Transit Use Fell in 2003
August 7, 2004

The number of passengers using the HSR continued to fall last year, although at a slower rate than before. Results released this week show 20.3 million riders, a drop of 48,000 from 2002. The decline the previous year was 350,000. Last year's drop has been attributed to the impacts of the fare increase introduced early in 2003. Proposals for a further hike this year were rejected by council in April.

Hamilton has an official goal of achieving 100 rides per person per year. The rate in 2003 was 47. However, that number is calculated by excluding the 75,000 residents of the new city who aren't served by the HSR. When they are included, our ridership drops slightly below 40 per person.

This year was the first in more than a decade that city spending on transit actually increased, and the first time in memory that a proposed fare hike was not accepted. One reason appears to have been the formation of a Transit Users Group (TUG) last December that waged a spirited campaign against fare hikes and for HSR and DARTS improvements.

TUG is holding a public meeting on Tuesday evening to present "Five Simple Steps for a Faster HSR". Their guest speaker is Ed Switenky, the city's Acting Manager of Traffic Engineering & Operations. The meeting is in City Hall room 110 starting at 7 pm.