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It’s taken 8 years of public protest and debate, but later this month Hamilton council will sit down to plan the next step in the road to building an LRT..
While many of us have heard about LRT, few have actually had a chance to see how it works, so Donna Skelly travelled to Buffalo to check out their system.
Buffalo is often cited as an example where LRT has not worked. It is described as a rail to nowhere that failed to attract investment or boost the city’s economy. But much like Hamilton, Buffalo is undergoing a bit of a renaissance and the LRT is playing a key role.
Buffalo’s LRT is a 10 kilometre long track that moves about 20 000 people a day on rails both above and below the ground. The system opened in 1985 at a cost of $500 million with dreams of boosting the local economy. But that didn’t happen for 30 years.
“The subway is finally doing what it is designed to do 30 or 35 years ago and that is to get people back and forth to work and at the same time be a catalyst for development.” said Bob McCarthy from the Buffalo News.
Much like Hamilton, Buffalo’s economy has shifted from manufacturing to medicine and the LRT is playing a key role. But in Buffalo it took 3 decades. Hamilton expects an immediate impact. Hamilton mayor Fred Eisenberger shared his thoughts.
“I think it’s a totally different scenario. Buffalo, when they started the LRT, ran right into an economic downturn and then lost half of their population.their growth pattern has been on the decline not on the increase.”
Buffalo transit authorities say key to a successful system is to minimize the number of times a rider has to change seats. Hamilton’s LRT route achieves that. It will allow a rider to board the King Street line and travel directly to the new West Harbour GO station.
A section of Buffalo’s LRT line is called the free fare zone. That means that anyone who rides this above ground portion of the LRT can board and disembark, at any point, free of charge.
But officials don’t expect anyone in Hamilton to get a free ride, with fares expected to mirror what’s currently charged on the HSR.
Buffalo transit officials have advice for Hamilton though. Keep the tracks above ground, subways are too costly and remind the public of the longterm benefits.
“There will be noise. There will be dust. But that impact is temporary and then once you get that operation up and running all the people it can bring to your business is a big plus.” said Executive Director of Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, Kimberley Minkel.
Another piece of advice, identify a permanent , sustainable source of funding.
“This is not going to be a city of Hamilton rail line. This is going to be the province of Ontario’s rail line. They’re going to pay for the operating costs, they’re going to pay for the construction costs. They’re going to pay for the longer term maintenance. They’re going to own this line.” said Eisenberger.
And 30 years from now, the hope is we’ll be looking back on a track record of success.
