Chances of LRT one in a million?
http://www.thespec.com/news/business...e-in-a-million
Mayor Bob Bratina says light rail transit will be a serious option for Hamilton if a million people move to the city over the next five years.
Speaking on CHML earlier this week, Bratina said LRT “is not a priority,” echoing a sentiment he’s expressed before and then backed away from. Bratina again said all-day GO train service is the city’s priority.
“We’ve spent a lot of time and, frankly, money … to get to a point where we still don’t know what the component for the city taxpayer will be (for LRT). And that’s disturbing because we should know early on, OK, if we’re going to get serious about LRT, roughly … 10, 15 or 20 per cent? What’s going to be our participation cost?”
Bratina says designing the system has come before answering fundamental financial questions and determining whether the city has the ridership to justify a system.
When asked by radio host Bill Kelly if the city is abandoning LRT, Bratina quickly answered no.
“We couldn’t abandon LRT because transit planning will go on, ad infinitum. If somehow a million people moved to Hamilton over the next five years and we have traffic congestion all over the place, we will look at all transit options, including LRT.”
The mayor went on to say that developers are interested in GO service but that big projects, including a new hotel and condos in and around the former federal building, the Connaught and McMaster’s downtown health campus are not linked at all to the city building LRT.
Councillor Brian McHattie said it’s “silly” that LRT isn’t a priority. He says there is no reason to pit GO service against LRT.
One is a short-term vision funded by the province, and the other is a long-term, city-building project.
“It’s a very strange phenomenon. I don’t understand (the mayor’s) position whatsoever.”
A series of mixed messages about LRT from the city’s top offices have left supporters pessimistic and wondering whether they will torpedo any chance at funding from other levels of government.
Councillor Jason Farr, with McHattie’s backing, will introduce a motion next month that confirms the city’s commitment to fully studying LRT, while acknowledging that GO service is an immediate priority. They drafted the motion after discussions with MPP Ted McMeekin, Metrolinx board member Richard Koroscil and senior staff at the regional transit authority.
The motion calls for Hamilton to lobby for more provincial money to study LRT.
Farr says he believes the case for LRT has been made, but that there are still lots of unanswered questions about costs that can only be answered with analysis. That includes understanding the costs of not building an LRT line. That information swayed a number of councillors in Waterloo, who ultimately voted to build a train line.
McHattie says the purpose of the motion is to get the message out that Hamilton is still pursuing LRT.
“We want everyone to know we’re still in the LRT game. We will continue to work on it and position ourselves to be successful.”
Farr, who represents downtown’s Ward 2, intends to present his motion at a meeting when council will get an LRT progress report from city manager Chris Murray. That is scheduled for mid-October.