I really desperately need help with the HSR; I cannot seem to understand it.

Today I needed to get from McMaster to St. Peter's Hospital to the police station to McMaster again. I found the itineraries on the HSR website and figured out the way but found out, when walking to the terminal, that the Medical Terminal was out of service.
So I was directed across the street to take a "05 Delaware" bus. But the 5C apparently does not stop near St. Peter's - That's the 5A.
I ended up not going anywhere because I'm deathly paranoid when it comes to getting lost on public transit. (The GO doesn't count. That's not public transit; that's a freaking bed for however long you're on it)

I figured out that I can walk 30 minutes to St. Peter's and 30 minutes back to Mac and then figure out a way to the police station from there, so I'm a bit calmer about that though I'd still like to find a way to get to St. Peter's by bus

Secondly and more importantly, I have an appointment at Chedoke on Thursday at 2:00 PM and I need to get there somehow. I've been told (and this was transcribed as the operator spoke):

Delaware along Main; downtown. Near Main and James. On James Street catch 33 Sanatorium will take to Chedoke. James and Jackson street: next light south of Main. 33 Sanatorium.

which is just equivalent to gibberish to me.

I have 5 HSR tickets and I will gladly ride the bus WITH somebody who wishes to join me, tickets paid for or attentively try your suggestions on Wednesday of this week.
I just don't want a repeat of today where I just gave up after the 5C driver told me some more transit abbreviations and directions that I could not understand and defeatedly went back to the GO bus.

Thank you S much for your time.

Edit: If you are up to a trip to Chedoke with me, lunch is on me.

First of all you definitely need a map! GoogleMaps is pretty good. If you can just McMaster University and your destinations on the same screen, you will have a better idea of where you're going. You might even want to print out the map so that when you get off the bus you can figure your way around.

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

I really desperately need help with the HSR; I cannot seem to understand it.

Today I needed to get from McMaster to St. Peter's Hospital to the police station to McMaster again. I found the itineraries on the HSR website and figured out the way but found out, when walking to the terminal, that the Medical Terminal was out of service.
So I was directed across the street to take a "05 Delaware" bus. But the 5C apparently does not stop near St. Peter's - That's the 5A.

Okay, let's do this in parts:

1. McMaster to St. Peter's
You won't want to walk that =S...that's really far! St. Peter's is on a street that's just off of Main St, so yeah, take 5A towards downtown. You can't take 5C because 5C only goes westbound (simply put = the WRONG direction!). The 5A will take you down Main St. If you googlemap "88 Maplewood Ave, Hamilton, ON", which is the address of St. Peter's, you can see which streets are nearby, so you'll know where to get off. Or you could just use the HSR website using the route schedules, and not the trip planner.

2. St. Peter's to Police Station
The Police Station is on 155 King William, which is downtown, so you would have to walk up north to King Street (look on the map) because Main St is one-way eastbound, while King is one-way westbound = right direction. Find the nearest bus stop on King St. when you get there and take the 5C back towards Mac. Get off at King St./Walnut and walk up Walnut to King William. Once again a map will come in VERY handy so you don't get lost.

3. Police Station to McMaster
You've chosen a pretty simple route because you don't need to change buses much! Just go back to the stop you got off when you were going to the police station and take the 5C again to Mac.

Secondly and more importantly, I have an appointment at Chedoke on Thursday at 2:00 PM and I need to get there somehow. I've been told (and this was transcribed as the operator spoke):

Ah Chedoke. I have a shortcut but it's not good if you're not familiar with the area. The proper way is to take any bus downtown from Mac (I'll just choose 5A for the sake of simplicity), get off at Main/James, and take the 33 southbound on James Street (the bus stop is on the same side of the road as where you get off). Okay I am basically copying what the person told you, but it is really that simple as long as you look at a map.

Oh P.S. Googlemaps also contains HSR, which is really helpful because it shows you exactly how the bus is taking you! e.g. http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&s addr=Hamilton,+Ontari o+L8S+1C7+(McMaster+U niversity)&daddr=sana torium+road&hl=en&geo code=FUsQlAIdNIo8-yEOKi7z_bYmjA%3B&gl=c a&mra=ls&dirflg=r&tty pe=dep&date=10%2F07%2 F05&time=17:30&noexp= 0&noal=0&sort=&sll=43 .244953,-79.909744&sspn=0.0642 72,0.154324&ie=UTF8&z =14&start=0

Also, for Chedoke, which building are you going to? Because the hospital is more like a campus rather than a building...the building will make a huge difference as to where you get off the bus.

Hope that helps a bit! I wish I could go with you for the Chedoke one because that's really tricky, but I can't! Sorry!

Originally Posted by nh999

First of all you definitely need a map! GoogleMaps is pretty good. If you can just McMaster University and your destinations on the same screen, you will have a better idea of where you're going. You might even want to print out the map so that when you get off the bus you can figure your way around.




Okay, let's do this in parts:

1. McMaster to St. Peter's
You won't want to walk that =S...that's really far! St. Peter's is on a street that's just off of Main St, so yeah, take 5A towards downtown. You can't take 5C because 5C only goes westbound (simply put = the WRONG direction!). The 5A will take you down Main St. If you googlemap "88 Maplewood Ave, Hamilton, ON", which is the address of St. Peter's, you can see which streets are nearby, so you'll know where to get off. Or you could just use the HSR website using the route schedules, and not the trip planner.

2. St. Peter's to Police Station
The Police Station is on 155 King William, which is downtown, so you would have to walk up north to King Street (look on the map) because Main St is one-way eastbound, while King is one-way westbound = right direction. Find the nearest bus stop on King St. when you get there and take the 5C back towards Mac. Get off at King St./Walnut and walk up Walnut to King William. Once again a map will come in VERY handy so you don't get lost.

3. Police Station to McMaster
You've chosen a pretty simple route because you don't need to change buses much! Just go back to the stop you got off when you were going to the police station and take the 5C again to Mac.


Ah Chedoke. I have a shortcut but it's not good if you're not familiar with the area. The proper way is to take any bus downtown from Mac (I'll just choose 5A for the sake of simplicity), get off at Main/James, and take the 33 southbound on James Street (the bus stop is on the same side of the road as where you get off). Okay I am basically copying what the person told you, but it is really that simple as long as you look at a map.

Oh P.S. Googlemaps also contains HSR, which is really helpful because it shows you exactly how the bus is taking you! e.g. http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&s addr=Hamilton,+Ontari o+L8S+1C7+(McMaster+U niversity)&daddr=sana torium+road&hl=en&geo code=FUsQlAIdNIo8-yEOKi7z_bYmjA%3B&gl=c a&mra=ls&dirflg=r&tty pe=dep&date=10%2F07%2 F05&time=17:30&noexp= 0&noal=0&sort=&sll=43 .244953,-79.909744&sspn=0.0642 72,0.154324&ie=UTF8&z =14&start=0

Also, for Chedoke, which building are you going to? Because the hospital is more like a campus rather than a building...the building will make a huge difference as to where you get off the bus.

Hope that helps a bit! I wish I could go with you for the Chedoke one because that's really tricky, but I can't! Sorry!

This has helped an immense amount though and I really appreciate it
Thanks so much
I have a few questions though:
A. What is "downtown Hamilton"?
B. What does "one way eastbound" and "one way westbound" mean?

Uh... the 5C goes westbound.... how do you think it gets back up to Mac?

Downtown Hamilton is basically King and James (ie: that bus terminal area right near Jackson Square)

One way westbound and one way eastboundmeans exactly what it sounds like. Once you're at the dundurn area (east side of hamilton), main street only runs one way for cars/busses which is east bound. And king street only runs one way for cars and busses and it's westbound (ie: toward mac)

2. St. Peter's to Police Station
The Police Station is on 155 King William, which is downtown, so you would have to walk up north to King Street (look on the map) because Main St is one-way eastbound, while King is one-way westbound = right direction. Find the nearest bus stop on King St. when you get there and take the 5C back towards Mac. Get off at King St./Walnut and walk up Walnut to King William. Once again a map will come in VERY handy so you don't get lost.

If you're already in the downtown area and need to head west (ie: toward mac), then you don't just need to wait for the 5C. Any of the 5s will do, and the 52, and the 51, and the 1A... The difference is only when you pass the bridge (aka the dundurn area)...

BASICALLY, If you're on the east side of town and need to head west but are still getting off at a stop on the east side of town, then any of those previously mentioned bus numbers will take you there.

Well I got a HSR map from Compass and I made it to Chedoke pretty safely. I'll be heading to the police station another day. You're right; maps do make all the difference. I never knew that buses had displays, or perhaps I was always too distracted to notice. That definitely made life easier (Y)

google maps is the best thing ever, just sayin'.

SOME buses do have displays, but in Hamilton I think it is a minority (assuming you mean the screens inside that show the name of the next stop). The reason you hadn't noticed them before is likely because none of the ones you were on before had them. They are handy, but being as only a minority of buses have them, don't come to rely on them to direct you in the right direction.

Originally Posted by Maitland

SOME buses do have displays, but in Hamilton I think it is a minority (assuming you mean the screens inside that show the name of the next stop). The reason you hadn't noticed them before is likely because none of the ones you were on before had them. They are handy, but being as only a minority of buses have them, don't come to rely on them to direct you in the right direction.

You could always do it the old fashion way and ask the bus driver when your stop is.

Originally Posted by jhan523

You could always do it the old fashion way and ask the bus driver when your stop is.

agreed, bus drivers are usually quite helpful. try to stay near the front of the bus, though. if the bus ends up being full, it'll be hard to squeeze your way up front.

That's what I did on the 3 trips I made on Thursday. Some were pretty rude though so I don't like relying on them. I prefer using Streetview to remember landmarks close to my stops and/or stopping a few stops ahead if I know I can walk the distance.

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

That's what I did on the 3 trips I made on Thursday. Some were pretty rude though so I don't like relying on them. I prefer using Streetview to remember landmarks close to my stops and/or stopping a few stops ahead if I know I can walk the distance.

HSR drivers are douchey; especially the ones that have to pick up teenagers day in and day out... I just google maps + HSR map + iPod screencapture to find my way around the city.

https://www.msumcmaster.ca/servicesa...o/overview.htm

Is pretty good too for future ref.

Originally Posted by Maitland

SOME buses do have displays, but in Hamilton I think it is a minority (assuming you mean the screens inside that show the name of the next stop). The reason you hadn't noticed them before is likely because none of the ones you were on before had them. They are handy, but being as only a minority of buses have them, don't come to rely on them to direct you in the right direction.

Every HSR bus has a display (except possibly for the ones used for school extras for public schools...), and should announce the name of each upcoming stop (for a while, it was off and on, but it seems they all announce now).

From when is our sticker/bus pass valid this fall?

Originally Posted by rcrw88

HSR drivers are douchey; especially the ones that have to pick up teenagers day in and day out

Theres the one guy with the weird mustache that drives the 5 thats pretty awesome. He's always chipper, says good morning/afternoon/evening when you get on, offers transfers, etc, and says goodbye if you leave by the front doors.