Hamilton City Council’s General Issues Committee reviews transit budget presentation

Hamilton, ON – Earlier today, Hamilton City Council’s General Issues Committee considered the 2019 budget request from the Hamilton Street Railway (HSR). Staff provided Committee with a summary of the 10 year transit strategy and its assumptions, a number of measures to compare HSR with other Ontario transit agencies serving populations of a similar size, a status update on Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF) projects, and a look ahead into 2019.

Over the past nine years, City Council has supported more than $220 million in capital and operating investments in Hamilton’s transit system. This has translated into almost 185,000 additional service hours, 134 more staff, and 48 additional buses. These ongoing investments contributed to notable improvements for customers including:

• Upgrades and repairs to approximately 500 transit shelters
• Updated trip planner website and a suite of products (HSRnow) that provide real-time, 24/7 access to service information, including alerts for customers through multiple channels, providing real-time data when and where  its needed
• WiFi on buses pilot
• New hoist and garage door replacements at the Mountain Transit Centre
• Automatic passenger counters that help staff gather more data to ensure we are providing service that meets the needs of our customers

Quick facts about HSR service in 2018

• Provided more than 21,522,000 rides
• Travelled almost 16,700,000 kilometers – 595 round trips to Hamilton, New Zealand
• Drove more than 878,000 hours
• Collected $41.3 million in revenue

Council will consider implementing year four of the Strategy, in order to, refine service standards and prepare for growth. If approved, year four will result in 11 additional buses, 30 new staff, and an additional 39,000 service hours. The total annualized cost to implement year four of the strategy is $4.5 million, annualized over two years ($1.8million in 2019). It also calls for a fare increase of $0.10 on the adult ticket price, effective September 1, 2019.