The Story So Far, why we need LRT more than ever | February 2014

Over several months of research, including studying examples from other cities and engaging over 1,600 Hamiltonians, the report came back with a strong recommendation to build LRT, integrate it with economic and neighbourhood development policies, and move quickly and decisively to get Provincial capital funding through the then-new Metrolinx transit authority.

The study found that LRT would deliver a real net advantage over BRT in attracting new riders, encouraging new private investment and revitalizing under-performing lower city neighbourhoods.

Also, while LRT is more expensive to build, it is much cheaper to operate than buses. This is because LRT vehicles are cheaper to fuel and last three or four times as long as buses with less wear and tear, and each LRT vehicle can carry many more passengers than a bus, reducing the operator cost.

But of all the advantages LRT has over BRT, the economic development potential is decisive: LRT is able to attract hundreds of millions of dollars in new private investment around the stations. All that new development makes more productive use of the civic infrastructure that is already built and significantly increases the city’s property tax revenue.

Council unanimously approved the recommendation and got to work on two connected projects: the 30% engineering and detailed design of the LRT system, and a concurrent secondary plan to encourage transit- oriented development along the line. Staff also engaged in a broad community engagement initiative across the city that showed overwhelming support from the public.

This two-pronged strategy was vital because the lesson from other cities is that LRT plans are a lot more successful when the line construction is coupled with zoning and building policies that encourage developers to take advantage of proximity to the stations.

In 2010, Metrolinx released its own comprehensive analysis on Hamilton’s LRT plan, a Benefits Case Analysis that also compared LRT to the cheaper BRT option. It concluded that LRT will provide a large net benefit in economic development, urban revitalization, environmental protection and superior user experience.

In 2012, as the City was completing its detailed LRT system design work, the McMaster Institute of Transportation and Logistics (MITL) published an independent study of 30 other North American cities that have built LRT lines for insights to apply to Hamilton’s plan.

It also concluded that LRT can provide a real net benefit to the city, as long as it is integrated with supporting land use planning – i.e. the secondary plan the city developed alongside the LRT design work.

Similar to the City Feasibility Study and the Metrolinx Benefits Case Analysis, MITL advised that the line will be more successful if it is implemented with two-way conversions and pedestrian-friendly street design to make the LRT a more accessible and attractive option.

Last year, City staff presented the mammoth Rapid Ready LRT report to Council, who approved it unanimously and submitted it to Metrolinx. The Province has already approved the plan and is waiting to decide on a funding strategy to pay for the next phase of Metrolinx projects, of which Hamilton’s LRT is near the top of the list.