Hello Ward 8 Neighbours,
Since being elected, I have worked very hard to advocate on behalf of improving transit for Ward 8 residents on the Hamilton mountain.
Behind the scenes, I was able to work closely with City of Hamilton staff to secure an application for $8.5 million in Federal/Provincial funding dedicated to improving transit for Ward 8 and the Hamilton mountain.
I have also consistently advocated for new investments in HSR transit to better serve Ward 8 residents by realigning the existing bus routes through the HSR’s (Re)Envision campaign, and the elimination of the unfair area rating for transit taxation system.
However, I reluctantly voted in favour of the proposed service cuts – continue reading for find out why…
Tax Savings Versus HSR Service Cuts
The HSR has a set definition for service standards – see the table below:
At our budget deliberation meeting on February 24th, 2020, Hamilton City Council requested the HSR to report back with a list of current transit routes that do no meet the defined benchmark service standards.
Several HSR transit routes were identified across the City where the number of boardings did not meet the standard for a defined period – see the summary below:
HSR staff estimated that cutting service to the identified HSR transit routes, largely through changes to headway timing and the reduction of some service windows would save taxpayers approximately $750,000 from the 2020 budget.
Annual tax savings are estimated to be up to $1.7 million dollars annually.
For more information, please click here for a detailed summary of the proposed HSR service cuts, anticipated rider impacts and estimated savings.
What About (Re)Envision and the 10 Year Transit Strategy?
My preference would have been to re-invest the estimated savings back into the HSR system to improve transit on routes that are currently over-crowded and under-serviced.
However, through questioning at Committee, staff assured me that that the proposed cuts to the existing system will not impact the HSR’s (Re)Envision recommendations, and that savings from these cuts could not be reinvested to improve service elsewhere in 2020.
Overall, I believe that it is positive that staff were able to identify efficiencies within the current system and provide taxpayers with savings.
However, in my opinion this whole process was an unwarranted intrusion into an operational decision making process – these are the kinds of decisions Council needs to empower and trust our staff to make on their own.
(Incidentally, several of the most costly routes to now be eliminated were initially added due to political motivations instead of being based on ridership demand or evidence based evaluation by HSR staff.)
I believe this is especially true as the first (Re)Envision report is due within a couple months, with full implementation planned for the summer of 2021.
Or as General Manager of Public Works Dan McKinnon stated at the meeting “the timing is terrible”.
Questions or concerns?
For more information, click here for the report titled “Under-Performing HSR Routes (PW20015) (City Wide)” , Appendix A, Appendix B and Appendix C.
If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact our office here.
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