HSR fare hikes and service cuts

Higher bus fares and less service may be decided at a special council meeting October 29 at the Sheraton Hotel, starting at 9:30 am. The early meeting comes as a non–profit group is calling on residents to 

“take the lead” in developing a transit vision for Hamilton. 
Fare hikes of up to 30 per cent were imposed during 2006 and 
2007, but an additional $5 per month on adult and student passes 
was narrowly defeated by council last year. The HSR expects to be 
short $600,000 this year because of two per cent fewer riders. 
The Transit Users Group (TUG) suggests says ridership topped 
30 million in 1985 but then plummeted to just over 20 million a year 
by the mid–1990s, accompanied by major cuts in the HSR budget. 
It’s about $21 million today. 
In 1994, the city committed to doubling transit use by 2020, but 
TUG says that “staff and council have no strategy to achieve this 
[and] no coherent vision of transit beyond necessary social service”. 
TUG’s on–line survey is at www.HamiltonTUG.com.