HSR ridership rose last year, but still fell short of projected goal

Bus ridership in Hamilton rose slightly in 2018, marking the first increase the HSR has seen in the last five years.

But driver absenteeism remained high and some councillors pointed out the slight increase still fell about two million riders short of projections in the city's 10-year strategy.

More than 21,522,000 rides were recorded on HSR buses in 2018, good enough for an increase of about one per cent compared to the previous year, according to a report from the city's public works department.

It's the first growth since ridership peaked in 2014, something transit director Debbie Dalle Vedove said shows the city's investment is paying off.

"For the fist time in five years we are ahead of ridership and revenue and this is a direct result of the investments council has made in transit."

Dalle Vedove is asking council to continue with year four of its strategy, which includes $1.8 million in frequency improvements along the King, Main and Queenston corridors and routes between the Mountain and downtown.

Transit staff are requesting a 14 per cent funding increase in 2019. Almost half of that total bump in budget (6.5 per cent) comes in response to a spike in demand for paratransit service DARTS last year.

Councillor calls plan a 'miserable failure'

But not everyone was on board.

Coun. Lloyd  Ferguson said he believes it's time to "slam the brakes" and review the 10-year transit strategy.

The Ward 12 representative compared the projected ridership numbers to the actual growth, saying the 10 per cent shortfall showed the strategy was a "miserable failure."

Coun. Chad Collins echoed Ferguson's frustrations, saying he supports public transit, but "we're just not seeing the results" that would justify the city's investment.

Collins asked Dalle Vedove at what point her department would sit back and try to figure out what needs to be done differently.

The director said thanks to the automated passenger counters installed on all buses staff now have hard data it didn't back in 2014 when the 10-year strategy was laid out.

She said the department will review the data its collected and use it to make future decisions.

"This is where we hunker down and say, 'Ok this is the investment, what is the data telling us? Do we need to course correct?''"

Public Works head Dan McKinnon weighed in on the debate about whether to "fish or cut bait" on the transit strategy, saying if approved the budget would be for the first year of the plan aimed directly at growth.

He added it takes time to convince riders to buy in and actually start using the bus, meaning it might take until 2020 before staff are actually be able to make an informed decision on whether a new plan is necessary.

Dalle Vedove also pointed out the estimates in the strategy were based on peak ridership in 2014. Since then, ridership in Hamilton has gone down, as has bus use in cities across Canada.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger said the city set out a 10-year plan for a reason and he doesn't believe the strategy needs a big re-think.

"I think we need to keep our pedal to the metal on this," he said, adding reviewing the plan after five or 10 years makes sense, but "[reevaluating it] year-over-year makes absolutely no sense at all."

He added public transit is about providing a service the community needs, not making a profit.

The decision on whether or not Hamilton's transit budget will be approved will be made in the coming weeks as councillors consider the city's overall operating budget for 2019.