extension to Richmond Hill).

As for other cities, Ottawa is planning a third phase of its LRT and KW a second one. London is trying to move ahead on a BRT network. Montreal has big transit plans with REM and other stuff. Calgary and Edmonton always seem to be expanding their systems, though I'm not up to speed on current planning. Same with Vancouver. Many cities are looking at electrifying their bus fleets too. And "shovel ready" may be a relative term.

There will be lots of hands wanting to dip into this pot of money.

[Innsertnamehere]

That initial money may go here, but it may also go to smaller projects like new bus purchases, bike lanes, new transit shelters, etc. It’s not necessarily just for major capital projects.

Remember that HSR is ramping up to build its $200 million lower city bus garage over the next few years as well.

[StEC]

“To me, it needs to come back to council to be voted on,” Coun. Judi Partridge said.

NO IT DOESN'T... I swear if our elected officials fuck this up again, there better be an uprising!

[LikeHamilton]

Don't let the politicians vote on this! Don't let them talk on it! I will be dead before this is built!

[ShavedParmesanCheese]

Never in my life have I wanted to shout at a group of adults till I'm blue in the face and hoarse in the throat.

THIRTEEN YEARS AND THIS INCOMPITENT, INCAPABLE, INCOMPREHENSIBLY CLOSE-MINDED, SELF-SUBSERVIENT, SMALL-THINKING GROUP OF """POLITICIANS""" WHO'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE COMFY PAYCHEQUE AND SMALL WORKLOAD STILL CANNOT COMPREHEND THE IDEA OF A PUBLIC WORKS PROJECT WHICH WILL BENEFIT PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT THEMSELVES.

There are men on this council who have been in office since before the county was even amalgamated. They've presided over the worst economic and developmental situation in the city's history, including the time we went BANKRUPT. This is a gilded opportunity to mend the city's utter wasteland which exists between Gage & Wellington, at NO IMMEDIATE COST, and IT'S STILL A SUBJECT OF CONTENTION???

For Christ's sake, was this NOT the SINGLE ISSUE of the past election!?

Vote in 2022. The entire time my parents have lived in the city neither they or I have ever had a 2nd Alderman. What an utter CROCK.



...There, I think that got it out of me

[matt602]

I'd be in favor of dropping LRT entirely at this point in favor of HSR funding if anything less than McMaster to Queenston traffic circle is what we end up with. This fucking thing has been kicked around for almost 2 decades now while the HSR bus system limps on, struggling. I'm beyond sick of it. Either do it right the first time or take care of what we have.

[LikeHamilton]

Originally Posted by ShavedParmesanCheese

Never in my life have I wanted to shout at a group of adults till I'm blue in the face and hoarse in the throat.

THIRTEEN YEARS AND THIS INCOMPITENT, INCAPABLE, INCOMPREHENSIBLY CLOSE-MINDED, SELF-SUBSERVIENT, SMALL-THINKING GROUP OF """POLITICIANS""" WHO'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE COMFY PAYCHEQUE AND SMALL WORKLOAD STILL CANNOT COMPREHEND THE IDEA OF A PUBLIC WORKS PROJECT WHICH WILL BENEFIT PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT THEMSELVES.

There are men on this council who have been in office since before the county was even amalgamated. They've presided over the worst economic and developmental situation in the city's history, including the time we went BANKRUPT. This is a gilded opportunity to mend the city's utter wasteland which exists between Gage & Wellington, at NO IMMEDIATE COST, and IT'S STILL A SUBJECT OF CONTENTION???

For Christ's sake, was this NOT the SINGLE ISSUE of the past election!?

Vote in 2022. The entire time my parents have lived in the city neither they or I have ever had a 2nd Alderman. What an utter CROCK.



...There, I think that got it out of me

Beautiful!! I will come and help you scream!!!!!

[craftbeerdad]

This topic amongst others really fires me up and I've always loved politics.

Does anyone know where to find information on how to run for city council (yes I've googled)?

Farr might run for mayor, if that's the case, Ward 2 becomes open. I live on the boundary of Ward 2 and 3. Not sure if you have to live specifically in the respective Ward.

[ShavedParmesanCheese]

Originally Posted by craftbeerdad

This topic amongst others really fires me up and I've always loved politics.

Does anyone know where to find information on how to run for city council (yes I've googled)?

Farr might run for mayor, if that's the case, Ward 2 becomes open. I live on the boundary of Ward 2 and 3. Not sure if you have to live specifically in the respective Ward.

I think everybody has one topic of discussion which fires them up like nothing else can, and this is certainly mine that announcement on 2019/12/14 genuinely made me the angriest I've ever been in my life.

I have the feeling that if it wasn't easily found on the city's website, it's likely something you need to do in-person. What I do know is that you don't have to live in the ward you want to represent, though it would certainly be an issue for some voters.

You might end up running for Ward 2, eh? Good to hear. The city council needs new faces. I'm also going to run... at some point. That's still a long ways off for me. This next election is going to be very interesting for certain.

[ScreamingViking]

Closer to the election date you'll probably see more info about registering, though I don't know why it should be hard to find today.

That should be early May 2022, apparently:

Candidates can’t register their campaigns for another 450 days or so, which is 15 months from now, give or take.

https://www.thespec.com/news/council...-election.html

[StEC]

Between this forum and the Hamilton Reddit it sounds like everyone wants to fire our existing and utterly incompetent city council! I'm feeling very optimistic that we elect fresh blood in our next election that will have a forward thinking vison for our city!

[Bubba9000]

** PSA: Voting politicians out is not how it works. Replacements need to be identified, supported, and elected for positive change to occur. **

It's not there yet, but I'm aiming for a bot-like response to any post or mention of "vote them out!". I feel the frustration too, but without an alternative, the outcome of this focus it actually worse. Appreciate any input.

[ShavedParmesanCheese]

Originally Posted by Bubba9000

** PSA: Voting politicians out is not how it works. Replacements need to be identified, supported, and elected for positive change to occur. **

It's not there yet, but I'm aiming for a bot-like response to any post or mention of "vote them out!". I feel the frustration too, but without an alternative, the outcome of this focus it actually worse. Appreciate any input.

Until we have some candidates, there's not much else we can say. While I do agree with you, and everyone who says that will, "Vote them out and replace them with qualified, intelligent, trustworthy, and ambitious candidates!" is much less a catchy slogan.

[Pipedreams]

This is the issue with city politics: No ranked voting means the incumbant starts at a massive advantage unless there is a single challenger. The system is hell bent on keeping existing members in it until they chose to retire.

[jeicow]

Originally Posted by LikeHamilton

Don't let the politicians vote on this! Don't let them talk on it! I will be dead before this is built!

Council still has to approve the operating and maintenance agreement with the Province, which can only be done after the bids are received. It’s when the City finally has to pony up cash. The idea that everything has been approved and just needs money is misguided.

[Bubba9000]

Originally Posted by ShavedParmesanCheese

Until we have some candidates, there's not much else we can say. While I do agree with you, and everyone who says that will, "Vote them out and replace them with qualified, intelligent, trustworthy, and ambitious candidates!" is much less a catchy slogan.

I hear ya, but I'd rather be clear that there is work to be done. Simply waiting for election day won't cut it.

[ScreamingViking]

The other wrinkle will be more political: wanting the HSR to operate the system. That will rear its head again.

There are various P3 models that can be used to implement the project. Design-build-finance-operate-maintain would mean the winning bidder on the project basically takes care of everything, which is the model I believe being used for Hurontario LRT and the Ontario Line in Toronto.

Design-build-finance-maintain is what's being used for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT; the TTC will be operating it. That model would probably play more favourably for Hamilton re: the operating agreement, though Metrolinx would likely want some of the fare revenue to help finance the project (and we all know city council cries out that we can't afford to spend a dime on anything related to LRT... even if there's a greater civic benefit to be had)

[ScreamingViking]

Maureen is mostly spot on in her editorial piece. One of the big things she fails to note is that Ottawa and Waterloo Region both stepped up to the plate with municipal funds.


Ford government cheating Hamilton on promised LRT funding

https://www.thespec.com/opinion/cont...t-funding.html

By Maureen Wilson
The Hamilton Spectator
Wed., March 10, 2021


Ontario Premier Doug Ford is short changing Hamiltonians on LRT funding to the tune of $2.66 billion. It is historic in proportion and will have a devastatingly negative impact on our city’s future. It’s a mistake that will cause Hamilton to be a drag on Ontario’s future finances and economic performance. For a premier who prides himself on taking a businesslike approach to government with a keen eye on investment returns, this betrayal is bewildering and fiscally irresponsible.

Just a recap. In 2015, the Province of Ontario committed a $1-billion capital budget for Hamilton LRT. In early 2019, the Ontario Treasury Board — the government agency that manages the provincial budget — approved an all-in 30-year budget of $3.66 billion. That $3.66 billion included the base capital cost (plus inflation since 2015) as well as 30 years of financing, operations, maintenance and life cycle costs, with some additional cushion for unexpected cost escalations.

The difference between the base capital cost and the all-in cost is similar to home ownership. The purchase price of your house is your base cost. The mortgage and ownership expenses over 30 years are your all-in costs. That house down the street sold for $500,000. Its listed price was not the accrued 30-year cost of over $1 million. This is how all major public transit investments are costed and financed by the Ontario government, except for Hamilton’s LRT.

Just weeks before cancelling the Hamilton LRT, the province signed a $4.6-billion contract over 30 years to build, operate and maintain the Hurontario-Main LRT in Mississauga — a project that was approved with a base capital cost of $1.4 billion. That ratio of base capital to 30-year cost is almost identical to the cancelled Hamilton project.

On Dec. 17, 2019, Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney rode into town and shocked everyone by announcing that the cost for Hamilton’s LRT had somehow ballooned from $1 billion to $5.5 billion and therefore the project would have to be cancelled immediately. Mulroney’s numbers crumbled under scrutiny. She conflated the base 2015 capital cost with those 30 years of financing, operation, maintenance and life cycle costs and then bolted on an additional high estimate of gross municipal costs related to the LRT.

In an effort to justify where her number came from, Mulroney circulated an independent third-party analysis that reaffirmed the $3.66 billion 30-year budget the Treasury Board had recently approved.

Now, Premier Ford says he is willing to contribute a total of $1 billion toward the full three-year cost of a revived, scaled-back Hamilton LRT. He is asking the federal government and potentially the private sector to cover his shortfall.

He claims this fulfils his promise to Hamilton. This is simply not true. The premier’s advisers are conveniently using a completely different set of accounting rules for us than they used for every other major public transit investment in the province.

Recently Premier Ford has suggested the federal government or the private sector may step in to fill this financial hole. This is simply a cynical game of bait and switch so the province can blame the feds for putting the final nail in Hamilton’s LRT coffin.

Your provincial tax dollars are going to finance LRT projects in Mississauga, Ottawa and Kitchener-Waterloo. Their local property taxpayers thank you. You are enriching their local tax base as land in and around their LRT corridors becomes more valuable and more attractive as we’ve seen in Waterloo Region where billions of new investment have followed their far-sighted commitment to LRT.

Meanwhile in Hamilton, our commercial and industrial tax base hasn’t grown significantly in years. More and more of the property tax burden is falling on homeowners and renters as our infrastructure ages.

Hamilton’s industrial tax base and hard-working people have helped build and finance much of Ontario’s infrastructure over this past century. This city and the people who call it home deserve better than the hand they’re being dealt by the Ford Government.

[ShavedParmesanCheese]

Amen to that. If the Tories were smart, you'd think they'd try to win over our voter base. Instead, we're just as shafted as any disgruntled Northerner.

What an utter crock.

[SteelTown]

Ontario pitches regulation to speed up construction on Hamilton’s phantom LRT project

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...t-project.html

Ontario wants to use a new law to speed up construction on a resurrected Hamilton LRT that does not yet have guaranteed funding.

Or a confirmed route. Or even updated city council approval.

The Progressive Conservative government announced in February it is willing to pay $1 billion to build a shorter version of the light rail transit line it controversially cancelled 14 months ago — but only if the federal Liberals cover the rest of the estimated $2.5-billion tab.

To that end, the province is submitting LRT as a “priority project” for federal funding. But it is also proposing to use that “priority” designation to speed up eventual construction under a new law, the Building Transit Faster Act.

The law, which currently only applies to large transit projects in Toronto, provides new regulatory tools “designed to get shovels in the ground faster,” said Mike Fenn, a senior issues adviser for the Ministry of Transportation.

The proposed new regulation could, for example, enable fast-tracked land expropriations and force Hamilton property owners to seek special provincial permits for development or construction within 30 metres of the proposed LRT line.

It’s not clear exactly how or if the regulation would affect Hamilton’s own planning decisions or development approvals for the busy Main-King corridor.

The original planned LRT stretched from McMaster University on Main Street West, along King Street and all the way to Eastgate Square. The province is studying whether a shorter LRT route is feasible and more affordable.

City bureaucrats declined interview requests about the regulation, citing an ongoing analysis of provincial LRT plans and a desire to report information to councillors first.

Coun. Lloyd Ferguson said it’s frustrating to be “left in the dark” on government negotiations over LRT.

The Spectator recently reported on talks between the province and federal government over possible funding for a multibillion-dollar LRT resurrection, as well as a private-sector financing offer from construction union LIUNA.

“They haven’t told us squat in three months,” said Ferguson, who along with Coun. Chad Collins recently authored a motion calling on Metrolinx to attend council to answer questions about opaque plans for LRT 2.0.

Support for a resurrected LRT on council is split, but Ferguson argued councillors deserve the chance to debate whatever new plan is in the works regardless.

Anyone can comment on the proposed new regulation until April 23.

But Fenn said a decision to finalize the regulation “does not require municipal council agreement” — or even a funding commitment from the federal government.

The proposed regulation also states the Building Transit Faster Act aims for “streamlined” LRT land assembly.

The new act represents a potentially “scary situation” for any Hamilton landowners who remain in the way of a possible LRT line, said lawyer Shane Rayman, an expropriation expert who represented several clients along the original light rail route.

For example, transit projects designated under the act are not subject to “hearings of necessity,” an otherwise required opportunity for landowners to challenge the need for a planned expropriation.

The act also gives Metrolinx “broad rights of access” that could allow testing or even cutting down trees on land that has not yet been purchased, he said.

Metrolinx had already bought 60 properties before the original planned 14-kilometre LRT was cancelled. Another 30 full properties would have been needed for the original route.