The McMaster & Hamilton communities should do more to support SoBi
By: Adeola Egbeyemi, Brittany Williams and Christy Au-Yeung, Contributors
This article is written by members of the MSU Sustainability Committee, who are in the midst of their virtual SoBi campaign.
They’re blue, built with a thick Dutch frame and basket. Though you may have been around Hamilton, you may have not even noticed their presence swarming the McMaster University campus. We’re talking about Social Bicycles.
SoBi is a bike-sharing company. The Hamilton-specific SoBi fleet has bikes located in approximately 130 hubs across the city. Users can purchase a specific level of membership online and once registered, are ready to ride anywhere. Bike-sharing systems like SoBi Hamilton allow users to take one-way trips on publicly accessible bikes and create a network of efficient, affordable and sustainable transportation.
This efficient, affordable and sustainable mode of transportation nearly ended this past summer and is not yet out of its narrow bike lane. Back in May, SoBi was operated by Uber, although still city-owned. On May 15, Uber unexpectedly notified the Hamilton City Council that they would stop operating SoBi in June due to COVID-19 considerations, even though ridership had increased in the hundreds since the pandemic began.
Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann attempted to save SoBi by using taxes collected from areas where SoBi operates, but the motion narrowly lost at City Council. The very next day, Hamilton Bike Share Inc., a not-for-profit bike-share operator, started a GoFundMe to try to continue operating the bikes at no cost to the city.
In a last-minute save, a reconsideration motion for SoBi passed unanimously at the next council meeting. Presently, SoBi is operating as normal through Hamilton Bike Share Inc., but the city is still in search of a stable long-term operator.
As the city searches, SoBi has become a notable transportation alternative for individuals who want to avoid public transportation. SoBi also provides users with the convenience of locking their bikes to a non-SoBi rack for a one-dollar fee.
In addition, the bike-share service maintains user accessibility through their subsidized Everyone Rides Initiative, which provides both a discounted pass and an opportunity for users to earn SoBi credits by relocating any out-of-hub bikes. If you’re a McMaster student, you can also access a discounted membership. So if you want to reduce your carbon footprint or you want to support this community program, this affordable option is for you.
Just as small actions can produce larger change, bike-share programs not only provide benefits to individuals as previously outlined but to the community as a whole. It is at this level that bike share programs have been proven to decrease car usage and reduce traffic congestion, which consequently reduces pollution, leading to community health benefits and allowing for economic expansion.
These environmental benefits are particularly relevant given that the transportation sector emits the second most greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. To date, SoBi bike-sharing is estimated to have reduced nearly 1 million kilograms of CO2 emissions. As a community, we have the vital responsibility to be environmental stewards; we need to make the necessary efforts required to protect the natural environs that have provided us with so much.
McMaster has demonstrated its commitment to sustainable transportation practices at an institutional level through its April 2017 Master Campus Plan Update, which outlines infrastructural changes for a vehicle-free core campus. A key aspect of this is not merely accommodating cycling on campus but actively encouraging it.
In the 2017 update, McMaster planned to expand SoBi to the GO Bus station and west campus. Evidently, the support and facilitation of bike-sharing services like SoBi align closely with McMaster's culture and priorities of sustainability.
The McMaster Students Union has also shown its commitment to supporting sustainable transportation through the MACycle service, an on-campus do-it-yourself bike repair shop. Unfortunately, due to low engagement and alternative services in the Westdale area, the service was de-ratified last year.
This exemplifies the importance of making conscious decisions to support these sustainable programs otherwise these options may become defunct. We are only able to keep these programs running through our community efforts.
SoBi is a valuable and accessible program that provides benefits individually, institutionally and municipally; as a result, they have received support at all of these levels. Since the future of SoBi remains undetermined, we as a community can find our footing as environmental stewards by supporting the bike share program while it is still here.
Hamilton city council recently declared a climate emergency and pledged to substantially reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. While the declaration carries symbolic weight, the ambitious emission reduction targets can only be met if city council commits significant resources towards climate change measures. Climate activists and city councilors weigh in on what this will mean for the city.
On March 27, Hamilton city council finalized the decision to declare a climate emergency in the city of Hamilton.
The decision comes as a result of a report from the United Nations intergovernmental panel on climate change released in October 2018. The report found that, unless humanity limits global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, there will be a risk of long lasting and irreversible changes that will result in major loss of life.
The report found that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would mean reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 45 per cent of 2010 levels by 2030, and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
“Limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society,” stated the report.
Hamilton city council has joined a number other Canadian cities, including Kingston, Vancouver and Halifax, who have pledged to reduce emissions to meet these targets.
The declaration instructs the city manager to put together a multi departmental task force and present an emission reduction plan within 120 days.
According to the 2018 vital signs report released by the Hamilton community foundation, Hamilton has double the per capita GHG emissions compared to other greater Toronto and Hamilton area cities.
The 2015 community action plan set the goals of reducing GHG emissions by 20 per cent of 2006 levels by 2020, 50 per cent by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2050. The new goals, however, are more ambitious.
By declaring a climate emergency, the city aims to communicate the degree of risk to the public and demonstrate that the city is taking the issues seriously. During the board of health meeting, environment Hamilton climate campaign coordinator Ian Borsuk noted that it is important to show the public that the city understands the severity of the issue.
Additionally, a major goal of the declaration is to coordinate municipal action to develop a centralized strategy for dealing with climate change. This will take the form of a multi departmental task force across city departments.
“This isn’t something that can be left as a side project, this isn’t something that can be left as another file, this is something that needs to be part of what the city does every single day,” stated Borsuk during the presentation.
At the March 18 board of health meeting, presenters from environment Hamilton made suggestions to the city about ways to reduce emission levels by the target dates, noting that the city has already taken significant measures to reduce GHG emissions, but can do more.
One suggestion was to expand and improve public transit. Currently, Hamilton street rail ridership falls short of projections by about 10 per cent. The city is currently working towards a 10 year plan to improve HSR service, which includes improving service and adding capacity.
After industry, transportation is the largest emitter of greenhouse gas in Hamilton. According to Hamilton 350 coordinator Don McLean, transportation is one of the areas that the city can make the biggest difference. By extending bus service and making transit more affordable, McLean sees potential for large increases in ridership.
McLean also notes that Hamilton charges some of the lowest parking fees in Canada. The city owns some parking facilities, and has the ability to tax parking lots separately in order to drive pricing. In order to incentivize people to take public transit, McLean says, the parking rate has to be considerably higher than bus fare.
“Why switch to a bus if I can park downtown all day for $4?" he asked.
Another suggestion that environment Hamilton made to the board of health was to develop a “green standard” for new public and private buildings. By mandating energy use limits, the city can make a substantial difference in emissions.
Environment Hamilton executive director Lynda Lukasik also noted during the presentation that enhancing green infrastructure would help the city meet its emission targets. This includes measures such as bio soils, better managed storm water, and planting an urban forest.
Urban canopy currently sits at about 18 per cent, which is 12 per cent below the official target. Expanding the urban forest would help draw down emissions, reduce stormwater flows, and mediate heat effects.
In order to meet these goals, multiple environmental organizations across Hamilton have suggested that the city commits to applying a climate lens to all of its decisions. Similarly to the equity, diversity and inclusion lens equity, diversity and inclusion lens announced in March, the climate lens would evaluate all city actions in terms of their climate impact.
One of the main challenges for meeting the emission reduction targets is resource availability. During the board of health meeting, ward 3 councilor Nrinder Nann pointed out that achieving the commitments would likely involve retrofitting almost every building across Hamilton and switching to electric or hydrogen fuel cells for vehicles. Implementing these measures would require substantial investments of time and money.
Currently, the community climate change action plan receives provincial funding from the proceeds of the cap and trade program. However, the province scrapped the cap and trade program in October 2018 and has pulled funding from other environmental initiatives. Therefore funding for the emissions reduction plan would likely have to come from other sources.
Ward 4 councilor Sam Merulla noted that the challenge will become clear once staff reports the budget to city council within 120 days. If people hear that their taxes will increase, they may be resistant to implementing the plan.
However, Nann pointed out that even though dealing with climate change requires immediate spending, it will generate revenue in the long term. Additionally, inaction will incur high remedial costs.
Another challenge for meeting the emission reduction targets is industry. Industry accounts for 83 per cent of Hamilton's emissions, a large percentage of which comes from steel mills. However, steel mills are under provincial and federal jurisdiction, meaning that the city does not have direct control over their emissions.
Despite this, notes McLean, the city can work towards offsetting emissions through agricultural practices and reforestation.
Even if the city manages to reach the emission reduction targets in time, McLean worries that it will be too little, too late.
Climate change is a cumulative problem, meaning that all GHGs currently in the atmosphere will continue to contribute to warming, even if emissions stop.
“The kinds of things that are being talked about now are the kinds of things that should have been very actively implemented 30 years ago,” he stated. “ If you've got a cumulative problem then setting any date in the future as to when we should stop is too late.”
In order to make the climate change emergency more than a symbolic gesture, the city will have to dedicate significant resources and implement regular checkpoints to reduce emissions. The true weight of this declaration will become clear once the task force presents the emission reduction plan to city council. To achieve net zero emissions by 2050, the city has to implement unprecedented changes across all aspects of decision-making.
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By: Saad Ejaz
On Jan. 26, dozens rallied outside the Federal Building in Hamilton to call on the Trudeau government to keep its promises on climate change.
The crowd carried signs and posters advocating for divestment from fossil fuels that read “Divest from oil, invest in our future.”
Leading up to the election in October and the Paris climate change conference in December, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed climate change extensively and discussed the need to overhaul the National Energy board Pipeline review process. He also promised to include members of Indigenous communities in this discussion.
However, those who were present at the rally expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s actions so far.
Don McLean, an attendee, said that he along with other members of the community want the Trudeau government to be proactive on climate change.
“Promised in the election campaign, both verbally and in their platform, that they would stop this broken process of pipeline reviews … We also want him to keep his promise to the planet, which he took in Paris.”
The question the protesters aimed at the Trudeau government is simple: How can Canada be a world leader in climate change and continue the destructive environmental projects of pipeline expansions?
Hearings for the Kinder Morgan pipelines resumed on Jan. 19 despite opposition from environmental groups. The pipeline project would allow three times more bitumen across southern British Columbia through the Vancouver harbour. While the hearings for the project are underway, so are protests and rallies.
Recently, Enbridge proposed an eastern pipeline. The Energy East project is a 4,600 km pipeline that will transport approximately 1.1 million barrels of oil per day from Alberta to Eastern Canada.
The crowd carried signs and posters advocating for divestment from fossil fuels that read “Divest from oil, invest in our future.”
“We already have serious climate change, we have to keep more 80 percent of the fossil fuels that we know about in the ground. And in terms of the tar sands, we need to virtually keep all of it there […] We don’t want to see any expansion of pipelines or fossil fuel extraction. We need to go in the other direction and it is to move towards renewable energy,” said McLean.
The rally was organized by Hamilton 350, a local chapter of the national climate change organization.
A number of different organizations attended the rally, including Council of Canadians Hamilton Chapter, Fossil Free McMaster and a number of sub-organizations within Hamilton 350 such as Environment Hamilton and The Blue Dot.
Mary Ann Blair, another attendee, thinks that there is still time for positive change.
“I personally don’t believe that it is an impossible situation. I believe that it is a situation that can inspire and is inspiring great human creativity … We can’t deal with this anymore. We need to realize it’s possible. And that’s why we are here. Change is possible. We don’t have to do things the same old way.”
Kazlyn Bonner, a member of Hamilton 350, urges Hamiltonians and students to become active on the issue of climate change.
“Whether you change your specific or small habits … Whether that action is in the form of signing a petition, or writing to MPs or even going to protests and rallies, and participating in a more visible way … there’s no action that is too small,” said Bonner.
Hamilton 350 will discuss plans for the upcoming months at a public meeting on Feb. 24 at 294 James St. N.
Photo Credit: Saad Ejaz
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McMaster’s Biology Greenhouse is set to quietly enjoy its 50th anniversary this year. The unassuming building is nestled next to Hamilton Hall and has been the home of a wide variety of plants since 1964.
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Of those 50 years, Arthur Yeas has been the greenhouse technician for 37 of them. Students and faculty members who frequent the facilities for research know him by his nickname, Art.
Yeas has always had a passion for horticulture, even in his youth.
“As a kid, I was always growing plants or working in a vegetable garden and decided to carry on doing that for my life’s work.”
He obtained his diploma that certified him as a trained horticultural technician from Niagara College and the rest, as they say, is history.
Yeas works by himself at the greenhouse and is responsible for over 1000 plants, of 300 different species.
This year’s especially harsh winter has made it especially difficult to keep the plants housed in the tropical greenhouse healthy, Yeas explained, but he has been able to help them through using technology such as steam and hot-water heating. Yeas also noted that the high-intensity light they have in the smaller greenhouses used by classes and researchers can be supplementary in light of the lack of sunlight during the darker months.
“I try to keep the tropical house about 28 centigrade year-round, and then the smaller houses depend on what kind of research is going on or the requirements for the class.”
The greenhouse is open to visitors on Monday (10:30-11:30 a.m.), Wednesday (9:30-10:30 a.m.), and Friday (9:30-10:30 a.m.).
