#CripTheVote: Responses from mayoral candidate Michael Pattison, on Transportation

1. Welcome, and thanks for joining us. Please introduce yourself!

Hello, My name is Michael Pattison, but you can call me homegrown Mike, guy smiley or Happy Mike. I am 46 years old and a born and raised Hamiltonian.

2. The planned LRT line for Hamilton has become a prominent issue in this election.

How do you anticipate this project would impact access to transit for disabled people living throughout the city?

I believe the LRT is a positive for those with accessibility issues. I have heard too often from those in need, being left behind at current bus stops due to overcrowding. I applaud the HSR and City of Hamilton for making our modes of transportation fully accessible but obviously more work must be done to include everyone to the best of our abilities. My only push after the fact is that all sidewalks and roadway accesses must be cleared between stops, as the distance between stops will have to be addressed to match the needs of all riders. Matched with more frequent bus service or bare minimum, clear paths and routes for all those with mobility issues.

3. Opponents of the LRT project have proposed redirecting this funding to improve Hamilton's existing infrastructure.

If elected, how do you plan to address needed upgrades to the city's infrastructure?

This comes down to your interpretation of infrastructure. If a mass investment of money is to flow through Hamilton, we must address the needs of our future, setting a clear and concise path for growth and opportunity for everyone who calls Hamilton home. I would like to see investments made on how we flow traffic through our city. Our roads budget takes quite a significant chunk of our city’s active capital. We need to make smart decisions that are investments and not pure spending initiatives. Transit must be addressed no matter what is handed down by the province. If we are doing LRT then do It, invest any savings we can muster, to future our transportation needs. If LRT is off the table then Electric buses must become the norm for our transportation fleet.

4. In your opinion, what are the most significant aspects of Hamilton's infrastructure that need to be improved in order to increase the city's accessibility for disabled residents?

Sidewalks are of a great concern. It is not just providing ramps at intersections, it is keeping them clean during winter. We must improve the designs of our sidewalks to accommodate very near futures. We must have a plan that really does initiate and endorse public mobility for those with wheelchairs, mobility scooters, bikes and pedestrians. I have heard form those who use assisted devices that the non-flat surface of a sidewalk can lead to extreme pain and discomfort. I believe we must start with a plan that separates all pedestrians from traffic while taking all Hamiltonians views into account. Smart planning leads to smart investments which translates to Happy taxpayers!

5. Monday's #CripTheVote chat focused on gentrification and access to affordable housing.

What role do you think public transit might play in changing the impact of gentrification?

If we engage the public and investors, with a plan that has potential to solve issues it will further us along to getting it right the first time. Gentrification is a double- edged sword. Some will benefit, while some will pay the consequence. If we had our consortiums who wish to build along our arterial roads (or LRT tracks) we could envision the housing that will become available. If areas will include the building of Accessible/Affordable/ Geared to Income/ Inclusive housing, we can take even more steps forward around those locations at the time of building. I wish money (taxes) were not an issue and I would clearly state that all communities should be fixed and made to house all the aforementioned parties. Hamilton is an old city and we can only afford at this time to focus on anywhere new construction is taking place. The mandate is simple, do everything we can to make our city compliant to the Accessibility Act and encourage local owners to invest in their properties to solve these issues once and for all. Transit is a must for all new builds. Transit must be working and servicing an area before it is completed.

6. Hamilton's area rating system charges city residents different tax rates, depending on the level of transit service in their ward. Disabled adults in Canada are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as non-disabled adults. They also frequently rely on public transportation to be able to participate in their communities and access needed services.

How might the area rating system impact disabled residents differently than it does non-disabled residents? If elected, do you have any plans to change the implementation of this system?

When it comes to quality of life revolving around transit, I have a first-hand experience of being isolated as a renter. I was living in Mt.Hope and had to walk for roughly 25-30 mins to catch the bus. At the time I was not driving and fully felt the effects of being at the mercy of myself. Those 2 years were not easy and my first experience of really respecting the overall importance of public transit. I have been a regular transit user since and must say that my quality of life has risen from the experience.

7. Disabled people who rely on specialized transit services, such as Hamilton's DARTS, often report that the services are unreliable, offer limited availability outside of normal business hours, and must be booked so far in advance as to be inaccessible.

If elected, do you have any plans to improve the availability of specialized transit services?

We need to address the overall needs of our city regarding all levels of subsidized transportation. I believe that the detail is in the contracts. I believe in protecting workers while trying to find new parameters of overall service delivery. We need to open the dialogue across the board to completely understand the needs, wants and sometimes desires of every constituent. We can come up with a solution that can be manifested to work for all Hamiltonians. Being raised with a Grandmother who was a regular user of Darts, I know some of the frustrations found in long term planning with the added pressure of everyone and thing being on time/schedule. Finding a service delivery system that is adaptive on the fly might be our best solution moving forward but we won’t know till we put our best minds forward. Great ideas will prevail.

8. Accessibility of transit services depends not only on routes and vehicles, but on transit operators, and their awareness of and sensitivity to disabled people.

If elected, how would you work to ensure Hamilton's transit operators are adequately trained to support the needs of disabled riders?

Compassion training is first and foremost. Reading the Charter of Rights and Freedoms should be mandatory for all public employees. Next, I believe that natural care and compassion will lead and separate those in the field as natural leaders and should be rewarded through promotion and or special responsibilities.

9. What role, if any, do you envision for disabled people in planning an inclusive and accessible for transportation in Hamilton?

If elected, how would you work to bring this about?

I believe all people should be represented in the forming of all modes of transportation and beyond. Having representation on Boards and Committees is a no brainer. If we could only approach all public decisions this way.

#CripTheVote: Responses from mayoral incumbent Fred Eisenberger, on Transportation

1. Welcome, and thanks for joining us. Please introduce yourself!

This is Fred Eisenberger. It has been my privilege to serve as the Mayor of the City of Hamilton.

2. The planned LRT line for Hamilton has become a prominent issue in this election.

How do you anticipate this project would impact access to transit for disabled people living throughout the city?

The LRT project is the first step in the implementation of the BLAST network designed to serve the whole city through integration with the rest of the HSR system. Transit is an essential need of persons with disabilities. Accessibility to transit is vital. It should be noted that LRT Vehicles will be low floor with multiple entrances that are accessible to customers with all levels of mobility. I will ensure that all of our transportation services continue to meet at the very least the AODA Transportation Standards.

3. Opponents of the LRT project have proposed redirecting this funding to improve Hamilton's existing infrastructure.

If elected, how do you plan to address needed upgrades to the city's infrastructure?

The city has accumulated a sizeable infrastructure deficit that grows with each year. The LRT project along with other benefits will ensure the growth of the tax base along the length of the route. The revenue from that tax growth will be available to apply towards the work needed to renew and sustain our infrastructure. I do not believe for one moment that there will be a billion dollars available for infrastructure/transit in the event that the LRT project is cancelled.

4. In your opinion, what are the most significant aspects of Hamilton's infrastructure that need to be improved in order to increase the city's accessibility for disabled residents?

We need to ensure that while the 14 kms of the LRT route are renewed that it is done to AODA standards. The commitment made to urban braille that needs to be renewed across the city as we engage in infrastructure renewal. Accessibility to our sidewalks and to our public buildings is an important principal that needs to be adhered to.

5. Monday's #CripTheVote chat focused on gentrification and access to affordable housing.

What role do you think public transit might play in changing the impact of gentrification?

The province formally kicked off the bidding to build Hamilton's LRT with a $5.9-million promise to build or repair affordable housing along the line. The 10-year $50 million-dollar affordable housing fund will assist in the construction of affordable housing in a number of the neighbourhoods along the LRT route. The city is committed to ensuring that affordable housing is a part of the housing mix along the route. In the face of gentrification, the need to ensure affordable housing as an integral part of the housing mix is important.

6. Hamilton's area rating system charges city residents different tax rates, depending on the level of transit service in their ward. Disabled adults in Canada are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as non-disabled adults. They also frequently rely on public transportation to be able to participate in their communities and access needed services.

How might the area rating system impact disabled residents differently than it does non-disabled residents?

If elected, do you have any plans to change the implementation of this system?

The area rating system needs to be reformed with an urban rural split. The rural taxpayers should not have to pay for transit services they will never receive. Urban taxpayers need to pay for the transit services they are receiving or need to receive. The reform of the area rating system will provide additional funds for the transit system so vital to persons with disabilities.

7. Disabled people who rely on specialized transit services, such as Hamilton's DARTS, often report that the services are unreliable, offer limited availability outside of normal business hours, and must be booked so far in advance as to be inaccessible.

If elected, do you have any plans to improve the availability of specialized transit services?

I continue to be committed to the ongoing improvement of the DARTS service.

8. Accessibility of transit services depends not only on routes and vehicles, but on transit operators, and their awareness of and sensitivity to disabled people.

If elected, how would you work to ensure Hamilton's transit operators are adequately trained to support the needs of disabled riders?

In keeping with the strategic goals of the City’s Multi-Year Accessibility Plan we will ensure that persons with disabilities can access barrier free services and programs when using Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) and the Accessible Transit System (ATS). Transit operators are trained in the area of emergency. preparedness and response that provide for the safety of persons with disabilities. Transit operators need to be trained in meeting the needs of persons with disabilities sensitively and within the provisions of the AODA.

9. What role, if any, do you envision for disabled people in planning an inclusive and accessible for transportation in Hamilton?

If elected, how would you work to bring this about?

The Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities has been a strong voice in advocating on behalf of persons with disabilities and their access to accessible transit in Hamilton. Person’s with disabilities need to be integral to the planning of accessible and inclusive transit systems. We need to hear the voices of those who are using the service

#CripTheVote: Responses from mayoral candidate Henry Geissler, on Transportation

1. Welcome, and thanks for joining us. Please introduce yourself!

Hello DJNO! My name is Henry Geissler and I am not a career politician. I actually consider that to be an asset, although it has hurt me in that the Spectator ignores my message, and that is a pity. My campaign is centred on the LRT question. It would anger me whenever I thought of the harm City Council and Metrolinx planned, especially when there was such potential for good. I was not hearing what was clear to me, that the LRT be used to connect the two higher orders of transportation with the benefits that would be derived therefrom. Last year I presented to City Council my alternative, and that went nowhere, so this year I vie for the “big chair”.

2. The planned LRT line for Hamilton has become a prominent issue in this election.

How do you anticipate this project would impact access to transit for disabled people living throughout the city?

The B-Line will cause delays on every other route in every direction. The volume of traffic that King Street carries now will be redirected onto other streets and cause a knock-on effect, slowing traffic all over the city. Yes, recall that when the QEW has traffic blockages, and the overflow spills into the city, people divert to the upper city to avoid the traffic congestion in the lower city, so the mountain traffic will also be affected by the effective closing of King Street. There are some who still don’t know that the plan for building the B-Line LRT involves turning King Street into a two-way street with a single lane eastbound and a single lane westbound, other than downtown where there will only be the single lane of traffic eastbound; that’s it.

3. Opponents of the LRT project have proposed redirecting this funding to improve Hamilton's existing infrastructure.

If elected, how do you plan to address needed upgrades to the city's infrastructure?

A rail link from the GO Train station to the city’s airport is certainly an upgrade to the city’s infrastructure. Building an inclined rail LRT is an environmentally superior upgrade to the current polluting and wasteful way public transit scales the escarpment.

Simply cancelling the East-West B-Line LRT preserves the tree cover which I consider to be a city asset, if not infrastructure. Perhaps you haven’t heard that the current City Council/Metrolinx plan requires the clear cutting of the trees lining King Street.

Specifically, the North-South LRT route that I propose would address the crumbling buttresses on the Claremont access as well as the condition of the roads especially along Upper James around Mohawk.

4. In your opinion, what are the most significant aspects of Hamilton's infrastructure that need to be improved in order to increase the city's accessibility for disabled residents?

If by disabled you mean people in wheelchairs and scooters, then it is a more general concern with wheeled vehicles that are not cars and trucks. I’m talking about proper, what we might call “bike lanes”, definitely not narrow two-way lanes on one-way streets. I’m not sure who the city is consulting with over the bike lanes, but I’d like them fired. If we go back to one-way streets, we’ll almost double the traffic capacity. That will allow a significant portion of the road dedicated to other wheeled traffic.

5. Monday's #CripTheVote chat focused on gentrification and access to affordable housing.

What role do you think public transit might play in changing the impact of gentrification?

It seems that the big money developments are following the LRT route. I think it would be better run North-South, the way I envisage. There is more room for the extra traffic that will be inevitable with higher density development along Victoria, Wellington and Upper James.

6. Hamilton's area rating system charges city residents different tax rates, depending on the level of transit service in their ward. Disabled adults in Canada are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as non-disabled adults. They also frequently rely on public transportation to be able to participate in their communities and access needed services.

How might the area rating system impact disabled residents differently than it does non-disabled residents? If elected, do you have any plans to change the implementation of this system?

You’ll have to enlighten me as to how the rating system would impact disabled and non-disabled residents differently, but I do have plans, if elected, to change the implementation of area rating. I think it is no different than any other city services. The farther out from the city centre your infrastructure is, the longer the route, or the pipe, or the wire, or the street needs to be. I think taxes ought to be based on, or at least reflect the physical distance one resides from the city centre. Ultimately this is to reduce sprawl.

7. Disabled people who rely on specialized transit services, such as Hamilton's DARTS, often report that the services are unreliable, offer limited availability outside of normal business hours, and must be booked so far in advance as to be inaccessible.

If elected, do you have any plans to improve the availability of specialized transit services?

Yes. My mother-in-law needs it, and I think I want her to be happy.

8. Accessibility of transit services depends not only on routes and vehicles, but on transit operators, and their awareness of and sensitivity to disabled people.

If elected, how would you work to ensure Hamilton's transit operators are adequately trained to support the needs of disabled riders?

Unfortunately I’ve heard of disabled folks who actually fear certain drivers. That’s really disappointing to me. I’m not convinced that it is a training issue per se. I have a feeling that the drivers at the HSR are generally discouraged. I honestly think that if they felt better about themselves and their jobs, that they would be more open to the needs of all of their riders. If somebody has a particular need, I would hope that they would feel comfortable asking it of their driver. If that’s not happening then there is a problem.

9. What role, if any, do you envision for disabled people in planning an inclusive and accessible for transportation in Hamilton?

If elected, how would you work to bring this about?

I think the disabled should be very involved in planning inclusive and accessible transportation in Hamilton. They know what is required. I am open to suggestions as to how best to implement that kind of involvement.