Clean, green and good for the city's future
April 30, 2008
Paul Wilson
The Hamilton Spectator
Nicholas Kevlahan is a math professor at McMaster. His specialty is the theory and computation of fluid turbulence.
Don't worry. We've come to him today for another reason.
On his own time, Kevlahan is passionate about LRT, or light rail transit.
He talks to groups all over town about it -- the chamber of commerce, the house builders association, regular citizens -- the very people he'll be talking to tomorrow night, as city hall tries to decide whether light rail or rapid bus is the way for Hamilton to go.
It was love of a woman that led the professor to love LRT.
Kevlahan went to France for four years on a post-doctoral fellowship. And in Paris he met Catherine Cox. She was from Grenoble, a city with a metro population the same as Hamilton's.
In the 1950s Grenoble ripped out its streetcar system, like many other cities, including Hamilton.
But 20 years ago, Grenoble was among the first to bring back LRT. Kevlahan says it's been a great success, and the city has gone from one line to five.
Now there are cities all over Europe and North America shedding buses and moving to the quick, quiet and yes, sexy, electric trains.
Ten years ago, Kevlahan joined McMaster. He and his wife, a translator, live in a 152-year-old stone cottage in the core. They don't own a car, but do walk over to Avis at Jackson Square a couple of times a month to rent one.
Most days, Kevlahan rides his bicycle to work. If the weather's bad, he takes the bus.
All that makes him a rare bird indeed in Hamilton. This city drives to work, to play, to shop.
We're finding out that's bad for our world, our wallets, our nerves.
So last year, the province announced a big Move Ontario program, with $300 million for Hamilton to build two rapid-transit lines -- McMaster to Eastgate, and Upper James to downtown.
City hall could decide this summer whether to go for buses or light rail. Kevlahan's hoping for the latter and right after that transit announcement from Queen's Park, he and others got together and formed Hamilton Light Rail.
"LRT has the potential to really transform Hamilton," Kevlahan says.
Yes, LRT will get people out of their cars in a way buses can't. Even people with briefcases.
And yes, LRT will be good for the environment.
But Kevlahan thinks the biggest bonus is what light rail can do for the economy of Hamilton.
Developers are drawn to rails. Housing, stores, offices spring up along them and municipal assessments climb. It's already happened in cities like Portland, Ore. and Charlotte, N.C..
Closer to home, the region of Waterloo has completed its transit study. The findings there:
"The benefits associated with LRT are more than double those of Bus Rapid Transit, although the costs of LRT are higher ... LRT has a much greater potential to attract transit ridership and to shape urban form than BRT."
Kevlahan knows all that. But he also knows constructing an LRT is more complicated than the bus option. "It will be a bit disruptive, a bit controversial. The politicians will want to know there's public support... The whole city has to feel it's to their benefit."
So that's why he's out on the speaker's circuit.
"The biggest hurdle is deciding this is what we want and not being distracted by minor issues," he says. "If we dither and say, 'Maybe later,' the province will say, 'There are others who want to go ahead. Get back to us in 10 years.'"
A public meeting on LRT versus BRT will be held tomorrow evening, May 1, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the FRWY Cafe, 333 King St. E. at Wellington. For more information -- and an eight-minute Kevlahan video on LRTs -- go to hamiltonlightrail.com.
Prev
hahaha
Linear Mode
