Reecemartin
Active Member
I think getting people to say WOW is exactly the intention, I am SURE the feds will fund, feels like unnecessary drama
I think getting people to say WOW is exactly the intention, I am SURE the feds will fund, feels like unnecessary drama
The fact that Metrolinx was instructed to study such a ridiculous option shows that the province has no interest in building the line without Federal support. This proposal doesnt make any sense by any kind of metric that's used.
The province is adding this with it's subway program for a single big federal funding request. I fully expect the feds to announce by the end of the year a very significant ($10+b) contribution to the projects.The fact that Metrolinx was instructed to study such a ridiculous options shows that the province has no interest in building the line without Federal support. This proposal doesnt make any sense by any kind of metric that's used.
The Feds might as well just pony up here; they've been blowing money away day after day on one useless priority after another. Not to say that the Hamilton LRT is useless (because it's not), but if the Feds are willing to poor money away on things like interest forgiveness on the CERB then they might as well just fund this.
This whole thing is a giant ploy to shift costs off of the province onto the feds. What a way to save literally billions of dollars - get the Feds to pay for it!
My worry is that it'll take forever to extend this stub if we build it.
Trust me, politicians in Hamilton would find everyway not to extend this stub version of the LRT if it ever got built. They cant even agree on funding to have proper bus service throughout the city, and every year that alone is its own saga.It's far easier politically to extend an existing transit line than to build a brand new one from scratch.
The Sheppard subway would like to have a chat with you.It's far easier politically to extend an existing transit line than to build a brand new one from scratch.
Can I get a yikes?View attachment 299253
Their mandate was to look at how much transit could be acquired for $1B. An LRT from McMaster to Dundurn is only a thought experiment to make BRT look comparably better. Pretty much all of the BRT benefits in the business case stem from its longer route, which the Hamilton LRT would have if funding is matched (as Doug has proposed).
BTW, this proposal reminds me exactly of the Sheppard subway, which is why I brought it up: take a plan that nominally makes sense, chop it down to something that doesn't, point to the reduced ridership numbers and say "This is why <X> doesn't work". I've no confidence that the reduced plan is worth it (and I do believe Hamilton should have an LRT along the full route).
The SRT too. And the St. Clair streetcar.The Sheppard subway would like to have a chat with you.
It's a bit like putting in a $400k bid for a house then adding 30 years interest, property taxes, heating bills, maintenance, etc. and telling your parents you got a $1M house. Business does this all the time (compares full life-cycle cost of various options, with various cash-flow smoothing options), but for individuals who typically think in the present only, the values seem dramatically inflated.