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The short version of HSR September changes:

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The long version, links above notwithstanding isn't actually published yet.
 
APTA-2048 said:
This is a great exercise in branding and is a sign of a city that knows and is happy to celebrate its history. The HSR has wrapped two buses in retro liveries and from last Saturday to yesterday offered free rides on them. They also had giveaways at different locations and a historical museum/display downtown. This is all in celebration of 150 years of the HSR.

I managed to catch one of the retro buses yesterday. There is another one in a maroon livery, but that proved harder to catch.


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Managed to finally catch the other retro bus at the 150th anniversary open house today. Great event. Not many photos from inside the facility unfortunately as their legal department advised against it. Scored a free commemorative Presto card as well and bought some postcards.

 
APTA-2048 said:
Managed to finally catch the other retro bus at the 150th anniversary open house today. Great event. Not many photos from inside the facility unfortunately as their legal department advised against it. Scored a free commemorative Presto card as well and bought some postcards.

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I made it as well and was lucky to get a spot of someone who didn't show. Also didn't get too many photos for the same reason. Kind of sucks how strict they were. Got a couple though:
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I’ve been using the HSR’s “mountain climber” daily for about 4 months to bike from downtown to my job on the mountain and I have to say, it’s really refreshing to see Hamilton have a targeted transit program that works brilliantly. For those unfamiliar, any of the escarpment’s bus routes gives bikers a free ride up or down from the closest stops at the upper city or lower city. It’s totally changed the way I view bike commuting here and I wish more people knew about it or used it! I even wonder if the TTC could adopt it to bridge some gaps in their cycling infrastructure, especially given the province’s hostility to bike lanes.
 
ownthesky said:
I’ve been using the HSR’s “mountain climber” daily for about 4 months to bike from downtown to my job on the mountain and I have to say, it’s really refreshing to see Hamilton have a targeted transit program that works brilliantly. For those unfamiliar, any of the escarpment’s bus routes gives bikers a free ride up or down from the closest stops at the upper city or lower city. It’s totally changed the way I view bike commuting here and I wish more people knew about it or used it! I even wonder if the TTC could adopt it to bridge some gaps in their cycling infrastructure, especially given the province’s hostility to bike lanes.
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I think Highway 401 could be a good one, given how dangerous the interchanges can be to cross and the very limited opportunities to cross it on trails or minor roads.

The problem though is how the TTC limits bikes on the Nova buses to one bike per rack. That’s a huge proportion of the fleet.
 
Hamilton's summer service changes are out..............mostly just your garden variety seasonal service reductions.............

But there is also a hint of what's to come in September:

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Bus News Summer 2025 | City of Hamilton

Review the route changes and Summer schedules that will operate beginning Sunday, June 22, 2025.
www.hamilton.ca www.hamilton.ca
 
The city is constructing a multiuse path along West 5th that will tie the Keddy Trail to the Lower City and Mohawk College/St Joes. The problem with this scheme, in my view, is that there isn't a consistent East/West cycling connection that ties the Upper City's neighborhoods together- the city's current master plan requires a biker to plan ahead, memorizing the city's routes, and zig zag instead of innately following cardinal grid directions and exploring the city. The city's plan wants cyclists to zig zag between Iverness and Queensdale, which doesn't seem like human friendly design. Looking at the city's arterials, such as Fennel or Mohawk, there isn't much room to add both safe cycling infrastucture and higher order transit... but there is one continuous low-speed street that covers almost the entire upper city from East to West, Brucedale! Brucedale abruptly ends at the Auchmar Estate, a large parcel of land that the city owns and is restoring. To the East, Brucedale terminates at two schools, just a few meters away from the city's expansive new Brow infrastructure. What if, with a single property acquisition on Southam, we could tie the entire Upper City's cycling infrastructure together using existing city property using the bike boulevard model the city is already promoting?

Enter the Auchmar Connector - a thin multiuse path on the North end of the estate grounds. It would allow the public to view the estate, while limiting traffic to a protected corridor. As usage develops and grows, eventually the city could develop a pedestrian/cycling bridge over West 5th to totally grade separate foot traffic from West 5th and minimize conflict between vehicles using the arterial and pedestrians/cyclists. Fennel's North side also has ample room to eventually develop a perpendicular multiuse path to connect to the West Mountain.

Crazy idea? Let me know what you think.

brucedale connector 2 edit.pngbrucedale connector edit.png
 
If you build cycling infrastructure, it's for streets like Fennell, not streets like Queensdale and Brucedale that have hardly any car traffic to protect cyclists from. Even Brampton, the city that voted against LRT along its Main Street, wants bike lanes on all it major and minor arterials.

If Hamilton builds bike lanes along Fennell, it could also be an opportunity to build proper sidewalks that aren't constantly obstructed by hydro poles, street lamps, fire hydrants, and bus shelters.
 
doady said:
If you build cycling infrastructure, it's for streets like Fennell, not streets like Queensdale and Brucedale that have hardly any car traffic to protect cyclists from. Even Brampton, the city that voted against LRT along its Main Street, wants bike lanes on all it major and minor arterials.

If Hamilton builds bike lanes along Fennell, it could also be an opportunity to build proper sidewalks that aren't constantly obstructed by hydro poles, street lamps, fire hydrants, and bus shelters.
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A protected bike lane on Fennel East of Mohawk Collegel?! You’ll have a coup d’état at City Hall. MAYBE a useless painted bike lane one day for brave bikers that like 60 km/h traffic grazing your elbow, but like I said above, I think Fennel would be far better off using that space and political battle for higher order transit like bus lanes or queue jumps, which is what HSR’s future concept map envisions.

Looking at Brampton’s Master Plan, I’m seeing at a lot of orange planned painted bike lanes on the map, so the idea of having bikes lanes “on every artery” needs a bit of a caveat. There’s not a chance in hell I’d trust my life to a line of white paint when sharing the road with Brampton drivers! Reminds me of the miles of bike lanes that were put in along Brittania south of Milton- nothing quite like the joy of biking along a 6 lane freeway! If Brampton can get those red dedicated lanes built to match their many existing paths, I will be quite impressed.
 
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ownthesky said:
A protected bike lane on Fennel East of Mohawk Collegel?! You’ll have a coup d’état at City Hall. MAYBE a useless painted bike lane one day for brave bikers that like 60 km/h traffic grazing your elbow, but like I said above, I think Fennel would be far better off using that space and political battle for higher order transit like bus lanes or queue jumps, which is what HSR’s future concept map envisions.

Looking at Brampton’s Master Plan, I’m seeing at a lot of orange planned painted bike lanes on the map, so the idea of having bikes lanes “on every artery” needs a bit of a caveat. There’s not a chance in hell I’d trust my life to a line of white paint when sharing the road with Brampton drivers! Reminds me of the miles of bike lanes that were put in along Brittania south of Milton- nothing quite like the joy of biking along a 6 lane freeway! If Brampton can get those red dedicated lanes built to match their many existing paths, I will be quite impressed.
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I'm not familiar enough w/ all of of Hamilton's long term plans to comment on what might or might not make sense here down the road.

But I would note, the Fennel R-O-W is much larger than what it appears today: (at least in spots)

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There is about ~5.5m between the sidewalks and the property lines.

Divided equally, that would provide 2.75m which is ample to support a physically separated cycle track.

Of course, that is only achievable through reconstructing the road and shifting the sidewalks inward, and removing all existing trees (there would be space for replacements.)

@innsertnamehere might have thoughts.
 
Northern Light said:
I'm not familiar enough w/ all of of Hamilton's long term plans to comment on what might or might not make sense here down the road.

But I would note, the Fennel R-O-W is much larger than what it appears today: (at least in spots)

View attachment 660415

There is about ~5.5m between the sidewalks and the property lines.

Divided equally, that would provide 2.75m which is ample to support a physically separated cycle track.

Of course, that is only achievable through reconstructing the road and shifting the sidewalks inward, and removing all existing trees (there would be space for replacements.)

@innsertnamehere might have thoughts.
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Hamilton's Cycling Master Plan does have cycling facilities on Fennell from West 5th to Garth:


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Nothing east of West 5th though. Honestly Queensdale is a better bike route east of West 5th anyway.
 
ownthesky said:
A protected bike lane on Fennel East of Mohawk Collegel?! You’ll have a coup d’état at City Hall. MAYBE a useless painted bike lane one day for brave bikers that like 60 km/h traffic grazing your elbow, but like I said above, I think Fennel would be far better off using that space and political battle for higher order transit like bus lanes or queue jumps, which is what HSR’s future concept map envisions.

Looking at Brampton’s Master Plan, I’m seeing at a lot of orange planned painted bike lanes on the map, so the idea of having bikes lanes “on every artery” needs a bit of a caveat. There’s not a chance in hell I’d trust my life to a line of white paint when sharing the road with Brampton drivers! Reminds me of the miles of bike lanes that were put in along Brittania south of Milton- nothing quite like the joy of biking along a 6 lane freeway! If Brampton can get those red dedicated lanes built to match their many existing paths, I will be quite impressed.
Click to expand...
Well, a road like Fennell being unsafe for cyclists is exactly why it should have bike lanes. Why else would you build bike lanes? Of course, the biggest 6-lane roads like those in Brampton probably should have off-road multi use trails instead, but plenty of 4 lane roads there too. Unfortunately, Ford's bike lane ban will make it difficult for Brampton to continue converting 4 lane roads into 3 lanes to make room for bike lanes...

Judging from you say of city hall, I am guessing Hamilton would not be willing to follow in Brampton's footsteps and convert Fennell to 3 lanes regardless of Ford's policies. Brampton is obviously car-oriented, but Hamilton is pro-car in some sneaky ways. It's sad because Hamilton has a lot more to build upon than places like Brampton and Milton do.
 
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