Hello Ward 8 Neighbours,
On January 24, HSR Director Debbie Dalle Vedove gave council an update on plans for bus service improvement this year, as well as the results from the HSR’s most recent citizen survey, “Re-envision”.
Dalle Vedove shared with City Council that “frequent, reliable service” was the overwhelming improvement needed for Hamiltonians to make transit their first option when it comes to transportation.
For more details, please continue reading below…
An eye-opener at the meeting was a time-lapse video from Dalle Vedove, which showed that Hamilton Mountain and connected suburbs lack the same kind of dependable, reliable service that the lower city experiences. Waterdown for example, does not currently have a reliable connection to the downtown core.
Really awesome presentation by @HSR Director showing timelapse of #HamOnt system wide bus service levels throughout the day – shows in one graphic why #yesLRT is so desperately needed and why B-line went ahead of A-line! pic.twitter.com/fh2cDZfiqE
— John-Paul Danko (@JohnPaulDanko) January 24, 2020
With the HSR looking to move forward with their 10-year strategy to add more frequent bus service to the Mountain and a 5% fare increase to transit users, council will have to vote on a 9.6% increase to the transit budget without the answer to questions such as the cancellation of LRT and area rating.
Ward 8 Councillor and LRT advocate John-Paul Danko was quoted in the the Spectator as stating that the time-lapse video “makes it so clear” what transit improvements are needed on the Mountain. But the councillor doesn’t see how the city can achieve that “without rapid transit and without the elimination of area rating of transit as well”. He also shared his thoughts and concerns on Twitter:
@HSR staff also confirmed that there is very little capacity to add more buses along the B-line corridor – rapid transit is only way to improve service – just look at the map to see why.
— John-Paul Danko (@JohnPaulDanko) January 24, 2020
Finally @HSR‘s (Re)envision campaign will recommend best solutions to improving services & building ridership #HamOnt wide – but plans cannot be fully implemented with the current transit area rating structure.
— John-Paul Danko (@JohnPaulDanko) January 24, 2020
#HamOnt residents want “frequent, reliable service” for @hsr – but improving service frequency🚌, especially in Ancaster, Dundas, Waterdown, Binbrook & Stoney Creek can’t happen without the elimination of area rating💵& rapid transit downtown🚈- full stop. https://t.co/7QUoSGKwqn
— John-Paul Danko (@JohnPaulDanko) January 28, 2020
The proposed HSR changes for the fall are as follows:
• Fare hike of five cents for paper tickets, the cash fare of $3.25 remains unchanged;
• Route 44 Rymal: improve peak service to every 15 minutes instead of 20; extend evening service to 10 p.m. from 7:30 p.m.
• Route 43 Stone Church: improve evening frequency to every 30 minutes until 10 p.m.;
• ‘A’ Line (Bayfront to airport): improve peak service from every 20 minutes to every 15, midday service to every 30 minutes and evening service until 10 p.m.
• Improve Upper Stoney Creek bus connectivity by linking four routes — 21 Upper Kenilworth, 43 Stone Church and 11 Parkdale — at Heritage Green.
Questions or concerns?
If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact our office here
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