[CompassIC]

HSR Update from Compass Information Centre

By DANIELLE LORENZ; COMPASS INTERNAL COORDINATOR

Denise Davy of the Hamilton Spectator reports that there is a proposed motion by the Hamilton Street Railway (HSR)

to increase bus fare by an additional thirty cents as of January. Although this will not impact full-time undergraduate students for this academic year, the increase will have a large affect on part-time undergraduate students, McMaster University Staff and some graduate programs.

The current cost of a monthly pass is $79.00, a strip of five tickets costs $9.25 (or $1.85 each) and a single fare is $2.40. I last reported about this issue when the HSR raised their fares January 1st 2008, the adult monthly pass increased 21% from its previous price of $71.00; while a strip of bus tickets used to cost $8.75. Their previous price increase was June 2007, when a single ride was $2.10, and a monthly pass was $65.00. If this motion is passed it means in twelve months public transportation in Hamilton would have increased by sixty cents.

For those who are not covered by the U-Pass, this fare hike will amount of money spent in a short amount of time. However, the HSR fare increase will also impact those who rely on the MSU bus pass.

As reported by Joey Coleman, the U-Pass for undergraduate students in the 2008-2009 academic year cost $94.80. For 2009-2010 the projected cost is $102.70, while for 2010-2011 it is $110.60. In contrast, the bus pass for 2007-2008 was $71.50. But as a first year the bus pass was only $67.50 of my student fees.

As you can tell, prices seem to be increasing rather steadily, and I’m sure you’re not the only one who is upset about it. Each year the price is projected to increase by 10% of the monthly cost starting at 120% for 2007-2008 and ending at 140% for 2010-2011. At that time another referenda will be held to determine if the student body wishes to continue having a bus pass as part of their student fees.

However, the prices for the next two years were only an estimate when the HSR released their report in February 2008. They stated that if the price of an adult monthly fare increases so will the cost of the U-Pass. 23 000 students have a U-Pass, which works out to an average of thirteen trips per user per month. Approximately 2.5 million trips are taken during the academic year using the HSR bus pass.

The new fare price will amount to $2.70 which is only five cents less than the TTC in Toronto. The TTC covers a much larger geographic area, and includes subway, streetcar and bus travel at that cost.

City councilors will be meeting November 14th to discuss the possible transit hike, which may come into effect as early as January 2009.

MacInsiders will be updating you on this matter as soon as more information comes available. You can also visit the Compass desk in MUSC, check out the Compass website, or email staff at [email protected] ca.

[lorend]

All I can say is booooo!

[davey]

If its going towards better service and LRT I say yay. It'll benefit future mac students in the longrun (though it may be wayyy in the future), as well as hamilton as a whole.

However, i think its important to take into consideration any correlation between fare increases and ridership.

[CompassIC]

We will see, dvy88.

You can also find more information about this at the Compass desk in MUSC.

[davey]

I'm very optimistic about LRT in Hamilton, and the Move Ontario 2020 initiative. There is evidence of economic development that comes LRT construction, so the way I see it, any money that is put forth towards a faster, more dedicated mode of transportation will also attract future investments in the city.

I just hope that mac students will be able to see their short term losses as opportunities for long term gains in the greater community.

[kokosas]

I understand your positive outlook and it's great but all I can say is boo. I know it will help Mac students in the future but to be honest... it's not going to help me at all and only pisses me off. Not to mention that I have no investment in this city outside the fact that McMaster happens to be here. I really don't like Hamilton at all, so the fact that the LRT might bring in more investment to Hamilton isn't a concern for me.

And Danielle is right, the TTC offers a WAY better service (having grown up in T.O) for 5 cents more what the HSR is going to be charging us? The HSR service is crap! It's always slow, often late, there's been talk about taking bus service out of the campus (although I'm not sure if that's the HSR's choice, someone feel free to correct me) and Sunday services hardly even exists! Granted it's Sunday but c'mon, we live in a modern world where not everyone drops what they have to do just because it's sunday! For students coming into Mac in the mornings it's terrible. If the HSR wants our money so bad, why don't they add more buses to the morning route so it's not a sardine can in the morning? Have more buses running on Sundays, actually be on time or near to it.

[davey]

Originally Posted by kokosas

And Danielle is right, the TTC offers a WAY better service (having grown up in T.O) for 5 cents more what the HSR is going to be charging us? The HSR service is crap!

To be fair, Hamilton is approximately 1/5 of Toronto's population. Even so, I doubt that we get funding that is equivalent to 1/5 of TTC funding so we cant exactly expect that much.

Originally Posted by kokosas

It's always slow, often late, there's been talk about taking bus service out of the campus (although I'm not sure if that's the HSR's choice, someone feel free to correct me)

Yeah, thats mostly a mac decision.

Originally Posted by kokosas

and Sunday services hardly even exists! Granted it's Sunday but c'mon, we live in a modern world where not everyone drops what they have to do just because it's sunday! For students coming into Mac in the mornings it's terrible. If the HSR wants our money so bad, why don't they add more buses to the morning route so it's not a sardine can in the morning? Have more buses running on Sundays, actually be on time or near to it.

I completely understand the frustration here (I experience it myself!), but in order to run more frequent service, the HSR needs to make money. I'm sure there is a good reason why they dont run as many buses on Sundays, and its probably because the routes aren't profitable enough.

All in all, Hamilton is a pretty car-dependent city. Hamilton's population density is much lower than Toronto's and the city encompasses alot of sprawl. However, its nice to know that the city is at least taking steps to provide for better services that integrate the city as a whole, one of which includes fare hikes.

[kokosas]

Originally Posted by dvy88

To be fair, Hamilton is approximately 1/5 of Toronto's population. Even so, I doubt that we get funding that is equivalent to 1/5 of TTC funding so we cant exactly expect that much.

You said yourself that Hamilton has a lot of sprawl, so things are a lot less accessible for those without cars. A good chunk of the Hamilton population is either on the line of poverty or under it, and then there's us students. Between those two large chunks of people there's a lot of reliance on the HSR, which falls short, yet continues to hike it's prices. Even though the population is much smaller, everything is spread out and therefore hard to get to. They can't just pick up buildings and make them closer together, so improve the bus services instead

Originally Posted by dvy88

Yeah, thats mostly a mac decision.

I've recently been told otherwise, but I'm not positive on it so I'll just leave it alone until I know more.

Originally Posted by dvy88

I completely understand the frustration here (I experience it myself!), but in order to run more frequent service, the HSR needs to make money. I'm sure there is a good reason why they dont run as many buses on Sundays, and its probably because the routes aren't profitable enough.

But taking money from students who already don't have enough isn't going to solve the problem either because by the next referendum more and more students are going to say screw it, it's not worth it for me. And then those who actually DO really need the bus pass get royally screwed. I'm sure the HSR can find more funding in other ways besides to hike up the price of their fares in a city that already has a crap load of poverty. I know that Hamilton is hard up for cash but they should be able to do at least something to help out. This vague incentive of the service getting 'better' is not enough for me, if I had seen improvements from the last few increases that would be a different story but nothing has changed and I'm tired of paying for a crap service.

[aj-maxx]

I think I have the answer as to why HSR wants to increase the Ticket Prices....They want air fresheners to make the bus not smell like fish and chips ..YUCK!

On a serious note though....If this happens, MAC is going down at the risk of being troll-called
A. Brandon Fire
B. No Transit System

Hamilton....na-ah...Ham-Hell-Ton....yeah...

Well if MAC goes down...Ham-Hell-Ton goes down too...apparently the town would be much worse if it had no students spending all that crazy money to run the economy.

[Chad]

Raising prices is fine, but there needs to be a reasoning behind the price hikes and in my opinion we, the customers, need to get something out of it.

I don't see why the price has gone up so much in the last year, each increase being quite drastic - especially the price for the single bus trip. What is the cause of the drastic increase? Gas prices? The new cost of replacing all those bus shelters with new ones? The cost of redoing the stickers with the new phone extensions? The service itself doesn't appear to be getting any better than it is already since the last increase, and we seem to be losing bus service at mac rather than gaining any.

If they are showing a plan of increased buses, better service, a portion of the money going to LRT development, and/or other benefits to not only students but all their customers then the price hikes would make sense and I'm sure more people would support them. But I haven't seen that yet.. unless there is something I've missed?

[lorend]

No Chad, you're not missing anything.

I am positive that there will be a huge backlash from the Hamilton community about this fare increase, because as Sabrina mentioned many Hamiltonians live close to the poverty line (it's the first thing that's said in the article from the Spec).

I suppose we'll have to see if the city councilors can justify this fare hike. I also wonder if the meeting is an open one...

[davey]

Originally Posted by kokosas

A good chunk of the Hamilton population is either on the line of poverty or under it, and then there's us students. Between those two large chunks of people there's a lot of reliance on the HSR, which falls short, yet continues to hike it's prices.

This is why the HSR is offering an Affordable Transit Program for low income individuals that can save these individuals 50% on monthly passes. Also, even after the fare increase, students are still getting an amazing deal for a bus pass that lasts them 8 months.

Originally Posted by kokosas

This vague incentive of the service getting 'better' is not enough for me, if I had seen improvements from the last few increases that would be a different story but nothing has changed and I'm tired of paying for a crap service.

The HSR has opened three new routes in the city this year. This improvement is only vague to you because you probably dont use these routes but for individuals living near the Wentworth, Rymal, and Waterdown routes will definitely see the improvement. Sure, Mac is definitely a key transit destination, but Hamilton has alot of different communities to serve due to its sprawling nature.

[fullsmash26]

Originally Posted by kokosas

I've recently been told otherwise, but I'm not positive on it so I'll just leave it alone until I know more.

It was the decision of the University to remove the buses from campus. Basically, the City told the University they can't run trucks down Sterling St whenever they want. The University threatened to remove buses from the campus if the City enforced the new trucking bylaw.

The City enforced the bylaw. The University followed through on its threat and the Beeline was removed.

[fullsmash26]

Originally Posted by dvy88

The HSR has opened three new routes in the city this year. This improvement is only vague to you because you probably dont use these routes but for individuals living near the Wentworth, Rymal, and Waterdown routes will definitely see the improvement. Sure, Mac is definitely a key transit destination, but Hamilton has alot of different communities to serve due to its sprawling nature.

Other than the Wentworth bus, the new routes go from nowhere to nowhere. They are not well used.

The Rymal bus is limited service and doesn't go to Redeemer.

The Waterdown bus misses most of the GO Trains and actually leaves 3 minutes before the train arrives at Aldershot a few times during the day.

[fullsmash26]

There used to be a provision in the UPass contract that a large increase in the monthly fare would trigger a referendum at McMaster if students wish to continue to pay for the UPass

I don't know if this exists anymore as the current contract is now a secret document and the MSU hasn't made it publicly available.