City transit to fill 'nodes' - Council to vote on airport link

A-Line express bus between downtown and airport expected to help create a more consistent transit network.

By Rob Faulkner, Last Updated Monday, August 25, 2008

Published in the Hamilton Spectator on June 25, 2008.

City council is expected tonight to fill one of the gaps in city transit, starting work on a north-south express A-line similar to the popular east-west B-line between McMaster University and Eastgate Square.

The A-line - to link the airport and downtown in fall 2009 with the addition of $16.5 million worth of new buses - helps create a more consistent network, says transit director Don Hull.

It comes as municipal transit gaps -- and historic underinvestment -- draw the attention of local observers, city staff and regional planners at the provincial agency Metrolinx.

"It's the first time in my career, and I've had a fairly lengthy one, that provincial, federal and municipal governments all align and are very supportive of enhanced public transit," Hull said.

Metrolinx was created by the government of Ontario to develop and implement a transportation system for the greater Toronto-Hamilton looking ahead 25 years.

In its latest white paper, Metrolinx notes that socio- economically disadvantaged groups are not well-served by transit and are isolated from employment areas.

After lobbying by citizens and Environment Hamilton, HSR determined that the Keith neighbourhood was underserved. This week, the first transit line added to the lower city in 25 years began life as the 12-Wentworth route.

Notable gaps still exist in the HSR web, including a lack of service to areas identified as "nodes" that will be a focus of future transit use.

"We've got four key nodes that are not being served right now: the airport, the waterfront, Ancaster business park, Stoney Creek business park, so those are foundation nodes we have to get service to."

Hull said another gap is in former municipalities. Outlying areas like Dundas and Flamborough pay less and get less HSR service than do city residents.

"The old municipalities and the tax structure still operate as six municipalities instead of one, so people in Stoney Creek pay a third of the transit tax rate of people in Hamilton," said Don McLean, of Environment Hamilton.

McLean, who doesn't own a car, says it's a challenge for Stoney Creek residents to travel all the way out Barton to Stoney Creek or to get north of the QEW.

Moving from one spot to another on the Mountain is tricky, because you may need to go toward downtown and then double back south again due to the radial nature of HSR, with downtown as a centre.

On weekends, for example, the 5 Delaware bus won't take a student from McMaster to Ancaster's Meadowlands power centre where they may want to see a movie.

"Getting people to work has been the priority. Weekend and evening service tends to be much less," McLean said.

"It says simply that we have been underfunding our transit for a long time."