Local News

Hold onto your transit expectations

Inner city rail has fired the hopes and imagination of both public and politicians, with Mayor Fred Eisenberger avidly advocating it as a silver bullet economic development tool.

By Andrew Dreschel, Last Updated Monday, October 20, 2008

Published in the Hamilton Spectator on October 20, 2008.

Rob MacIsaac has always been a pretty good friend to Hamilton.

As mayor of Burlington, he backed this city's push for fair social-services funding from the province.

As chair of Metrolinx, the high-powered transportation authority for Hamilton and Toronto, he says we'll always have a pal at the table as long as he's at its head.

One of the responsibilities of friendship is, of course, to tell hard truths, even if the other person doesn't necessarily want to hear them.

That's what MacIsaac did during last week's discussion with The Spec's editorial board about Hamilton's rapid transit ambitions.

In the face of this community's escalating excitement about light rail, MacIsaac tried to manage expectations without dashing cold water on our enthusiasm.

Frankly, it was a timely intervention.

Let's back up a touch.

We all know that Hamilton is on deck to receive provincial funding for either a new bus or light-rail transit system.

And we all know that a light-rail system for an east-west and north-south route seems to be this community's runaway preference.

Inner city rail has fired the hopes and imagination of both public and politicians, with Mayor Fred Eisenberger avidly advocating it as a silver bullet economic development tool.

Whether we end up getting fancy new bus or sexy light-rail lines will be decided after Metrolinx studies the two alternatives.

But next month, the transportation authority is expected to release its first five-year budget, identifying which projects across its jurisdiction will be funded first.

Hamilton is confidently hoping there's going to be money in it enabling us to start putting shovels in the ground by 2011.

The message from MacIsaac is that's not likely to happen.

Quite simply, he told The Spec that since planning for projects in communities such as Toronto and York Region is ahead of Hamilton, they'll go to the front of the line.

Yes, Hamilton has been identified as a priority by Metrolinx. And, yes, Metrolinx is impressed with the work the city has already done and the level of public engagement.

But MacIsaac evidently is worried our expectations have soared to the point where people will be disappointed when the capital budget comes out and we're not included in the first round of handouts.

True, in a subsequent interview, MacIsaac, straining to be tactful, did suggest funding for 2011 wasn't impossible.

But you'd have to be wilfully blind not to see that once again he was plainly signalling that 2012 or 2013 is a much more realistic timeline.

Clearly the early years of Metrolinx's budget are going to be tight.

At the moment, it only has available $11.5 billion to fund a $50-billion regional transportation plan that is supposed to stretch over 25 years.

And, bear in mind, whatever Metrolinx recommends has to be approved by the provincial government, which is facing budget challenges of its own.

That goes a long way in explaining both MacIsaac's attempt to tamp down unrealistic expectations and his suggestion Hamilton should start putting money aside for the project.

As he told The Spec, Metrolinx will only be funding "bare bones" rapid-transit lines.

There was no mistaking his meaning: If this or any other city wants things like gold-plated transit stops or plush seating, they'd better be prepared to pay for the upgrades themselves.

In other words, if Hamilton wants to put its own value-added stamp on the project, then it has to use its money to shape its dreams.

None of this should be cause for hand-wringing. It's still very good news that rapid transit is coming our way.

All MacIsaac has done is give us a little reality check, the kind you might expect from a friend.