Hamilton: General Service Discussion

[mdrejhon]

I'm not too concerned about Niagara Falls because:

Though, to be clear -- when I say Niagara Falls, I meant everything west of Confederation. St. Cat will be the biggest one, then the future Grimsby GO / Beamsville GO, and ultra-longterm, electrification to New York City. (50 year view). There's a lot of dominoes being set up, which will borne out under the pressure scenario of (A) 403 expansion (B) climate accords (C) regional master plans set into action. But yes, Niagara-Hamilton commute will potentially be far more useful than Niagara-Toronto in the 2041 scenario.

I think Hamilton needs to begin thinking big, and positioning itself as not a bedroom community for Toronto but as a major employment centre and rival to Toronto for the Golden Horseshoe's labour pool.

That, I agree on. Part of my Hamilton 2041 visualization exercise through the lens of the recent Metrolinx documents, was to attempt on this.

Now, veering (somewhat) little more into fantasymap stuff (since these routes aren't hinted/mentioned anywhere yet in any Metrolinx docs) -- I overlaid potential GO bus routes on Hamilton 2041 in this new image.

A good healthy connection to a theoretical Dundurn GO station will potentially be borderline miraculous upgrade to regional transportation including for Niagara residents. The theoretical Dundurn GO would be most expensive to build, but would connects to quite a lot of destinations:

1. Convergence of 403, LRT, GO
2. GO Train to Burlington/Toronto
3. GO Train to Downtown Hamilton
4. GO Bus to Brantford/London
5. GO Bus to Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge/Guelph
6. Hamilton B-Line LRT from McMaster thru Eastgate
7. Possibly Waterdown, L-Line of BLAST if it terminates there instead of downtown.

It might requiring building a bus terminal at Cathedral Park (which can then become a rooftop park flush to the redeveloped Dundurn Mall that doubles as the GO train station and B-Line LRT station.

 

[blaixx]

Hamilton looks to beef up HSR bus service on the Mountain, Upper Stoney Creek

But council will have to vote on continuing long-term transit improvement strategy without knowing what the future holds for LRT.

www.thespec.com

Proposed HSR changes this fall:
• Adult fare hike of five cents to $3.30;
• 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.

 

[mdrejhon]

After a while of dissapointments, the best bicycle day in #HamOnt

https://twitter.com/x/status/1268315324815998986

https://twitter.com/x/status/1268315327932387331

 

[DSC]

Not quite sure what this on the Ontario Regulatory Registry site means but...

Proposed Regulation Prescribing Hamilton Light Rail Transit (LRT) project as a Priority Transit Project under the Building Transit Faster Act, 2020
The Building Transit Faster Act, 2020 (BTFA) introduces measures that streamline project delivery and support the accelerated completion of the priority transit projects identified in the "New Subway Transit Plan for the GTA", and any other projects prescribed through regulation. MTO is proposing to establish a Lieutenant Governor in Council (LGIC) regulation that would prescribe Hamilton LRT Project as a priority transit project for the purpose of the BTFA.
Posting Date: March 8, 2021
Open for Comments: March 8, 2021 – April 23, 2021

 

[innsertnamehere]

It's adding the LRT to the BFTA in addition to the province's subway project.

The BFTA is a piece of legislation designed to streamline approvals and design processes to speed up construction and design of priority transit projects. It only applies to projects identified in the act however, which until now has only been the 5 provincial subway projects. Now it includes the Hamilton LRT as well.

 

[MiExpress]

Canada and Ontario invest in improved public transit for residents of Hamilton​

Backgrounder: Residents of Hamilton to benefit from improvements to public transit infrastructure​

Joint federal, provincial and municipal funding through the Investing in Canada plan will support seven public transit projects in the City of Hamilton.

The Government of Canada is investing over $201.8 million in these projects through the Public Transit Infrastructure Stream (PTIS) of the Investing in Canada infrastructure program, and the Government of Ontario is providing more than $168.2 million.

Project information

Project Name	Project Description	Federal Funding	Provincial Funding	Municipal Funding
Replacement of Birch Avenue Bridge and Associated Road Work /Construction of Salt Management Facility	Replacement of a rail bridge, the completion of associated road work, and the construction of a salt management facility. This includes the replacement of Birch Avenue bridge, the reconstruction of 800 metres of road, the installation of a storm water pump station and applicable pipe reconfiguration to manage road drainage, the installation of approximately 97 metres of the water main, and the construction of a salt management facility.	$15,986,000	$13,320,335	$10,658,666
Dispatching and AVL Hardware and Software Replacement	Installation of new dispatch and automatic vehicle location systems on buses in the transit fleet to provide automated real-time detour and service interruption information to transit users.	$3,600,000	$2,999,700	$2,400,300
Expansion of Transit Fleet to Support Service Growth	Purchase of up to 85 forty-foot Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses, which will enable the City of Hamilton to expand its fleet and increase public transit service by an additional 300,000 service hours by 2026, in accordance with the city's 10-Year Transit Strategy.	$29,333,600	$24,442,222	$19,558,178
Construction of Active Transportation Connections	Construction of an approximately 185 m active transportation bridge, 1.4 km of new bike paths, 420m of upgraded bike paths, 3.4 km of new multi-use connections to transit, and up to 500 new bike parking spaces (including sheltered and long-term secure parking). The project also includes 30 new bike-share stations, repairs to existing damaged bike-share stations, and approximately 17.8km of new sidewalks.	$3,920,000	$3,266,340	$2,613,660
Implement Priority Bus Measures along A-Line Corridor	Implementation of priority bus movement on the 16 km-long A-Line rapid transit route. Work includes the construction of five new queue jump lanes, the implementation of transit signal priority measures at approximately 26 intersections, improvements to approximately 19 transit stops along the corridor, and approximately 17 km of new sidewalk construction along 12 different segments of rapid transit roadway to provide improved active transportation connection options to public transit users.	$3,400,000	$2,833,050	$2,266,950
Replacement of Transit Fleet	Replacement of conventional buses in the Hamilton transit fleet. This involves the procurement of approximately 92 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses to replace buses that have reached the end of their lifecycle. This will include 40' buses (approximately 72) and 60' buses (approximately 20).	$45,630,800	$38,021,864	$30,424,336
New Maintenance & Storage Facility	Construction of a new 60,000 square metre public transit maintenance and storage facility. The facility will include a 30 bus maintenance area, two indoor compressed natural gas fueling lanes, 2 bus wash rack systems, storage for 200 conventional size buses, approximately 4,000 sq. m of administration space, and a four-level parking structure to accommodate approximately 400 parking spaces for employees.	$100,000,000	$83,325,000	$80,970,000

Note that the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program allows projects to be completed up to March 21, 2027, so these funds will be spent over the next 6 years, not immediately.

Also, for the item "Replacement of Transit Fleet", the total funding amount of $114 million is correct as per Hamilton's original ICIP funding request. However the number of buses being purchased is incorrect as the request was for 146 replacement buses totaling $114 million between now and 2027.

 

[Amare]

If anyone needed extra confirmation an election is coming this year, here's the proof.

This is definitely fantastic news for Hamilton and long overdue, the best news is obviously pertaining to the New Maintenance & Storage Facility and fleet expansion. Way long overdue, as it's been in the pipeline for 15+ years. Maybe this will help transform the HSR to a respectable transit authority, from the abysmal joke that it is today.

Now if only they can fully complete going into the 21st century by coming up with a half-decent website, improving the pathetic bus poles, and improving the half-baked glorified bus shelter that they call a downtown terminal

 

[innsertnamehere]

The downtown bus terminal won't be nearly as important with the LRT at least.

 

[ShonTron]

The downtown bus terminal won't be nearly as important with the LRT at least.

Not really. The only buses to disappear with the LRT coming online are the 10, and 51, and perhaps some service on the 1 King and 5 Delaware local routes. Most, if not all buses headed downtown from the Mountain will continue to do so, and loop downtown. Same with the 2 Barton, 3 Cannon, and 4 Bayfront.

I really don’t care about having a fancy central bus terminal in Hamilton because of the way the routes are set up. London doesn’t have a downtown transit terminal, and neither did Ottawa or Kingston. It’s not bad with the McNab Terminal and the 2 & 3 looping at the GO Centre.

 

[Amare]

Not really. The only buses to disappear with the LRT coming online are the 10, and 51, and perhaps some service on the 1 King and 5 Delaware local routes. Most, if not all buses headed downtown from the Mountain will continue to do so, and loop downtown. Same with the 2 Barton, 3 Cannon, and 4 Bayfront.

I really don’t care about having a fancy central bus terminal in Hamilton because of the way the routes are set up. London doesn’t have a downtown transit terminal, and neither did Ottawa or Kingston. It’s not bad with the McNab Terminal and the 2 & 3 looping at the GO Centre.

The problem with MacNab is the inadequate shelter space it offers for protection from the elements. In addition, both the terminal building and the platform size are adequate in size for the amount of passengers that it serves.

MacNab doesnt necessarily have to be fancy but with the amount of routes that serve the terminal and the # of passengers that use it, the current design doesnt cut it. I'll put it this way, their a cities in North America whom's downtown terminals are literal palaces (ie: Detroit) and the demand at those terminals are literally a fraction of what MacNab sees on a daily basis.

As for Ottawa and London; Ottawa paid the price for not having a proper downtown terminal for years with buses being lined up and congested trying to enter to downtown core, while London is in the same realm as Hamilton treating their transit as a joke so that shouldn't surprise anyone.

 

[blaixx]

HSR service changes for September have been announced (link). Most notably, improvements to the A-Line:

Route 20 A-Line frequency is increasing to every 15 minutes during weekday morning and afternoon peak periods. Service hours will also expand to include weekday evenings until approximately 10 pm with 30-minute frequency.

A-Line’s improved frequency will enable customers to connect to the new all-day hourly GO train service out of West Harbour GO Station to Union Station.

And to make the A-Line even more convenient, the route has extended to include stops at the new Amazon Fulfillment Centre, in both north and southbound directions to John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport.

Previously the last bus to downtown from the airport was 5:50pm (direct) or 7:30pm with a transfer. This has been extended to 8:30pm and 10:20pm respectively.
There is also a 4 minute detour to stop at the Amazon warehouse but this is near the end of the line so it only affects passengers going to the airport.

 

[christiesplits]

The problem with MacNab is the inadequate shelter space it offers for protection from the elements. In addition, both the terminal building and the platform size are adequate in size for the amount of passengers that it serves.

MacNab doesnt necessarily have to be fancy but with the amount of routes that serve the terminal and the # of passengers that use it, the current design doesnt cut it. I'll put it this way, their a cities in North America whom's downtown terminals are literal palaces (ie: Detroit) and the demand at those terminals are literally a fraction of what MacNab sees on a daily basis.

As for Ottawa and London; Ottawa paid the price for not having a proper downtown terminal for years with buses being lined up and congested trying to enter to downtown core, while London is in the same realm as Hamilton treating their transit as a joke so that shouldn't surprise anyone.

MacNab Terminal is only, what, 7 years old? It has aged terribly. Of course, a downtown bus terminal is going to see a lot of wear and tear, but maintenance has not been keeping up. The indoor space has a mishmash of bad signage and the outdoor benches are peeling.

HSR service changes for September have been announced (link). Most notably, improvements to the A-Line:

Previously the last bus to downtown from the airport was 5:50pm (direct) or 7:30pm with a transfer. This has been extended to 8:30pm and 10:20pm respectively.
There is also a 4 minute detour to stop at the Amazon warehouse but this is near the end of the line so it only affects passengers going to the airport.

This is great. Is this primarily a benefit for the airport employees? I understand that there has been a huge hiring spree with the expanded cargo operations.

 

[Amare]

MacNab Terminal is only, what, 7 years old? It has aged terribly. Of course, a downtown bus terminal is going to see a lot of wear and tear, but maintenance has not been keeping up. The indoor space has a mishmash of bad signage and the outdoor benches are peeling.

MacNab is a joke of a terminal. Frankly it wasnt designed to withstand all the elements the city gets on an annual basis, and some of the amenities are just outright cheap (ie: the benches).

Of course it's better than the old dingy garbage that was there before, but make no mistake the current iteration is a cheapout.

But Hamilton and the HSR are content with treating transit like an afterthought so whatever I guess.

 

[sche]

Apologies for reviving this thread, but..

I was looking at transit system maps for fun and I was trying to find an HSR system map, but have so far failed. The newest map I can find is from December 2019. Has Hamilton seriously stopped publishing actual system maps or is it buried impossibly far on their (incredibly bad) website somewhere?

 

[blaixx]

Apologies for reviving this thread, but..

I think they just stopped updating the map which is unfortunate. The last time I checked the website before the redesign, it was the December 2019 map so I don't think there is a newer one.