Transit riders in the GTA and those who use GO transit will only pay once when transferring between services, starting Feb. 26
On Feb. 26, the Ontario government’s new One Fare program will come into effect. Under the new program, transit riders of transit agencies in in the GTA will be able to transfer for free between services.
The One Fare program is one of many transit developments the Ontario government is pushing forward as part of the Greater Golden Horseshoe Transportation Plan. The Greater Golden Horseshoe refers to a large and densely populated portion of southern Ontario ranging from Peterborough to the Niagara Region, surrounding Lake Ontario.
The program is currently set to include the Toronto Transit Commission, GO Transit, York Region Transit, Durham Region Transit, Missisauga’s transit system and Brampton Transit.
Free transfers involving local transit agencies will be valid for a period of two hours after the first trip begins. In this case, the second component of the trip becomes free of cost.
Transfers from GO Transit to another participating transit service will be valid for three hours. In this case, only the local transit component of the trip is covered.
Riders transferring between services will automatically receive their discount when they use the same PRESTO, credit or debit card to tap on and off of different services.
The program will see Metrolinx reimburse local transit agencies to account for their lost revenue. According to Associate Minister of Transportation Vijay Thanigasalam, the program will cost the province about $117 million each year.
In light of this cost, the government hopes that the improved service will attract more people to make use of public transit to move across the GTA. Premier Doug Ford also stated at a press conference on Feb. 5 at Downsview Park Go station that the program will save regular transit users as much as $1,600 annually.
Depending on the success of the current program, the government is considering expanding the One-Fare program to include more local transit agencies across the province.
“Our goal is to go to the next phase, to talk to and have dialogue with other municipalities beyond the GTA corridor so that we can bring the one-fare program into other regions,” stated Thanigasalam at the Downsview Park Go station.
Our goal is to go to the next phase, to talk to and have dialogue with other municipalities beyond the GTA corridor so that we can bring the one-fare program into other regions
Vijay Thanigasalam, associate minister of transportation, Government of Ontario
Many McMaster University students who commute from participating areas and use local transit services to get to the GO bus will also benefit from the program. According to the most recent numbers from McMaster, there are about 3,000 GO bus rides each week Monday to Thursday and about 4,500 every Friday. Students who commute to a GO Bus stop with a local transit agency in the GTA will save the cost of the local transit component of the trip.
Other developments soon to be under works are the construction of new and expansion of existing subway lines in the GTA. The plan also includes having two-way, all-day GO train service every 15 minutes between major cities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe by 2031.
More information about the One Fare program can be found on Metrolinx’s website.
As early as tomorrow, Oct. 25, there is potential for a transit strike as negotiations between the city and local transit union break down
On Oct. 23, 2023, the City of Hamilton released a statement informing residents that transit services may be disrupted in the upcoming week, starting as soon as Oct.25.
This possible strike comes in the middle of ongoing negotiations with the Amalgamated Transit Union Hamilton, also known as ATU Local 107. ATU Local 107 shared with Global News Canada their main focuses in these negotiations has been to ensure that their workers are paid fairly and that the Hamilton light rail transit system is managed as a public resource.
ATU Local 107 have been actively against the privatization of the LTR system, publicly supporting the Keep Transit Public movement and it’s active petition.
These negotiations between ATU Local 107 and the city have been ongoing since Feb. 2023. With no agreement during negotiations, the City of Hamilton shared that they had requested a no-board notice to resolve the issue.
A no-board notice is submitted to Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development who introduce a panel to the negotiations. This move ensures that the discussion has a mediator to help an agreement come into place.
One stipulation in a no-board notice is that after the seventeenth day of the notice being given, strikes and lock-outs can be conducted legally. For the City of Hamilton and ATU Local 107, the seventeenth day since the notice was given will be Oct. 25. which is why the possibility of a transit strike begins then.
Folks who rely on transit to get around the city, including many McMaster University students, are being strongly encouraged to seek alternative methods of transportation to minimize difficulties that could occur during a potential strike period.
This is an ongoing story.
A fortunate update on the transportation project haunted by political chicanery
Graphic by Elisabetta Paiano and Andrew Mrozowski, Managing Editor
A RECAP FROM LAST YEAR
We last wrote about the state of the Hamilton light-rail transit system project on Jan. 23, 2020. The proposed project involved the construction of an LRT line, extending from McMaster University to Eastgate Square along the Hamilton Street Railway B-line.
However, on Dec. 16, 2019, the Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney informed Fred Eisenberger, the mayor of Hamilton, that the provincial government had decided to cancel plans for the project.
The reasoning behind this cancellation was that the project would have cost over five times more than the previous Kathleen Wynne provincial government had implied. Eisenberger considered this a betrayal on the part of Premier Doug Ford and the Ontario provincial government.
The estimated cost for the Hamilton LRT project was revealed to range from $4.6 billion to $6.5 billion in a meeting between the Ministry of Transportation and the city of Hamilton. This is approximately five times that of the initial $1 billion Wynne promised Hamilton in May 2015 for the project.
The cost was later set at $5.5 billion, without any cost breakdown. According to a statement from Mulroney on Dec. 16, the estimated costs originated from a report by an unnamed expert third party. Kris Jacobson, then director of the LRT project office, noted that without context, the estimate from the provincial government was impossible to interpret and verify.
Andrea Horwath, NDP member of provincial parliament for Hamilton-Centre and leader of the official opposition, called onFord to reveal the third-party’s cost estimate. On Dec. 18, 2019, Horwath sent a letter to the auditor general of Ontario, Bonnie Lysyk, requesting an investigation and report of the rationale behind the LRT cost estimates provided to the public. The Auditor General’s report on the Hamilton LRT costs was set to be released by the end of 2020.
Despite the cancellation of the Hamilton LRT project, it was decided the initial $1 billion commitment from Wynne’s provincial government would be used for transportation in Hamilton, with the total funding being diverted to different infrastructure.
Exactly what infrastructure would be funded by the $1 billion would be at the discretion of a newly formed Hamilton transportation task force. Comprised of five respectable people who reside within the city, the task force was responsible for creating a list of transportation projects for the ministry of transportation to consider as alternatives to the LRT.
This list was due to the provincial government by the end of February 2020. Despite the cancellation of the LRT project and the creation of a task force to plan the diversion of the allocated funding to other projects, Eisenberger remained committed to the construction of the LRT.
WHAT NOW?
More than a year later and the situation has greatly evolved. The Hamilton transportation task force made its recommendations on the allocation of the $1 billion granted to Hamilton by the Wynne government to the ministry of transportation on March 16, 2020. Mulroney later made the recommendations public for the sake of transparency.
“So basically it wasn’t an announcement per se, it was the province of Ontario following up. They said they would do an audit, they did an audit, they did a task force, the task force came back and said that higher-order transit was necessary for the city of Hamilton,” said Eisenberger.
The task force made a total of 15 recommendations. Some of the recommendations included: a "higher-order" transit system and an "intra-city" bus rapid transit or light-rail transit system along the A or B lines in Hamilton. This would resemble the previously cancelled project.
The task force made a total of 15 recommendations. Some of the recommendations included: a "higher-order" transit system and an "intra-city" bus rapid transit or light-rail transit system along the A or B lines in Hamilton. This would resemble the previously cancelled project.
LRT or BRT, the report said, would reduce congestion, bring economic uplift, thus bringing substantial benefit to the residents and businesses of Hamilton. This indicated the task force was still in favour of the Hamilton LRT project and recommended the province reach out to the federal government to acquire the funding required for the LRT project.
This recommendation came after Eisenberger spoke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a visit to Ottawa prior to March 2020 about the Hamilton LRT. According to Eisenberger, the federal government was willing to fund the Hamilton LRT project, but the provincial government had to officially ask for the funds.
“That task forced looked at all the transportation options and came back with the same conclusion that higher order transit was necessary for the city of Hamilton. It was the best investment and it was certainly aligned to LRT and since then, the Premier on several occasions, has came to make sure that Hamilton gets the appropriate investment in transportation and LRT is the one that he’s been advocating for,” said Eisenberger.
This turn of events indicated a sentiment towards revisiting the Hamilton LRT project. With that said, there were other recommendations in the Hamilton transportation task force report, including a cost estimate around all-day GO service. The recommendations from the task force were welcomed by Eisenberger as an indication the LRT project was still on the table.
The awaited auditor general’s report on the breakdown of the $5.5 billion estimate for the Hamilton LRT project was released on Dec. 7 2020. Lysyk determined that the original $1 billion commitment from the provincial government only covered the costs of construction and was based on a 2012 Environmental Project Report from the City of Hamilton.
Lysyk concluded in her report that the $5.5 billion estimate that led to Mulroney cancelling the LRT project was a more accurate estimate for the total costs of the project. Although Ford welcomed this news as vindication for his government, the auditor general’s report indicated that the city of Hamilton was misled on the actual costs of the LRT for years.
“The Ministry of Transportation was aware as early as December 2016 that the estimated costs for the project were significantly higher than its public commitment of $1 billion in 2015, which was only for construction costs. The increases were not made public or communicated to the City of Hamilton until fall of 2019,” said Lysysk in the report.
“The Ministry of Transportation was aware as early as December 2016 that the estimated costs for the project were significantly higher than its public commitment of $1 billion in 2015, which was only for construction costs. The increases were not made public or communicated to the City of Hamilton until fall of 2019.”
Bonnie Lysyk, Auditor General of Ontario
According to Eisenberger, the city of Hamilton and the province of Ontario have a signed memorandum of understanding which outlines how the project will proceed. In the event of budget constraint, it is documented that the provincial government would lobby at the federal level to gain more funding for the project.
“[The city’s] level of involvement is not at the highest order, but certainly awareness as to what direction [the province is] going [in] . . . So true to that original [memorandum of understanding], [the provincial government is] following up with the federal government and as I understand it, they are warmly received. Now it’s a matter of discussions on who’s going to contribute what,” explained Eisenberger.
While the project is now set to conclude at Gage Park, Eisenberger plans to continue the project in phases.
“We’re not going to be tearing up everything from Eastgate to McMaster,” emphasized Eisenberger.
Currently there is no estimated time as to when the project will be completed. However, the mayor is looking forward to the benefits that the project will bring.
“The whole idea behind this project was to inspire new opportunities, to inspire new development, to inspire more people coming along that corridor to provide more business opportunities. More shops, more stores and more housing,” said Eisenberger.
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.
Statistics Canada data suggests that persons with disabilities, Indigenous and racialized identities are vastly underrepresented in workforces in Canada. To help marginalized students and alumni seek employment, the Student Success Centre launched the Career Access Program for Students, a suite of services offered in collaboration with the Student Accessibility Centre and Maccess.
CAPS focuses on skill building and career development through career advising, strategic goal setting and personal branding. Students also work on creating an employment action plan that is customized to meet their needs.
The program is for students and alumni that identify as persons with disabilities, First Nations, Metis and Inuit persons, members of racialized communities, First Generation students and LGBTQA2S+ students.
Students and alumni can book one-on-one appointments through OSCARPlus, participate through events, or utilize online resources to learn about financial accommodations for students with disabilities, wellness support services, a transit accessibility initiative and campaigns to promote diverse practices.
The SSC also introduced a new position.
Katherine Hesson-Bolton started her position as the diversity employment coordinator in July 2018.
Her initial goals were finding her way around campus alongside first-year students, reading reports, developing a network with faculties, students, campus services and partners and identifying service gaps and needs.
Hesson-Bolton’s role places her in a unique position as a connecting link between McMaster and the greater community.
She regularly meets with employers in hopes of coming away with jobs and opportunities for students while also having conversations around diversity hiring and removing barriers.
She then is able to provide employers with on-campus and external resources, such as ones coming from Pride at Work Canada, to help them address diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
“It’s really about having a conversation with the employer to hear what their needs are, what McMaster students’ needs are, and then finding that fit… So it’s really about relationship building on both sides,” said Hesson-Bolton.
“It also comes back to reaching back to those campus partners, whether it’s student accessibility services or Indigenous services,” said Hesson-Bolton. “I also work a lot with and involve students on campus because it’s really important to get students’ perspective and their feedback.”
Hesson-Bolton also strategizes with employees on branding. Some employers have identified that they want to focus on inclusion, but do not know how to identify and address the needs of new employees.
“You may have employers who will want to hire students with disabilities. And the question back is ‘have you thought about how your workplace is set up? What are your policies, procedures, your staff education, so that the new employee feels included?’,” said Hesson-Bolton.
Hesson-Bolton starts the conversation by discussing meeting the needs of new hires, whether that be identifying the accommodations that would allow persons with disabilities to work, establishing prayer spaces or recognizing that always having social events in establishments that serve alcohol may exclude some individuals.
Hesson-Bolton also has important conversations with students and alumni around disclosure in the workplace and accommodation plans.
She also provides a space for students to talk about their frustrations, experiences with discrimination, while also connecting them to mentors and peers with similar lived experience.
There is a strong need for university services to support students entering the workforce and address the barriers to diversity and inclusion. The CAPS program and the role of the diversity employment coordinator are just getting started.
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By: Rimsha Laeeq
As a commuter at McMaster University, getting home early isn’t always an option. For students who commute, studying late for a midterm in the library or attending an evening event is hardly an easy decision to make.
When deciding to stay late on campus as a commuter, transit is an issue to consider. It is crucial for students to be involved in the many activities that the university hosts. Students should not have to worry about their safety when commuting home from school.
This is why the Hamilton Street Railway should extend their bus schedules to the later hours of the evening.
The HSR has many buses that operate throughout the day, from the eastbound to the westbound, including the 5, 1, 51 and the 10, otherwise known as the B-Line Express.
Nevertheless, after 7:00 p.m., the B-Line stops running, meaning off-campus students have to either arrange their own rides or take one of the three other buses, which usually requires transferring onto another bus in downtown Hamilton.
As an off-campus student, the last B-line bus I can take to reach home under an hour departs from McMaster at 6:43 p.m. With most events ending after this, it becomes difficult for me to get home.
My 50-minute commute on one bus turns into an hour and 15-minute commute over two buses, and includes waiting in the heart of downtown to catch the second bus.
Students living off-campus are often forced to leave campus early and miss amazing events that McMaster offers because their bus won’t run after a specific time.
Being a university student does not mean to solely “work with academics”. I believe it is important for the HSR to extend their bus timings not only for the safety of their students but to allow students to become more involved with the different events taking place on campus.
With extended bus timings, students can engage in the abundant cultural events occurring at McMaster, with the opportunity to meet several other students at the university from a variety of programs and levels. This gives students the benefit of learning about the diverse cultures present at McMaster.
Off-campus students shouldn’t feel like they don’t belong, or don’t have a say in many of the events taking place due to inconvenient bus timings. These students, including myself, need to be a part of the university culture.
When it comes to academics, H.G. Thode Library of Science and Engineering is open until 2:00 a.m. during exam season for students to effectively study, whether that be alone or in groups.
For most students, once you sit down to study and are motivated to do so, you can study for hours on end. With a restricted time period due to bussing, this can often demotivate students, as getting in a ‘grind’ mode may be quite difficult for some.
Additionally, students study differently, which means that they need to be able to switch up their study environments. Some students prefer to study on campus while others prefer their home. Students shouldn’t have to compromise their academics because a bus doesn’t run at a later time.
For students who commute using the B-Line Express, this bus only runs on weekdays. With midterms, exams or other events occurring on the weekend, students are forced to take two or more buses or find alternate means of transport to get on campus.
Students should not be afraid of staying late at the school they attend. They should feel safe and have no difficulty commuting back and forth from campus on the daily.
When considering the safety of students, their involvement at McMaster and networking with people to make their university career a more fun-filled experience, HSR bus timings should most definitely be extended.
For students who are currently commuting and have to stay late, the McMaster Students Union offers a volunteer service, the Student Walk Home Attendant Team, who will walk or bus with students to their destination. This service is open seven days a week from 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
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By: Tanvi Pathak
In March, McMaster Students Union is slated to release its second annual municipal budget submission to Hamilton city council.
According to Shemar Hackett, the MSU associate vice president (Municipal Affairs), the budget submission will prioritize transit, student housing, student employment, bylaws and enforcement and lighting.
After consulting students and reviewing data from The Your City survey, the MSU decided these key areas were ones that stood out as issues that needed immediate attention.
The committee’s decision to focus on these areas is also linked to the rising demand for off-campus housing.
According to Andrew Parashis, a property manager at Spotted Properties, the largest property management in the McMaster community, demand for student housing has soared in recent years.
Parashis notes that with the increase of local and international students attending McMaster, the waiting list for students seeking accommodations through Spotted Properties has tripled in the last year alone.
The municipal budget submission will also focus on accessible employment opportunities.
The union’s education department and municipal affairs committee’s recommendations aim to offer proactive solutions for each issue and improve Hamilton’s attractiveness to students and recent McMaster grads.
One of the committee’s recommendations is for the city of Hamilton to implement a lighting audit across Ward 1.
Hackett emphasized that there are neighborhoods off-campus substantially lacking in visibility. As a result, many students do not feel comfortable walking home late at night after classes.
A lighting audit would reduce these issues in these neighborhoods and identify priority locations for new street lights.
The committee reached out to the Ward 1 councilor Maureen Wilson, who was receptive to the committee’s recommendation and is confident that the proposal will be valuable to McMaster and Ward 1.
Another recommendation calls for city council to move forward with the landlord licensing project discussed in December.
Hackett and Stephanie Bertolo, MSU vice president (Education), articulated their stance on landlord licensing to Ward 8 city councilor Terry Whitehead, who sits on the Rental Housing sub-committee.
Since then, the motion to implement a pilot project was brought to council and endorsed by many councilors.
Prior to the development of the budget submission, the committee consulted city officials.
The committee plans to continue to meet with the city staff and councillors to push for their recommendations and make them a priority for the council.
Thus far, they have met with Terry Cooke, CEO of the Hamilton Community Foundation, to discuss student engagement and retention and the ways in which organizations can support one another in the future.
The municipal affairs committee has also been successful in implementing its Landlord Rating system, a platform developed by the MSU education department.
The landlord licensing project, which the committee has also been lobbying for, got the Hamilton city council rental housing sub committee’s stamp of approval and will be put forth into discussion during the next city council meeting.
“The council has been extremely receptive to all our points about the agreements we put forth,” said Hackett, adding that the MSU budget submission has proven to be a valuable resource for lobbying municipal stakeholders.
Over the next few weeks, the municipal affairs committee will meet with city councilors and community stakeholders to advocate for their budget submission proposals.
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By: Rob Hardy
Eight years ago, as a rookie contributor to The Silhouette, I wrote one of my very first pieces on the sorry state of the Hamilton Street Railway. It still survives online under the title of “Public Transit Blues”. So what's changed since for McMaster University students and the city itself? Not much.
Some things are a bit better and some have gotten worse, but overall I would say the HSR is the same miserable experience it's always been.
There do seem to be more student buses during peak times on campus so it's not as packed as it used to be. We also have been able to negotiate year-round bus passes for Mac students, which previously only gave us an eight-month deal.
While I believe the HSR functions as best as it can within its limitations, the truth is that this is often not even remotely good enough.
In my case, coming in from Stoney Creek, the time spent commuting is brutal. If I take the B-Line, it still takes roughly 50 minutes. Trapped in a compartment full of stale air, at times too overheated, and shaking like hell as it travels our streets, the experience can be uncomfortable.
What's worse is that unlike previously, where the B-Line used to come right onto campus, it now stops on Main Street. Having to then walk all the way down to Togo Salmon Hall, in often unpleasant conditions, is ridiculous.
Moreover, the B-Line still ends around 7:00 p.m. This results in having to make two connections, which significantly adds to the trials of an already long day. While I can understand that express buses may terminate service at night, it would greatly help if a consecutive route ran from at least University Plaza to Eastgate, even with regular stops.
I use the B-Line as merely one example. Anyone living on the mountain, who also has to first get downtown before progressing into Westdale, suffers similarly.
Part of this dilemma is that Hamilton has unique geography to contend with. Our city layout is not a simple grid like you would find in Edmonton, for example, with nothing other than a river to divide us.
But much of the fault lies with the HSR itself. My biggest issue is with buses that arrive early, causing them to leave many people behind. Sometimes I have been able to trace this to drivers who began their route early, because there is no other way, logistically-speaking, they could have already arrived at that stop.
This is notable given that the HSR has been trying very hard to rebuild ridership — somewhat of a fool's errand considering their target market is people who take the bus out of necessity.
What's more striking is that even intra-city travel within Hamilton becomes “a commute” if one were to cross the length of the city twice a day. The current system as it stands is simply too broken and not meant for people in Stoney Creek to travel by bus all the way to Ancaster mountain.
During this decade, the light rail transit promised to offer innovation, as we moved from the planning stages to acquired funding to implementation. After all, Canadian cities of comparable size can now reasonably be expected to have an alternative public transit option on their most travelled route.
But as things stand, the latest news is that certain council members are now weary of paying additional costs should the project go over-budget, a reasonable possibility considering its timeline has been continually delayed due to endless council motions on the subject. But why should the province keep footing the entire bill anyway, especially for a city whose factions are still so divided on this issue?
While the HSR is a crucial part of Hamilton, their monopoly on public transit leaves bewildered riders powerless to really express their concerns. When we are caused to be late for school or work, an apology is pretty useless, and most people don't even bother to complain.
What some have done is stop riding. Yes, the HSR wants to regain their numbers. But many previous and potential transit users are waiting for more than a hollow marketing campaign to be convinced.
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By: Max Lightstone
In the near future, Hamilton will be blessed with a light rail transit system, spanning the breadth of the city and allowing individuals to travel from McMaster University to Eastgate Square in just over half an hour. While that’s a great move for the city, it’s still lacking something.
Part of the LRT plan is to build an operations maintenance and storage facility at the McMaster Innovation Park. The OMSF would allow for nightly storage and any necessary servicing to the LRT trains, with tracks built along Longwood Road South for the trains to access Main Street West. If you’ve never heard of MIP, it is a large research facility on Longwood Road South beside the Ontario Highway 403.
MIP was proposed by the university in 2005 with the goal of fostering industry collaboration while progressing research and development. Following McMaster’s purchase of an old Westinghouse factory and warehouse on the site, the province announced a $10 million investment to advance development. As well, the federal government moved the CANMET Materials Technology Laboratory to the site.
The park finally opened in 2009, and currently hosts programs, startups and incubators including The Forge and a United Nations University program.
Many of the researchers at MIP are engaged in engineering research, particularly in the materials and automotive fields, but that is quickly changing. Just this year, a $33 million research facility in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology opened, and the university has plans for more expansions including an 80,000 square foot Emerging Technology Center. There is even a hotel in the works!
New buildings lead to more opportunities for people to obtain work. At the MIP, the individuals employed there are often associated with McMaster. The number of people traveling between McMaster’s campus and the MIP for meetings, conferences and classes is already listed as a concern in the park’s master plan, and this number is expected to increase with time.
There are currently only three options to make the trip by public transit: walking across a bridge that is completely exposed to the elements; transfer at King Street West and Longwood Road South to the infrequent Hamilton Street Railway 6-Aberdeen; or taking the route-15 Go Bus from the McMaster Go Terminal, which is also infrequent and expensive.
It is evident that a more convenient transit system is needed to help facilitate the journey between campus and MIP. The city of Hamilton and McMaster have to plan with foresight to ensure that there is capacity in services to meet the demand.
In this particular case, there’s actually an inexpensive and easy answer: use the proposed LRT line on Longwood Road South. Adding occasional service between the MIP on Longwood and the McMaster stop would allow residents of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area to commute easily on public transit and would vastly ease the trip for those students, faculty and researchers who need to get between Mac and the MIP, some of whom currently need to do so several times a day.
This would also open up the city to out-of-town guests at the future hotel. It wouldn’t even be an expensive plan to implement since the track will already be installed for OMSF access.
A solution like this, however, would require extensive planning, and that's something that hasn’t happened as of yet. McMaster University and the city of Hamilton need to think towards the future when designing and building, and need to work together to make things happen.
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As of Jan. 5, Metrolinx has cancelled service to the York University Keele campus and Keele Street stops for multiple Go Bus routes, including the highway 407 47 route, which stops at the McMaster Go station.
Instead, the bus routes will end at the highway 407 Toronto Transit Commission subway station.
In a written statement, Metrolinx spokesperson and senior media manager Anne Marie Aikins said the change is part of a larger plan to move service to the highway 407 stop, which was implemented as part of Toronto’s line one subway extension in December.
“By focusing direct access on Highway 407 and TTC Line 1 Subway, customers can expect improved service reliability in the Keele Street and York University area, which can incur additional 20 minutes of travel time in peak hours due to traffic congestion,” said Aikins.
[spacer height="20px"]Aikins added that the decision was made in collaboration with York University, which has plans to turn the old Go bus loop into a pedestrian area.
McMaster students will now need to leave the 47 bus at the highway 407 subway station and take the subway two stops south to the York University station to arrive at the old bus loop.
Students will also have to pay TTC fare if they transfer, though they will receive a $1.50 discount transferring between the Go bus and the subway if they use their Presto card to pay.
Some McMaster students who rely on the York University stop have expressed concern that their commutes will be negatively affected by the change.
The 47 Go route was the only Toronto-Hamilton route that stopped at the McMaster campus.
Second-year arts and sciences student Daniella Mikanovsky frequently takes the 47 route to York before getting picked up or transferring to a TTC bus. However, with the service change, Mikanovsky says she will now likely have to take a different GO bus route all together.
“I like the 47 because it has a stop on campus. The 40 stop is at [King Street West and Dundurn Street North], so I need to take the Hamilton Street Railway before [Go transit], but with the new change, the 40 drop off is closer to my house than the 47,” said Mikanovsky.
This may pose a problem as the HSR is not known as being a particularly reliable transit system. For instance, last year, a spike in driver absenteeism resulted in thousands of bus cancellations, missed pickups and underserviced routes.
[spacer height="20px"]York University students also see Metrolinx’s decision as problematic. For instance, the York Federation of Students’ Yu Ride petition, which calls for the return of GO bus service to the Keele campus, has already gathered over 17,000 signatures.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees 3903 at York University notes that the return of the stop would save users over $1,000 in additional transit fees. As such, the change may create serious financial pressure for users who cannot afford to pay extra transit fares.
McMaster University’s CUPE 3906 adds that Metrolinx’s decision also affects sessional faculty members who routinely teach at multiple campuses across the province.
“For a workforce that is already precarious, the additional three dollars per day in TTC costs and the additional 10 minutes in commuting time will make life even harder,” reads part of a statement from CUPE 3906.
In addition, CUPE 3906 suggests that universities continue to lobby the provincial government for direct and affordable inter-campus transit.
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