Toronto's LRT headaches won't necessarily be coming this way for Hamilton project: Planner

The city's LRT coordinator says reports of escalating, unanticipated costs for Toronto's new transit lines don't necessarily mean those issues are heading Hamilton's way for its light-rail transit plan.

I need to stress that this is not the deal on the table.- LRT coordinator Paul Johnson

Looking at Toronto's experience as a model may help Hamilton avoid some pitfalls, but isn't the ultimate model of how Hamilton's LRT will definitely be structured, Paul Johnson told a committee of councillors and community members on Tuesday.

He referenced a report to that committee that showed a glimpse of how LRT is being handled nearby in Toronto.

"I need to stress that this is not the deal on the table," Johnson said.

The $1 billion Hamilton project, which the province is funding and Metrolinx is building in consultation with the city, will run alternately along Main and King Streets from McMaster University to the Queenston traffic circle. It will also run down James Street North to the West Harbour GO station.

Metrolinx will own the system. But who will run and maintain LRT, and what will happen to the fare revenue, is still being negotiated. It's also not yet known who will pay for the day-to-day operation costs like snow-clearing and vehicle cleaning.

The Hamilton plan is currently conceived as a request to private-sector contractors to propose how they'd join forces with government to "design-build-finance-operate-maintain" the project.

'It's more than just who sits in the seat'

Toronto's setup has its own transit agency, the TTC, both operating and maintaining the systems, meaning they set the fares and keep the revenues, but also are responsible for costs.

A Hamilton councillor, Tom Jackson, has said he thinks the local transit authority, Hamilton Street Railway, should operate the LRT, but that hasn't been determined yet. The local bus driver's union wants that to be the case, too.

Johnson said those conversations are continuing and are ramping up so the project can be properly put out for companies to bid on – for example, is the "operate" part of that request for proposals going to be part of what contractors are bidding on.

"It's more than just who sits in the seat and physically drives these vehicles, but has to do with the back infrastructure, it has to do with the risk they're willing to take on for the next X-number of years, so there's much more to it," Johnson said.

"If it was simply the operator that sits in the seat, this would probably be a pretty simple conversation."

Two-per-cent tax boost 'nowhere in our conversations' 

Johnson said Tuesday that Toronto's LRT lines are longer, differently designed and have different elements than Hamilton's. For one thing, some stops are connected to existing transit or subway stations.

For another, some portions are underground, bringing more costs for tunnels and bridges.

Reports that Toronto could add a 2 per cent boost to its property tax rate to pay for transit projects also aren't on the table in Hamilton, Johnson said.

"Two per cent on the property tax base is nowhere in our conversations," Johnson said.

Bay Street stop and 2-way Main St. discussions

Also Tuesday the LRT subcommittee received a letter from the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and some downtown companies suggesting a Bay Street stop, to split the difference between James and Queen streets.

Chamber head Keanin Loomis, who sits on the committee, said Tuesday the added stop would be the obvious stop for city hall, the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the downtown health centre, and could also bring a big boost of "economic uplift" to the intersection largely populated now by parking lots.

The committee asked staff to study that option and report back with how much it would cost and what the feasibility of adding that stop at a future meeting. Some of that could include whether there are increased costs connected to traffic, relocating utilities and acquiring the property to build the stop, Johnson said.

Johnson said the LRT team plans to bring designs forward for the potential stop at Gage Park in January.

A motion from Coun. Jason Fall to study what it would look like to convert Main Street to a two-way street will be deferred until a later time, Farr said.