Larry's Corner

The Importance of Public Transit

This coming week, Committee of the Whole and Council will consider several important reports related to our city’s public transit. The first report has to do with fare increases, always a contentious issue. The next report, also related to transit, has to do with proposed enhancements to the system. The other two reports concern the Taxi Scrip program used by some special needs Hamiltonians; and finally the last report is a special Affordable Transit Pass Program for low income, working poor Hamiltonians. These reports constitute very important considerations for Council to deliberate.

Transit is an invaluable service to any city in the world. The advantages of Public Transit are immeasurable both for individuals and communities. I am a big fan of Public Transit. I use it often now that I am in transition, and did so even when I was a Councillor and Mayor.

Especially in the summer time, I would take the bus to City Hall. I would get stares of incredulity and be often asked why I’d be on the bus. I was especially surprised when a bus driver asked me this on one occasion. My response was always consistent: because I enjoy the bus and you provide a great service to our citizens. I did note, however, that most of the riders I encountered during my trip from Stoney Creek to James St. were elderly, students, or poorer Hamiltonians. I didn’t see too many office workers or business people use our system.

I enjoyed being on the GO Transit Board of directors. Go Transit is an Ontario success story! GO Transit moves millions of passengers each day. These passengers do not have to drive their vehicles thereby preventing emissions from getting into the atmosphere, and assisting with the gridlock on our roads. I was amazed that whenever we expanded service along the GO lines, the trains would fill up almost immediately. There were few exceptions. I lobbied hard to improve services to Hamilton and the doubling up of the rail line into Aldershot will allow this to happen.

I also lobbied for Hamilton to be part of the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority and was pleased when the McGuinty government included Hamilton in this important new group, much to the surprise of other municipalities that wanted in, by the way. If given real muscle by the province, I believe this group will do great things for the region and beyond.

I have always believed in multi-modal opportunities for our city: road, water, rail and air; and firmly believe that our future prosperity depends on expanded and appropriate transit for our community.

The question is, how do we get there?

The reports referenced above are a start. Council will have to weigh the benefits of increasing fares by $.10 for regular riders and DARTS passengers and the additional increases to students and taxi Scrip riders, with the potential loss of overall ridership, and the impact on affordability of these increases on our citizens. It is good that Council is also looking at the Affordable Transit Pass Program for the neediest among us. Regardless of the decisions made, this program, if passed, should shield some of our most vulnerable users.

The other important report, of course, has to do with the expansion to our system. If I heard any complaints about the HSR during my tenure, these were always associated to the lack of services in some of our former suburbs: the Winona area of Stoney Creek, Flamborough, parts of Ancaster and parts of Dundas. As well, with the growth in Glanbrook, transit is also a must for that community. These expansions require money. The province did make Gas Tax money available to communities in order to facilitate expansion. Unfortunately, Council has been using this money to deflect the rising cost of operations and capital needs over the last four years. This has softened the increases on the one hand, but it has also delayed expansion on the other. We cannot have it both ways. There is a third alternative, and that is to do away with area rating for transit financing. Area rating essentially says that if you don’t have a service you should not pay for it. That is why communities like Glanbrook don’t pay transit costs as part of their taxes. Some advocates want every citizen to pay regardless of service provision. This is a very dangerous move, even if attractive as a revenue generator. The topic deserves an article on its own.

However, one thing is clear. Transit financing for Council is about as important a topic as our elected officials have to deal with. Whatever they do, they stand the chance of being criticized. Inaction, or less than bold action, however, is worse than criticism. If we are to be a great city, we must attract all kinds of users to our transit system and this means making important and dramatic improvements to what we have. Let’s hope our Councillors get it right!

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