Hamilton feels transit pinch2 per cent ridership drop costs $600,000
Nicole MacIntyre, Hamilton Spectator
Hamilton’s job losses are also hurting the city’s transit system.
Ridership is down 2 per cent — a $600,000 budget hit.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s connected to the economy,” said transit director Don Hull.
Increased unemployment means fewer people travelling in general, he said, noting other cities with high job losses have also seen a ridership dip.
If cities haven’t seen a drop, it’s likely because they’ve had new service come on line, noted Hull.
Toronto’s ridership, for example, is up nearly 3 per cent. Observers point to service enhancements that started in the last year.
Across the country, it appears transit ridership is holding steady, a welcome surprise given the poor economy, said Michael Roschlau, president of the Canadian Urban Transit Association.
He also credits service improvements and suspects the figures would be much worse without recent investments.
The association is still waiting for firm numbers, but has heard anecdotally from many communities, he said.
Roschlau cautions against cities slashing services to make up for the budget shortfalls. Cuts now will only leads to further ridership losses and mean a longer recovery, he said.
“You start to get in a downward spiral.”
Hull said the city has no plans for cuts, but hopes savings from lower gas prices will offset the lost fare revenue.
Scott Gardner, the Hamilton SpectatorA city trapped in traffic paralysisMid-afternoon 403 crash chokes Hamilton roads for hours
Daniel Nolan
One mid-afternoon accident on the eastbound 403 Thursday literally turned Hamilton into a parking lot.
Major arteries across the lower city and Mountain ground to a halt in a chain reaction of congestion as traffic first backed up on the 403, then onto Main Street and then throughout the city as police closed the highway and then Linc.
Hours after the 2 p.m. accident that left a London man in critical condition, routes across the Mountain were still backed up for kilometres as drivers tried to get across the city. The Linc was closed to stop traffic reaching the 403. And police were urging Toronto-bound motorists to take the Linc, Red Hill and QEW to get around the stopper in the bottle.
But even that didn’t help as a pair of accidents on the QEW created a perfect storm of congestion.
The worst was at rush-hour last night when traffic was backed up for miles. Some reported seeing people relaxing on their cars and talking to their parked neighbours.
Hamilton police closed eight on-ramps to prevent traffic from getting onto the eastbound lanes of the 403. It shut down ramps between Upper James Street on the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway and King Street on the 403, just a few kilometres west of the accident scene.
Those caught behind the accident were backed up and brought on to the Main Street on-ramp in front of The Hamilton Spectator.
"Everybody is just parked on the highway and we're trying to get everybody moving," said Staff Sergeant George Narozniak.
To make matters worse, the Niagara-bound lanes of the Queen Elizabeth Way in Beamsville were closed for 90 minutes following two separate collisions at about 6:30 p.m. One involved a collision between a van and a tractor on the South Service Road, between Bartlett and Sann Road. A person was airlifted to Hamilton General Hospital in serious condition.
And a third accident in Stoney Creek also caused serious injuries. Two vehicles crashed head-on at about 4:30 p.m. on the South Service Road, near Jones Road. One person was initially in critical condition, but improved last night. Two others were taken to hospital. The South Service Road was closed to traffic for a short time.
The London, Ont., man was ejected from his pickup truck when it rolled over during the Highway 403 accident, just before 2 p.m. Witnesses say his truck rolled a few times on the highway near the York Boulevard on-ramp and landed on its roof. He was taken by ambulance to the Hamilton General Hospital. He was in critical condition this morning.
A taxi cab and a SUV were also involved. The drivers were not injured and the vehicles sustained minor damage. The accident is now being probed by the OPP Traffic Support Unit.
The crash caused two other accidents. A tanker-truck and a pickup truck collided on the 403 shortly after the first crash, just west of the accident scene. There were no injuries. An OPP officer rushing to the first accident lost control of his cruiser and crashed into a ditch on Highway 6, between Highway 5 and Highway 403. The officer received minor injuries.
More than $2 million in federal and provincial infrastructure grants is paving the way for construction of a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists across the Lincoln Alexander Parkway at Arbour Road and the start of a 10-kilometre east Mountain trail loop that will eventually cross the bridge.
Just under $1 million is coming from a federal-provincial program, and $1 million-plus for the bridge from Investing in Ontario.
The federal-provincial money will also pay for energy-efficient washrooms in the new Eramosa Karst Conservation Area and expansion of the Fifty Point Conservation Area campground in Winona.
The bridge is a City of Hamilton project, the campground and karst land belong to the Hamilton Conservation Authority and the trail loop is a joint effort.
The trail, intended to compensate for open space lost to the Red Hill Valley Parkway, will one day connect Felker's Falls Conservation Area, Paramount Park, Glendale Falls, Albion Falls Park, Mount Albion Conservation Area, the karst conservation area and Valley Park.
The partners will call tenders for the first two kilometres as soon as permission is obtained from the Niagara Escarpment Commission.
The first of four phases will run from Felker's Falls west to the top of the parkway near Glendale Falls, connecting to trails through Red Hill Valley that will extend to Lake Ontario once a planned pedestrian bridge is built across the QEW.
Sandy Bell, the authority's manager of design and development, said Fifty Point will add 24 serviced sites to its existing 46 to meet growing demand.
Rob Norman, the city's manager of open space development and parks planning, says the Arbour Road bridge will serve as a hub connecting the Escarpment Rail Trail, Bruce Trail, Red Hill Valley Trail and the Chippawa Trail leading south to Caledonia.
