Mac students speak out on need for LRT
Students, potentially long-term citizens here, have big stake in success of project
Around two years ago, I stood in Convocation Hall at McMaster University and watched in awe and excitement as the premier of Ontario announced a $1-billion investment to cover the full capital costs of Hamilton’s B-line LRT. At the time, I had just completed my second year at McMaster in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program, and I was personally well-versed with public transit from my two years living in Hamilton and relying on the HSR. I was generally uninformed on the history of the project and what it meant for the city, but even still, I was so happy to hear the funding announcement. This will be incredible for students, I thought.
A year later, I was elected vice-president (education) of the McMaster Students Union, a position that holds the privilege of representing more than 22,000 full-time undergraduate students. Since I’ve been in the role, I’ve had to advocate for student transit many times, in response to threats of moving on-campus bus routes, reducing key lines, and now, stalling the LRT project indefinitely.
Let me be clear: I’m not the type of student who believes that everything in the city should revolve around benefits to the university. However, I do think that the LRT project allows the university to better connect to the city, which brings benefits for all parties. My hope is that by outlining these reasons, councillors outside of my ward will understand why they should vote yes to the environmental assessment on April 19 and move this project forward.
First of all, every student that I represent pays $150.80 for a bus pass. This number will rise past $180 next year, due to a recent renegotiation of our agreement with the HSR. For students, $180 is a large amount of money. However, when the cost of the pass was sent to referendum this year, over 92 per cent of students voted in favour. This is a clear indication that students are huge users and supporters of public transit. Next year, our bus pass fee will account for over $4 million of the HSR’s $43 million annual revenue. Therefore, McMaster students are a significant portion of public transit users in our city.
A second criticism I often hear is that since students only live in Hamilton for three to five years, our voices shouldn’t count. Even if this was true — which it isn’t, of course, and I will address this point in a moment — and every single student left Hamilton after completing their respective degrees, there would still be incredible benefits to the city in connecting medium-term residents to Hamilton. Students volunteer, work, and spend a considerable amount of capital in the Hamilton economy, within a four-year period. Moreover, students are large social contributors, volunteering in our hospitals, schools, religious centres, and political institutions. Better connecting students to various different places in Hamilton can only expand the social and economic benefits of this relationship.
Thirdly, student housing is consistently an issue at city council. In fact, earlier this year, council voted for additional bylaw enforcement in Ainsle Wood-Westdale, and now, the rental housing subcommittee is discussing the possible implementation of a landlord licensing system. It’s no secret that the surrounding campus neighbourhood has a high student ratio. Which, as a result of absentee landlordism, can lead to deteriorating living conditions. By implementing LRT, it will be much easier for students to live in other wards all over Hamilton and commute to campus.
A final and important point is graduate retention. Not all McMaster students leave Hamilton after we gradate. In fact, on a personal note, I’d love to stay here. But for my generation of young professionals, we want to live in a city that we can get around by walking, biking, and public transit. This isn’t even just true of McMaster students, it’s true for people my age across the province. If Hamilton is serious about economic development and attracting investors and jobs, LRT is the logical solution. McMaster graduates will stay, and graduates from across the country will want to move here and grow their businesses, taking advantage of the embedded talent.
In short, if students wanted to immediately leave Hamilton after graduation, they would be indifferent about LRT. Why would we spend so much energy advocating for something that we wouldn’t see come to fruition? The reason students are invested is because we see the potential of Hamilton and it’s something of which we want to be a part. I urge council to be forward-thinking and vote yes on April 19.