Petition

Keep Transit Publically owned and operated in Hamilton

RE: OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE NEW HAMILTON LRT

Metrolinx, the provincial arm’s length transit planning organization, has a history of pushing municipalities away from Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the transit lines they build in Ontario Communities, they would rather outsource our transit services to private for profit consortiums.

Ontario municipalities have suffered with the ongoing privatization exemplified by examples from Ottawa and Toronto. The Eglinton Crosstown LRT infrastructure fiasco in Toronto – with 12 years of construction, billions in cost overruns, no end in sight, and no accountability. The O-Train Ottawa debacle saw derailments, delivery delays, trains that don’t work in cold weather, and a long list of serious safety issues, including lack of testing which sees the trains frequently out of service. Under the terms of Hamilton’s agreement with Metrolinx we all pay for the Operation and Maintenance of the Hamilton LRT. However the agreement does not specify who will perform that O&M. We have a chance to push back against the trend of privatization and keep our transit public.

We the petitioners believe that transit should be publicly operated and maintained. We know from multiple examples that privatizing transit doesn’t work – it ends up more costly, less safe, and robs our communities of our shared public assets and good local jobs.

We have three demands:

  1. That Hamilton City Councillors reaffirm their August 2017 motion to have the Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) responsible for both operation and maintenance of the new Hamilton LRT line.

  2. That Metrolinx keep operation of new transit infrastructure public and build the capacity for maintenance in our public sector.

  3. That Ford Government tells Metrolinx to move away from P3 models for transit projects and Keep Transit Public.

Keep Transit Publically owned and operated in Hamilton

Member of Parliament

RE: OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE NEW HAMILTON LRT

Metrolinx, the provincial arm’s length transit planning organization, has a history of pushing municipalities away from Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the transit lines they build in Ontario Communities, they would rather outsource our transit services to private for profit consortiums.

Ontario municipalities have suffered with the ongoing privatization exemplified by examples from Ottawa and Toronto. The Eglinton Crosstown LRT infrastructure fiasco in Toronto – with 12 years of construction, billions in cost overruns, no end in sight, and no accountability. The O-Train Ottawa debacle saw derailments, delivery delays, trains that don’t work in cold weather, and a long list of serious safety issues, including lack of testing which sees the trains frequently out of service. Under the terms of Hamilton’s agreement with Metrolinx we all pay for the Operation and Maintenance of the Hamilton LRT. However the agreement does not specify who will perform that O&M. We have a chance to push back against the trend of privatization and keep our transit public.

We the petitioners believe that transit should be publicly operated and maintained. We know from multiple examples that privatizing transit doesn’t work – it ends up more costly, less safe, and robs our communities of our shared public assets and good local jobs.

We have three demands:

  1. That Hamilton City Councillors reaffirm their August 2017 motion to have the Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) responsible for both operation and maintenance of the new Hamilton LRT line.

  2. That Metrolinx keep operation of new transit infrastructure public and build the capacity for maintenance in our public sector.

  3. That Ford Government tells Metrolinx to move away from P3 models for transit projects and Keep Transit Public.

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3,071 signatures

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Latest Signatures
3,071
Anonymous
Hamilton 
Jun 24, 2024
3,070
Amanda T.
Hamilton 
Apr 15, 2024
3,069
Zoe K.
Hamilton 
Apr 15, 2024
3,068
robert b.
hamilton 
The citizens of Hamilton have already voiced their support for an LRT system controlled and operated by the City of Hamilton and the HSR. There is no need to try again and again to overturn the City Council's previous decision.
Apr 15, 2024
3,067
William D.
Grimsby 
Public transit should be operated for the people, not profit. Reducing "risk" means making a worse service
Apr 15, 2024
3,066
Andrea B.
Hamilton 
Apr 15, 2024
3,065
Anonymous
 
Apr 14, 2024
3,064
Elorah B.
Hamilton 
Apr 14, 2024
3,063
Anonymous
Hamilton 
Apr 11, 2024
3,062
Stephen D.
Hamilton 
Apr 11, 2024
3,061
R.A. F.
Hamilton 
Apr 10, 2024
3,060
Yobie S.
Toronto 
Apr 09, 2024
3,059
Adrian C.
Hamilton 
Apr 08, 2024
3,058
Montana M.
Hamilton 
Apr 07, 2024
3,057
Caden R.
Ancaster 
Apr 07, 2024
3,056
Rob G.
Hamilton 
Apr 06, 2024
3,055
Tanya A.
Binbrook 
Apr 06, 2024
3,054
Austin C.
Hamilton 
Apr 05, 2024
3,053
Anonymous
Hamilton 
Apr 05, 2024
3,052
Bia D.
Hamilton 
Apr 04, 2024
3,051
Stan N.
Dundas 
Apr 04, 2024
3,050
Oral R.
 
Apr 04, 2024
3,049
Ed T.
Hamilton 
Apr 02, 2024
3,048
Anonymous
Hamilton 
Metrolinx does not need my tax paying dollars for Hamilton. Keep our jobs and transit in Hamilton with local transit
Apr 02, 2024
3,047
Karen S.
Dundas 
Apr 02, 2024
3,046
Anonymous
Hamilton 
Apr 02, 2024
3,045
Anonymous
Hamilton 
We definitely do not need the LRT stop wasting the taxpayers money. The city is done enough of that there is nothing to gain extra except destruction in the downtown core.
Mar 24, 2024
3,044
Warren J. S.
Hamilton 
Mar 11, 2024
3,043
Stephen L.
Hamilton 
Mar 05, 2024
3,042
Michael M.
Hamilton 
By keeping transit within the city public, we will create good jobs for Hamiltonians in a manner which is truly accountable to the public. We cannot follow the example of Ottawa's boondoggle with millions of public dollars wasted.
Mar 05, 2024
3,041
Jonathan F.
Midland 
Mar 04, 2024
3,040
Sue S.
Hamilton 
Can't afford to waste anymore money when the city is full of tents & homeless disgusting!!
Mar 03, 2024
3,039
Angela C.
Hamilton 
Mar 01, 2024
3,038
Jake L.
Stoney Creek 
Feb 28, 2024
3,037
Randy S.
Hamilton 
Feb 28, 2024
3,036
Gary H.
Hamilton 
Feb 28, 2024
3,035
Geoff O.
Hamilton 
Tax dollars should not being going toward private investor dividends.
Feb 28, 2024
3,034
Ray R.
 
Feb 25, 2024
3,033
Alex R.
Hamilton 
Feb 21, 2024
3,032
Alice D.
St. Catharines 
Feb 16, 2024
3,031
Michelle d.
Hamilton 
Feb 10, 2024
3,030
Anna S.
Hamilton 
Feb 06, 2024
3,029
Jennifer A.
Dundas 
Public transportation must never be required to make a profit!
Jan 30, 2024
3,028
Anonymous
Hamilton 
Jan 30, 2024
3,027
Anonymous
 
Jan 29, 2024
3,026
Anonymous
Hamilton 
Jan 29, 2024
3,025
Anonymous
Hamilton 
Jan 29, 2024
3,024
Ashley H.
Hamilton 
Jan 29, 2024
3,023
Preston W.
Hamilton 
Jan 29, 2024
3,022
Anonymous
Hamilton 
Jan 29, 2024

What can you do?

Keep Transit Public to avoid the catastrophic experience of other cities.

We need your help to remind city council to vote once again to keep transit public.

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