Reflections on Vehicle Dominance and Urban Sprawl Tendencies
As the second-largest country in the world by surface area, Canada is comprised primarily of driving cities. But maybe that shouldn’t be surprising considering the distance between major metropolitan areas across the country and a lack of transit infrastructure that connects them- relative to the more efficient and reliable intercontinental transit options that connect European or Asian cities.
As a teenager growing up in Burlington, an example of a classic driving city, meant it was difficult to get around without a vehicle or driver’s licence. Instead, I depended on my bicycle to get around town, which carried its own set of safety concerns. I can recount many close calls of vehicles not stopping correctly or failing to notice other cyclists. But maybe that should not have been surprising in a city where cars were the dominant species, and cycling infrastructure was lacking. Further complicating the experience, a lack of reliable public transit options and the distance between places made it conducive to having a vehicle more than anything else.
Over the years, I have seen and learned about the consequences of urban sprawl and expansion. As Gordon’s article indicates, more than two-thirds of our country’s total population lives in the suburbs. As a result, policy-makers must deal with the consequences of Canada being predominantly a diving country that is less dependent on transit or more eco-friendly driving options.
With that in mind, Addie, Fiedler, and Keil’s article reminded me of Hamilton’s LRT journey and its anticipated impact on the city’s urban sprawl tendencies. As the population of Hamilton, Ontario, is predicted to increase in the next decade significantly, the issue that urban planners grappled with was understanding and preparing where all those people were going to live. To minimize urban sprawl and promote urban growth, planners drafted a plan for future rapid transit lines across the city called the BLAST network — a long-term public transit infrastructure plan that Metrolinx later adopted.
As I reflect on Hamilton politics in the last decade, no issue has been more divisive or debated than Light Rail Transit ‘LRT’. Starting with the B-line corridor, the LRT was proposed to upgrade the traffic-riddled and inefficient transit corridor that still relies on buses. The project has suffered through a form of politics inherent to local governance. As a single-tier municipality, Hamilton City Council is comprised of members that represent urban and rural parts of the city. This created a debate that pivoted the supporting views of urban parts of the city against those in less urban car-friendly neighbourhoods. At one point, it received provincial funding. Then it was scrapped by the provincial government. Only to have recently gained new life after the federal government stepped in.
Hamilton’s LRT project will create more transit options and hopefully increase transit use and incentivize urban growth, a revived downtown, and connect adjacent inner-city neighbourhoods. Indeed, the project will help re-urbanize one of Canada’s many driving cities, which in my opinion, is a step in the right direction.
