The future of Hamilton's public transit

[chris k]

Yeah very nice

Free? very interesting...

[go_leafs_go02]

I love, really like.

Is there a schedule out? I kinda want to go and ride one just for fun, and looks like I'll be out of here in a few weeks moving back to London for the summer, depends on employment.

[matt602]

Awesome. I'll be sure to ride it this summer. The interior is really awesome, I love the gold poles and nostalgic posters. These things will look awesome downtown. Should get some heads turning, especially if they use the bell regularly.

[coalminecanary]

man, i wish these went to the hunter station... if we end up with two terminals, it would be cool to have these as a shuttle between, arriving every few minutes or so :-)

[chris k]

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

man, i wish these went to the hunter station... if we end up with two terminals, it would be cool to have these as a shuttle between, arriving every few minutes or so :-)

Thats a great idea

A nice little hop on the trolley idea....

[raisethehammer]

dang...awesome pics!
we REALLY blew it by ripping up the tracks and tearing down the wires from the old streetcars.
Man, that one pic looks like Vancouver with all the wires criss-crossing overhead.
someday we'll get it back....
for now, these trolleys will certainly suffice. I only wish the route was a little more substantial. It'll be good for downtown office workers, but doesn't really connect to southern downtown neighbourhoods like Corktown and Durand which could really benefit from the service. Perhaps in a future year.
Great job by HSR here. Another nice step forward.

[DC83]

Awesome! Thanks for the shots, LikeHamilton!

The HSR is really doing a good job at re-branding itself recently: new B-Line designs/signs, new Eastgate Terminal, now the Waterfront Trolleys! Comin up next... LRT!!!!

speaking of 're-branding', they've REinstalled the B-Line Mega Shelter at Main/John. And it's NOT so ghetto anymore! haha They pretty much painted all the metal the B-Line Blue and put both ads on the east side of the shelter. Looks better than before! hahaha

[SteelTown]

McGuinty hints at budget windfall for municipalities

March 19, 2008
By Robert Benzie

Torstar news service

Ontario cities and towns can bank on a financial windfall for new roads, bridges, and transit this summer, the Liberals suggest.

On the eve of Tuesday’s provincial budget, both Premier Dalton McGuinty and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan are dropping hints of some good news for municipalities.

“We are investing heavily in infrastructure,” Duncan told reporters Wednesday, noting the province will “fill in the holes” left after federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s recent budget.

Echoing that sentiment, McGuinty pointed out the province is proceeding with its ambitious $17.5 billion Move Ontario 2020 transit plan for the Greater Toronto Area – even though Ottawa has yet to commit to its share of the project.

“We’re going to fill in for two-thirds of that. We’d love to have the feds join us for the final one-third. We won’t wait for them," the premier said.

Earlier this week, Ottawa announced it is giving the Toronto Transit Commission $303.5 million to buy almost 700 hybrid buses. The federal funds, first promised in 2004 by the then-Liberal government, match the $303.5 million the province committed in 2005-07 for Toronto transit improvements.

Because the Ontario budget surplus is expected to exceed $800 million by the time the public accounts are finalized this summer, the floodgates of money should open for cash-strapped municipalities.

That’s thanks to a new Liberal plan to earmark a chunk of surpluses for civic capital projects.

If the surplus exceeds $800 million, the first $600 million would go toward paying down Ontario’s $163 billion debt with the remaining $200 million being given to municipalities based on population.

While the government’s most recent data forecasts a budget surplus of $750 million, below the threshold that would trigger the windfall for municipalities, sources say corporate, income and retail sales tax revenues are higher than anticipated.

“This province is still growing, its economy is growing in spite of challenges in the manufacturing and forestry sector,” noted Duncan.

[SteelTown]

My prediction is that Hamilton will get $27.3 million, that's money for A-Line, B-Line ($17.4 million), and a new GO/VIA Station at James St N.

[mr.x]

I figured some of you Ontarians might be interested in this, about Vancouver's Translink:





MTR OF THE WEST: Translink's $1.5B real estate empire
Authority to buy properties along rapid transit routes and form partnerships with developers

Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Metro Vancouver's transportation authority is launching a real estate division that could produce up to $1.5 billion in revenue over the next 10 years, modelled on an agency that has reshaped Hong Kong.

Under the plan, enabled by 10-week-old provincial legislation, TransLink will purchase land along new rapid transit routes and around stations and ramp up the value of the land through denser zoning and partnerships with land developers to create high-density commercial and residential developments.

Early estimates of the revenue stream from real estate transactions were in the range of $30 million per year over 10 years, TransLink CEO Pat Jacobsen told The Vancouver Sun's editorial board Tuesday.

But new TransLink chairman Dale Parker said he expects to generate four to five times that much. (that's up to $150-million a year)

"That figure is ambitious, but I think we can do it," Parker said.

TransLink has hired Phil Christie as vice-president of real estate to head the new division. Christie has managed publicly owned real estate for the provincial government for more than 25 years.

A great deal of density is going to go in around the SkyTrain stations, Parker said. "We are going to have to benefit from that."

"It means getting involved to a greater degree in real estate development."

Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon has told the new, appointed TransLink board to consider the business model used in Hong Kong in their decision-making processes.

Hong Kong's MTR employed a public-private partnership model to develop skyscrapers around subway stations so successfully that the real estate arm of the public transit system is now a publicly traded company.

With a $14-billion public transit plan just announced by the provincial government to fund, and public anger over property-based levies to fund operations, the board's need for a substantial revenue source couldn't be more pressing.

Under the provincial plan, which includes three rapid transit lines -- the Canada Line, the Evergreen Line in the northeast, and a Broadway line west of Commercial Drive -- about 1,000 new buses and a third SeaBus, TransLink is expected to pay $2.75 billion in capital costs while it expands bus service in the Fraser Valley.

Parker admitted that opportunities to generate real estate revenue on the Canada Line were missed and that the Evergreen Line will be the first real opportunity to leverage the value that rapid transit creates in any meaningful way.

Before this year, TransLink was legally empowered only to buy the land necessary for SkyTrain operations. Under new legislation, TransLink can now buy land around stations and along the right of way.

"It will take a lot of discussion with the municipalities, but the signals that we are getting from the mayors is that they know a lot of density is going to come with the line," Parker explained.

The scheme will fast-track high-density nodes in residential neighbourhoods along new rapid-transit routes, likely adding fuel to already raucous public hearings over proposed track alignments and station locations.

But Parker said that without revenue from real estate, building the rapid transit lines "will probably not be a top priority."

To build three rapid transit lines in a decade, TransLink will need to secure high-density zoning from municipalities to feed ridership and create opportunities to profit from the real estate appreciation, Jacobsen explained.

To acquire the land cheaply and beat out developers and speculators, TransLink will have early discussions about alignments and station locations and then quickly and quietly buy the land where stations are to be built.

Some of TransLink's real estate holdings may have to be sold to finance land purchases, Parker said. Translink owns land at Oakridge and False Creek in Vancouver as well as park-and-ride lots in other municipalities.

"Once you monetize those properties, you can invest in a station and the surrounding area," Parker said.

TransLink is likely to secure its first private-sector development partners within three months, he said.

[email protected]


© The Vancouver Sun 2008

[SteelTown]

I heard these new trolley buses don't start service until June, is that true? Why not start first week of April? Why so late?

[coalminecanary]

If it were up to me, this would run year round from hunter GO, up James, over to the park, back to John and down John back to Hunter. I don't understand it running on Bay, there's not much going on there but residential... if it used James and John, then it would put eyes on both of those streets and perhaps convince some businesses to develop along both streets...

something like this... (google map link)

When the waterfront development picks up, then something like this would be cool to hook up with the marine discovery ctr... (google map link)

Or maybe up john and back down james would make more sense for traffic flow, and the trolley could go behind the station instead of out front. But theres something about it stopping right at the front door of the hunter station that just feels right.. Ding ding!! :-)

[SteelTown]

I believe these trolley buses goes up and down James Street North.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

I heard these new trolley buses don't start service until June, is that true? Why not start first week of April? Why so late?

"They begin service on June 22, running every 30 minutes from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. until Sept. 4."

http://thespec.com/News/Local/article/342211

[DC83]

All aboard ... for a trip back in time
Free trolley service


Barry Gray, the Hamilton Spectator


March 20, 2008
Katie Mercer
Special to The Hamilton Spectator

It's back to the future.

The city unveiled two replicas of horse-drawn streetcars from the late 1800s at the waterfront centre yesterday.

The trolleys -- retrofitted buses designed inside and out from the original streetcar plans -- will offer free shuttle service from downtown to the waterfront during the summer.

"They're reminiscent of the good ol' days when the trolleys used to run around our city," said Mayor Fred Eisenberger.

The new trolleys aren't just for waxing nostalgic, though.

They're an attempt to draw Hamiltonians and visitors down to the waterfront.

"We've been able to make this more of a people place -- ensuring that people are coming down here," said Councillor Chad Collins.

Members of the St. Elizabeth Villa Coffee Club were given a test ride from their retirement home on the Mountain to the waterfront.

"Besides the wonderful buses, it is the idea to bring people to enjoy the beautiful city we have here," said Helen Liaukus, 74.

"I'm definitely going to bring my family here now when they come."

The city dished out $300,000 for each specially designed bus, the average cost for a vehicle in the Hamilton Street Railway fleet.

They begin service on June 22, running every 30 minutes from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. until Sept. 4.

History of the HSR

1874 to 1892 -- horse-drawn cars

1892 to 1932 -- incline railways on the Mountain

1892 to 1951 -- electric streetcars

1951 to 1994 -- trolley buses

1980s to 1990s -- natural-gas fuelled buses

1990s to current -- hybrid buses

[raisethehammer]

maybe down the road we'll see a downtown area loop route that is a full-time HSR route using these buses. would be sweet. and would get a lot of downtown area folks out of their cars knowing they have a free trolley service to downtown hotels, attractions and the waterfront.

[SteelTown]

Part of the A-Line is to eventually extend the service from downtown to the waterfront.

Perhaps during winter/fall/spring have the A-Line go from waterfront to Airport and than during the summer just downtown to Airport (trolley bus used instead).

[coalminecanary]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

I believe these trolley buses goes up and down James Street North.

Ya but they jog west at king and use bay for part of the route which seems weird. shouldnt they be going more into the core instead of the other way? anyway it's cool to have them for now, I just hope that they can revisit the route sometime soon!

[raisethehammer]

I was on the B-Line today and the driver was calling out all stops through the intercom. Felt like I was riding a train or something! I hope they do this all the time.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

I was on the B-Line today and the driver was calling out all stops through the intercom. Felt like I was riding a train or something! I hope they do this all the time.

There was one driver when I was in High School that used to call out every (B-Line) Stop! Maybe it was the same guy? I haven't had him as a driver in YEARS tho! Apparently (from what I remember) he used to be a GO driver or something!? That info was given to me in High School so could be inaccurate.