Editorial: Getting council on board with Hamilton transit
- Robert
- 09 Feb 2015
It’s rapidly becoming evident that transit is the issue de jour. Nay – it’s likely THE political hot potato of the next few years. And so it should be. As the GTA and GHA are both starting to suffer from automobile conges- tion that rivals the levels seen in Los Angeles, it is impera- tive that our municipal and provincial governments find and fund better transit options. In a sadly ironic sequence of events in late January, Hamilton City Council voted to terminate the Transit-Only Lane (TOL or ‘bus lane’) on King Street in a narrow vote. Then, only a few days later, Mayor Fred Eisenberger met with Premier Kathleen Wynne and emerged with her promise for full provin- cial capital funding of either BRT or LRT rapid transit in Hamilton. (I’ve verified this with a source in the Premier’s office and Mayor Fred is right, it’s full funding for either mode of rapid transit.) Moving forward, however, Coun- cillor Chad Collins has apparently declared war on public transit in Hamilton. After bringing the motion to kill the bus lane pilot project, he has subsequently stated that he will vote against approving LRT in Hamilton regardless of what funding the Province is offering the City.
I’m confused.
Personally, if someone offered my city $811,000,000 to build new, ultra-modern transportation infrastructure, I wouldn’t need to think long and hard about it. It’s $811 million. On a cheque. With “Hamilton” written on it. What is there to debate — especially when it’s more efficient, stable, consistent, and sexy than any of the alternatives – including our current system? Granted, the residents of the outlying communities of Ancaster, Dundas, Glanbrook and Flamborough won’t enjoy LRT in their locales right away (but see future expansion routes – we have to start somewhere!), they will at least reap the financial benefits of a lower city that is better-equipped to pull its own finan- cial weight through the expanded tax base such invest- ment brings. Councillors of these outlying areas must understand and articulate the value that all areas of the city will gain from such transit improvements and their related economic benefits. You simply cannot complain about high property taxes in Waterdown while voting against the very investments that will enable downtown to pay its fair share.
The scary part, however, is that the vast majority of Hamilton City Council hasn’t hopped on the HSR (Hamil- ton Street Railway) in a very long time… if ever.
Environment Hamilton has launched a fun campaign to push City councillors to ride public transit in order to understand what exactly they’re voting on. It makes sense: how can someone who never uses public transit know the value of public transit? Councillors Collins and White- head remain steadfast: they will not ride the HSR. White- head states that this is because he won’t bow to pressure from activists. Awesome. Another word one might apply to these rowdies is “constituents”. Collins refuses to ride the HSR because, as he told CBC Hamilton, he has fam- ily obligations. He, like thousands of Hamiltonians has to bring his children to school. I’m not sure that Councillor Collins is understanding the point of this exercise… You see, thousands of Hamiltonians have children to bring to school but they aren’t City councillors earning $85,000 per year. They don’t have cars. They use, you guessed it: the HSR. Public transit isn’t something just for “poor peo- ple” who can’t afford cars. It’s for all Hamiltonians: rich, poor, uptown, downtown, students, professors, unem- ployed, millionaires. The asphalt roadways in Hamilton, however, are really only designed for those who can afford automobiles. Full stop.
No one is asking City Council to declare war on cars. No one is asking councillors to give up bringing their children to school. The simple question is whether or not council- lors are willing to truly make the effort to relate to and understand their constituents and their city as a whole. Then, once they have at least made such an effort, they will have earned the right to represent them by voting for, or against public transit improvements in Hamilton.
From where I sit, $811 million of transit improvements sounds like a no-brainer. But then again, I also thought that elected officials were elected to represent the peo- ple of their wards and their city. Let’s accept a good thing when it’s offered: please, City Council, let’s invest that $811,000,000 cheque in LRT for the sake of all of Hamilton.
Comments 0
There are no comments
Add comment