Council to recommend 3rd party run Hamilton LRT for 10 years before transition to public model

Hamilton council is expected to recommend that the coming light rail transit (LRT) line be operated by a third party for the first 10 years of its life, before being taken over by the municipality.

The majority of councillors voted in favour of the recommendation Wednesday at the General Issues Committee, despite a push from several delegates, some councillors and other local elected officials to keep LRT operations public from the start.

The decision still has to be ratified formally by council next week. It will then be presented to provincial transit agency Metrolinx, which has the final say, since it will own the LRT.

Metrolinx's chief operating officer of rapid transit, Steve Levene, outlined "the main considerations" the province and Metrolinx will be using to make that call, in a letter submitted ahead of Wednesday's meeting.

Those considerations include potential operators' experience running an LRT system, their ability to maintain "the highest level of overall performance," risk, and Hamilton's feedback. 

On Jan. 29, the city's transit sub-committee pushed the decision on the issue to this week's meeting of the committee, on which all councillors sit, emphasizing the complexity and importance of the issue. At the time, transit committee members said they wanted more input. 

Staff previously reported four possible models for LRT operation:

1. A third party fully operates the LRT.

2. The city performs "passenger interface activities," such as fare enforcement and customer relations as in the case of the Region of Waterloo's LRT and the planned Hazel McCallion Line in Peel Region.

3. The city shares operations and performs passenger interface activities.

4. The city performs all operational activities, as is the case with the Toronto Transit Commission's forthcoming Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West lines, and the City of Ottawa's Confederation Line.

Staff recommended the second model.

On Wednesday, Abdul Shaikh, who directs Hamilton's LRT project office, said the first model risked creating passenger confusion, and staff were not aware of any other LRT systems using the third approach. 

"Model 2 appears to have many advantages," he said, including the second-lowest cost to the city, and few disadvantages that could be "easily mitigated." He also said having a third party manage more operations would reduce the city's liability. 

A staff presentation said that regardless of who operates the system, Metrolinx and the city will set schedules and service levels, and the city will set fares and be entitled to fare box revenue. They also said any contractor would be required to meet performance standards. 

The report said staff considered customer experience, risks and liability, costs to the city, and how different parties would work together, in that order, when making the recommendation. 

Staff also recommended a "transitional approach" in which the city would ask to go with Model 2 for a decade, with the option of switching to Model 4 after.  

Late in the afternoon, Mayor Andrea Horwath moved an amendment to the staff recommendation by which the city will start preparing to assume operations from a third-party operator within five years.

She said the "compromise" respects the staff recommendation while still committing to a city-run LRT in the future. 

Coun. Ted McMeekin (Ward 15) seconded the motion, agreeing that it was a "good way forward and it's an honest compromise."

Coun. Brad Clark disagreed, saying the "bottom line" for him is that the city has an obligation to try and run the LRT from the start.

He was among six councillors who voted against the final recommendation, saying if the city is to be accountable for the transit service, it needs to have operational control.

Delegates spoke in favour of fully public operation

For more than three hours during the meeting, about 20 delegates spoke in favour of fully public operations.

Members of local labour and environmental groups arrived with a sizeable coalition of supporters wearing blue Keep Transit Public t-shirts. A handful of delegates spoke in favour of the public model, saying they were representing themselves rather than organizations.

They shared concerns that a private operator would be less accountable to riders than the city would be, that they may not offer unionized jobs, and that the city would relinquish too much control by pushing for Model 2. 

"We do not need Hamilton's public transit to become the next Highway 407," Stewart Klazinga, with tenant rights group Hamilton ACORN, said.

Mason Fitzpatrick, the vice president of Canadian Union of Public Employees 3906, which represents academic workers at McMaster University, warned, "We're not going to have our hand held by the private sector. We're going to be dragged by them." 

Environment Hamilton executive director Ian Borsuk asked why the city would not want to run something it has to pay for. "Do you want to tell future riders it's not your problem?"

Members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 107, which represents Hamilton Street Railway operators, argued language in their collective agreement means their union, and therefore the HSR, should take over operations. 

No delegates spoke in favour of a privately run LRT. 

On Monday, Hamilton Centre Independent MPP Sara Jama and NDP MP Matthew Green joined members of the Keep Transit Public Coalition to speak in favour of public ownership, too.

On Wednesday, Shaikh said the public model would be the most seamless customer experience, and give the city the most control over implementing equity policies. But, he said, it would create more risk for the city and cost the most of the four options. 

How council voted:

For: McMeekin, M. Wilson, Tadeson, Spadafora, Danko, Beattie, Pauls, Cassar, Horwath

Against: Jackson, Hwang, Francis, Kroetsch, Clark, A. Wilson