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I’ve noticed on my night shifts on the escarpment that the parking garage for the huge new HSR maintenance facility is up and running. Hopefully they’ll have the entire facility operating next year, it’ll be a game changer for efficient operations and service expansion.

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I was pondering this the other day while marvelling at the horrific state of driving along Upper James: Do you think there would be any benefit to creating a park and ride facility on the Southern border with Caledonia just outside Mount Hope one day? We have facilities on the other cardinal axes (Eastgate, University Plaza) that explicitly encourage park and rides, especially for Ticats games. It looks like the city wants to do the same eventually in Winona and Stoney Creek when the B line bus goes East after the LRT is completed. Given how many people use Upper James to get into Hamilton from the small towns South of us, would a park and ride facility be something people would use on whatever becomes of the A Line (BRT/LRT)?
 
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ownthesky said:
It looks like the city wants to do the same eventually in Winona and Stoney Creek when the B line bus goes East after the LRT is completed. Given how many people use Upper James to get into Hamilton from the small towns South of us, would a park and ride facility be something people would use on whatever becomes of the A Line (BRT/LRT)?
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Maybe. But I think it would need to be closer, at least initially. Mountain Plaza perhaps. Because between Rymal and Fennell Upper James isn't all that slow... yet.
 
Upper James isn't slow at all during rush hours and the A line would be stuck in the same traffic regardless.

A commuter lot at the terminus of the future Highway 6 Freeway in Mount Hope might make a bit of sense, but I suspect it would be more popular with carpoolers than it would be with A-Line riders.

Some sort of transit connection into Caledonia probably wouldn't be the worst idea though..
 
thettctransitfanatic said:
Gonna get a photo and ride the 52 on Sunday. With the 52 now running on weekends, there is now only one HSR route that doesn't operate on weekends.
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Despite a clearly rude driver and me getting lost on my way, here is a photo of Nova 1515 on the 52 taken around 3:30 PM today on York Road at Fieldgate Street. A lot of the stops on that part of 52 are not accessible, don't have proper waiting pads, and some even aren't at intersections with a light or stop sign, making them kinda dangerous to get on or off at. Two of them are even outside of people's houses, one of them, a mansion! On the other end of the route, it ends in front of some houses in a suburban area. Service is only 40 minutes, from 5 AM-1:30 AM Monday-Saturday, and 6 AM-12 AM on Sundays and holidays. Three different runs do the route. One in the morning, one midday, one in the evening. This was the midday run.

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hsrrrrrr said:
Next growth plan for HSR going to committee Monday

https://pub-hamilton.escribemeeting...a=Merged&lang=English&Item=17&Tab=attachments
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Here's Arcadis' final report for service roll-out for those that haven't read it: https://pub-hamilton.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=465546

Very ambitious timeline that assumes a 2032 LRT completion. The tl;dr is a total revamp of the system from a hub (MacNab terminal) and spoke model to a multi-hub point to point network. Multiple new rapid transit bus routes and really smart tie-ins to the GO network and future transit lines (ex the Dundas BRT that will terminate in Waterdown). Really excited to see all the mountain lines terminate at West Harbour and creating this crazy bus Stadtbahn through the core. You'll be able to get a bus from Concession to a GO train literally every few minutes, which will hopefully change the character of commuting from the mountain one day. I'm hopeful that vehicle acquisition can be done intelligently to draw professionals onto clean and bright buses.
 
TY @hsrrrrrr for posting.

From the report:

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Approx. 60% more annual service hours by the completion of the plan:

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As seen above, also of note, no increase in conventional buses vs year-end 2025, but a more than quadrupling of 30ft buses, and a vast expansion of artics.

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Below, I'm a bit dubious of very low year 1 (2026) increase. Anytime one defers the pain of paying for improved service......

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I think there are too many hubs proposed, particularly ones that close together, perhaps locals will have insight, but to me this seems excessive. (assuming that by hubs we mean multiple routes divert off the grid to meet at those points.)

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For Details for subsequent years, please follow the link in the above posts.
 
ownthesky said:
Really excited to see all the mountain lines terminate at West Harbour and creating this crazy bus Stadtbahn through the core.
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The reality may be a touch disappointing. This north-south bus plan reminds me of the Ottawa transitway before Ottawa's LRT opened. Buses got stuck in huge queues behind one another. It was often faster to walk, and delays could spiral through the system. Also, I think the noise and diesel fumes made Albert and Slater in Ottawa less popular to walk along.

That's not to say that would happen here. I haven't followed the West Harbour bus plans closely. Are they putting in dedicated bus lanes on James St or giving buses signal priority?
 
Sauga89 said:
The reality may be a touch disappointing. This north-south bus plan reminds me of the Ottawa transitway before Ottawa's LRT opened. Buses got stuck in huge queues behind one another. It was often faster to walk, and delays could spiral through the system. Also, I think the noise and diesel fumes made Albert and Slater in Ottawa less popular to walk along.
Click to expand...
The difference here is that Transitway buses in Ottawa were largely not terminating downtown (Albert/Slater) but were going East-West through the core, which meant they all got bunched either because of lights or local traffic. They were mostly fine when they were in BRT-only areas but would occasionally bunch at larger transfer stations.

It's possible Hamilton has the same issues with a central terminus station downtown depending on traffic and road design nearby.
 
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