There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?
Recent Articles
- Justice for Indigenous Peoples is Long Overdueby Ryan McGreal, published June 30, 2021 in Commentary
(0 comments)
- Third-Party Election Advertising Ban About Silencing Workersby Chantal Mancini, published June 29, 2021 in Politics
(0 comments)
- Did Doug Ford Test the 'Great Barrington Declaration' on Ontarians?by Ryan McGreal, published June 29, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- An Update on Raise the Hammerby Ryan McGreal, published June 28, 2021 in Site Notes
(0 comments)
- Nestlé Selling North American Water Bottling to an Private Equity Firmby Doreen Nicoll, published February 23, 2021 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- Jolley Old Sam Lawrenceby Sean Burak, published February 19, 2021 in Special Report: Cycling
(0 comments)
- Right-Wing Extremism is a Driving Force in Modern Conservatismby Ryan McGreal, published February 18, 2021 in Special Report: Extremism
(0 comments)
- Municipalities Need to Unite against Ford's Firehose of Land Use Changesby Michelle Silverton, published February 16, 2021 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Challenging Doug Ford's Pandemic Narrativeby Ryan McGreal, published January 25, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- The Year 2020 Has Been a Wakeup Callby Michael Nabert, published December 31, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- The COVID-19 Marshmallow Experimentby Ryan McGreal, published December 22, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- All I Want for Christmas, 2020by Kevin Somers, published December 21, 2020 in Entertainment and Sports
(1 comment)
- Hamilton Shelters Remarkably COVID-19 Free Thanks to Innovative Testing Programby Jason Allen, published December 21, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- Province Rams Through Glass Factory in Stratfordby Doreen Nicoll, published December 21, 2020 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- We Can Prevent Traffic Deaths if We Make Safety a Real Priorityby Ryan McGreal, published December 08, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(5 comments)
- These Aren't 'Accidents', These Are Resultsby Tom Flood, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(1 comment)
- Conservation Conundrumby Paul Weinberg, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Defund Police Protest Threatens Fragile Ruling Classby Cameron Kroetsch, published December 03, 2020 in Special Report: Anti-Racism
(2 comments)
- Measuring the Potential of Biogas to Reduce GHG Emissionsby John Loukidelis and Thomas Cassidy, published November 23, 2020 in Special Report: Climate Change
(0 comments)
- Ontario Squanders Early Pandemic Sacrificeby Ryan McGreal, published November 18, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
Article Archives
Blog Archives
Site Tools
Feeds
By matthewsweet (registered) | Posted January 13, 2011 at 23:00:34
I find it very interesting that public transportation is frequently instructed to seek public-private partnerships to secure sufficient funding for expansions or new projects. How often do we demand private investment into new roads? Why should our public transportation system be denied public monies when our system which caters to the private automobile is not questioned as often?
This is a blanket statement and subject to accurate criticism/correction if it exists.
I also have wondered lately what the standard for success/effectiveness of a public transportation project or system is to all of those who are anti-spending. In the case of LRT along the B-Line, it has the potential to be used by a sizable proportion of the city's population, even in the narrowist view which would suggest that only lower city residents would use it. Is a transportation system with the potential to reach 1/5th to 2/5th of the city population a bad investment? No one could reasonably assume that all 500,000+ residents of Hamilton would use the LRT even once per year. However by the same token not all city residents use the Red Hill Expressway. Where is the line of acceptable use to justify the expenditure?
In a similar vein, what would we classify as successful ridership? And in what terms? Just passenger counts, or perhaps by vehicle counts along the corridor? If, in a modest scenario, Hamilton sees a decrease of 1% of vehicles travelling along the LRT corridor when it begins service. That percentage reduction would be equivalent to hundreds of fewer vehicle trips. That may seem insignificant but from a transportation engineering perspective it means a big difference in the network.
I ask these questions in an (perhaps vain) attempt to quantify the transportation side of the debate and get away from emotional arguments. The development and property value side I will leave to those with greater expertise.
Comment edited by transitstudent on 2011-01-13 23:01:09
By moylek (registered) - website Posted March 18, 2013 at 16:04:11 in reply to Comment 87287
The world will make more sense to you, Capitalist, when you start seeing a world full of people instead of cardboard stereotypes.
Permalink | Context