The future of Hamilton's public transit

[coalminecanary]

OR.. something similar to that behind TH&B since that's a better spot for a downtown transit terminal :-p

Plus, get cars off of hughson and make a covered pedestrian walkway to gore park (lrt line?) from th&b ;-)

[DC83]

Originally Posted by matt602

LRT needs advertising through the city. You can't just hope people are going to attend meetings for something they don't know anything about. CHCH and the Hamilton Spec couldn't care less about covering anything to do with LRT unless it becomes a reality. Postering downtown about it would be good, particularly slapping them up on bus shelters and other bus areas where transit users would see. Including a link to a informational website on LRT in Hamilton would be beneficial. It's still not going to reach out to the older audience, since they're turned off of anything that involves using a computer but the student and young people audience should have their attention grabbed.

I know it's not much, but I sent an email to the View Mag editor (www.viewmag.com) requesting they print a Cover Story about LRT (or even comparing LRT vs BRT) to educate it's readers. If 4 of 5000 students knew of LRT then, just think of how many will understand it after View Mag prints a cover story. And not just students, but tons of regular citizens,too!

[flar]

^^good idea

[Jon Dalton]

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

Plus, get cars off of hughson and make a covered pedestrian walkway to gore park (lrt line?) from th&b ;-)

Agreed. Some time ago there was a discussion about not having LRT turn corners and alter its route because it would cut down on speed. I believe the system must sacrifice speed in the downtown core in order to reach more destinations and make more stops - after all this is where the density justifies it. Safety is also a huge concern, and there is a trade off between integration into the street to provide aesthetic and economic benefits and safety measures that allow increased speeds but make it less attractive. I believe that to provide the best benefit to the core, our LRT should detour from Gore Park to hit the TH&B, the James North station and then back to King/Main to head west.

There seem to be two schools of thought on the issue - slow it down through the core, or take it underground to keep the speed up. In Hamilton, we need the benefits at street level more than we need the speed.

[c@taract_soulj@h]

Question...should our possibly beloved LRT stay completely above ground or maybe have a Buffalo/Edmonton feel to it at some point? I could see some underground action happening.

Could anyone picture trains running across (or under) the Main or King street bridges crossing the 403, similar to the Bloor Viaduct in Toronto en route to downtown? Possibly stations at Dundurn, Queen/Hess, Bay, James and Wellington...BUT should it run along Main or King streets while underground?

The superblock comprised of Jackson Square would undoubtedly have to have at least one station (Bay St and maybe James) and say another at Gore Park and then First Place where it's to come above ground again. Or maybe the opposite like Buffalo and go it underground as it heads towards the East End of the city. I'll see if I can come up with a map

[mishap]

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

OR.. something similar to that behind TH&B since that's a better spot for a downtown transit terminal :-p

Can you believe that? How do they think they'll fit all the HSR platforms behind the station? The HSR will never go for that. They require pull-in, pull-out bus bays, and GO needs those layover spots. If they must use the GO Station, put the buses in front, on Hunter. Buses only, two-way operation, bays on both sides. They could likely fit 12 sawtooth bus bays, all capable of handling 60-foot artics, more if some were only for 40-footers. And that still leaves the current two HSR bays behind the station.

[/QUOTE]Plus, get cars off of hughson and make a covered pedestrian walkway to gore park (lrt line?) from th&b ;-)[/QUOTE]

But, it's already been decided here, the LRT line will run down Hunter St. :-)

[mishap]

oops, stupid slash

[Bob Bratina]

I think LikeHamilton (A) owes me an apology and (B) needs to rethink his blog name.
GO and VIA should never have left the James Street north location in the first place. The old station should have been purchased by the City and the required space leased back to the railways. Remember it was CN property, and far too big for VIA's needs in the early 1990's. The decision to move GO to Hunter Street did not make sense, but it did help us save an architectural masterpiece, the Art Deco Hunter Street T.H. & B. Station. Now as the need for public transit accelerates rapidly, two stations on two different lines can work. Another ignominious decision was to remove the trackage from Wentworth Street South to Hannon, the old CN Hagersville Sub. This line connects with the CP/GO trackage between Walnut South and Wentworth and could have provided GO train service from Hunter to the burgeoning residential areas on the south Mountain, with stations at Mohawk, Rymal Road, and the Airport. The right of way is about a mile east of the Airport and may be considered for a light rail service to the Hunter Street Station. We are seriously examining that possibility The right of way continues south from Airport Road to Caledonia, and a connection could be re-established to provide rail/air cargo intermodal transport as an enhancement to Hamilton International. Rail connections to airports are considered important assets for both passengers and freight and you can find out more by googling "airport rail links".

While it is true I have a great affection for railways, steam locomotives, their history and folklore, I also have a practical understanding of railroad technical attributes, and how rail fits into a properly conceived transportation strategy.

My wife is beautiful, and is a huge asset in the efficient operation of our household, combining the romantic with the practical. Perhaps "LikeHamilton" has sadly had a different experience.

Why is it by the way bloggers are reluctant to identify themselves?

[SteelTown]

Welcome Bob Bratina!!

[DC83]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Welcome Bob Bratina!!

Indeed! What a great asset to the forum
Welcome!!

[JT Jacobs]

Originally Posted by Bob Bratina

I think LikeHamilton (A) owes me an apology and (B) needs to rethink his blog name.
GO and VIA should never have left the James Street north location in the first place. The old station should have been purchased by the City and the required space leased back to the railways. Remember it was CN property, and far too big for VIA's needs in the early 1990's. The decision to move GO to Hunter Street did not make sense, but it did help us save an architectural masterpiece, the Art Deco Hunter Street T.H. & B. Station. Now as the need for public transit accelerates rapidly, two stations on two different lines can work. Another ignominious decision was to remove the trackage from Wentworth Street South to Hannon, the old CN Hagersville Sub. This line connects with the CP/GO trackage between Walnut South and Wentworth and could have provided GO train service from Hunter to the burgeoning residential areas on the south Mountain, with stations at Mohawk, Rymal Road, and the Airport. The right of way is about a mile east of the Airport and may be considered for a light rail service to the Hunter Street Station. We are seriously examining that possibility The right of way continues south from Airport Road to Caledonia, and a connection could be re-established to provide rail/air cargo intermodal transport as an enhancement to Hamilton International. Rail connections to airports are considered important assets for both passengers and freight and you can find out more by googling "airport rail links".

While it is true I have a great affection for railways, steam locomotives, their history and folklore, I also have a practical understanding of railroad technical attributes, and how rail fits into a properly conceived transportation strategy.

My wife is beautiful, and is a huge asset in the efficient operation of our household, combining the romantic with the practical. Perhaps "LikeHamilton" has sadly had a different experience.

Why is it by the way bloggers are reluctant to identify themselves?

Yes, welcome Bob.

Also, thanks for all of your hard work for the city, particularly recently with all things trains. I myself emailed VIA, for what it's worth.

I'm with you about real names on message boards. I've always felt that it's too easy to say anything you want when you can hide behind anonymity. As well, an internet 'community' suffers when nearly everyone hides behind aliases: nobody really knows anyone. All well . . .

[oldcoote]

Originally Posted by Bob Bratina

Why is it by the way bloggers are reluctant to identify themselves?

What, and reveal my secret identity?






p.s. Welcome Bob!

[hamtransithistory]

Originally Posted by Bob Bratina

I think LikeHamilton (A) owes me an apology and (B) needs to rethink his blog name.
GO and VIA should never have left the James Street north location in the first place. The old station should have been purchased by the City and the required space leased back to the railways. Remember it was CN property, and far too big for VIA's needs in the early 1990's. The decision to move GO to Hunter Street did not make sense, but it did help us save an architectural masterpiece, the Art Deco Hunter Street T.H. & B. Station. Now as the need for public transit accelerates rapidly, two stations on two different lines can work. Another ignominious decision was to remove the trackage from Wentworth Street South to Hannon, the old CN Hagersville Sub. This line connects with the CP/GO trackage between Walnut South and Wentworth and could have provided GO train service from Hunter to the burgeoning residential areas on the south Mountain, with stations at Mohawk, Rymal Road, and the Airport. The right of way is about a mile east of the Airport and may be considered for a light rail service to the Hunter Street Station. We are seriously examining that possibility The right of way continues south from Airport Road to Caledonia, and a connection could be re-established to provide rail/air cargo intermodal transport as an enhancement to Hamilton International. Rail connections to airports are considered important assets for both passengers and freight and you can find out more by googling "airport rail links".

While it is true I have a great affection for railways, steam locomotives, their history and folklore, I also have a practical understanding of railroad technical attributes, and how rail fits into a properly conceived transportation strategy.

My wife is beautiful, and is a huge asset in the efficient operation of our household, combining the romantic with the practical. Perhaps "LikeHamilton" has sadly had a different experience.

Why is it by the way bloggers are reluctant to identify themselves?

Hello Bob, and welcome.

As for the use of a nickname instead of my real name when posting, I'm just shamelessly promoting my website. (BTW, I'm Tom)

[matt602]

Welcome aboard Mr. Bratina. It's great to have you here, I think we can all feel a bit more satisfied that our concerns/ideas regarding LRT are getting to the right people now

[chris k]

Welcome Mr. Bratina, hopefully it is really you!

Great to know someone like you comes here and skims our contents.

Btw Chris is my real name, just incase you were wondering..

[coalminecanary]

Originally Posted by DC83

I know it's not much, but I sent an email to the View Mag editor (www.viewmag.com) requesting they print a Cover Story about LRT (or even comparing LRT vs BRT) to educate it's readers.

The problem is that View is not truly a local paper. A lot of their rubbish is shared between View and also the Niagara version and the Guelph or Kitchener one (I can't remember which ones are owned by the same company).

For what it's worth, the cover story of H Magazine last month was regarding LRT, and the article (written by me BTW ) was a 2 page spread. The REAL local media is covering it, but the problem is that most of our media is not truly local.

Originally Posted by mishap

Can you believe that? How do they think they'll fit all the HSR platforms behind the station? The HSR will never go for that. They require pull-in, pull-out bus bays, and GO needs those layover spots. If they must use the GO Station, put the buses in front, on Hunter.

There is a LOT of space back there. It is very wide and there are actually two sides available for bus bays. There could be a middle lane of bays too if they put some curbs in. But I agree that the front of Hunter should be used as well.

Originally Posted by Bob Bratina

GO and VIA should never have left the James Street north location in the first place. ... The decision to move GO to Hunter Street did not make sense, but it did help us save an architectural masterpiece, the Art Deco Hunter Street T.H. & B. Station.

I don't think any of us can argue with that!

Originally Posted by Bob Bratina

Now as the need for public transit accelerates rapidly, two stations on two different lines can work.

I still think that a downtown of our size only needs a single central transit hub. But if we have to have two, I'll take that over the current situation of "almost nothing". However if we DO end up with two, the link between them needs to be REALLY convenient, REALLY fast, and REALLY free.

Originally Posted by Bob Bratina

... This line connects with the CP/GO trackage between Walnut South and Wentworth and could have provided GO train service from Hunter to the burgeoning residential areas on the south Mountain, with stations at Mohawk, Rymal Road, and the Airport. The right of way is about a mile east of the Airport and may be considered for a light rail service to the Hunter Street Station. ...

This is all great news and I am thrilled to hear that the city is considering upgrades to the rail links. This is a major key to a bright future for us.

Bob, is there any way that we (the forumers here and the people we know "offline") can influence the coming decision of LRT vs BRT? For many of us, the choice for LRT is a no brainer considering the province is putting up the capital. Capital expense is the ONLY downside to LRT, and Hamilton is poised to be on the receiving end of a big chunk of that -- we should insist on LRT and reap the benefits for decades to come.

It is time we stopped being mickey-mouse about this. If mississauga can get LRT so can we for crying out loud.

I am absolutely certain that if we ask for LRT from metrolinx we will get it -- but it's going to be up to us to ask!

[Bob Bratina]

Thanks for the kind words of welcome.
This is a particularly helpful site for me, in part due to the generally high quality and thoughtfulness of the submissions. I hope from time to time I can provide some helpful insight. The climate at City Hall has changed somewhat with regard to the Downtown thanks to the new regime. Within a few months I hope to be able to announce some significant projects that relate to your favourite topics on this site, if meetings taking place over the next few weeks go well. Our Downtown office goes through an overwhelming amount of messages, requests for service, etc. so it's hard to blog on everything I find of interest here but I do take it all in. Thanks again for the very useful input toward building a better City.

[FairHamilton]

Originally Posted by chris k

Btw Chris is my real name, just incase you were wondering..

But does your last name really begin with 'k"

[coalminecanary]

Originally Posted by Bob Bratina

Within a few months I hope to be able to announce some significant projects that relate to your favourite topics on this site, if meetings taking place over the next few weeks go well.

Aghh, the suspense... you're killing us here!

[DHLawrence]

Good to see politicians hanging around here. Some of the people in the Vancouver board say that politicians visit there; why should they be the only ones?

Now to get Doug Craig and Carl Zehr to sign up to the Waterloo Region board...