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HSR Bus Strike: Alternative Transport Options

By Sharang Sharma
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We will be updating this blog as the strike progresses.

With the start of the recent HSR transit worker’s strike shutting down bus service in Hamilton, many McMaster students have been struggling with the question of how they can get to and from campus and how much this will cost them. We’ve compiled a few options in this blog to help you out! Also, at the bottom of this blog you can find our video on transportation in Hamilton, which provides some more details on these options. 

Go Bus 

  • GO busses will still be running. If you live on or around a GO bus route you can catch one. The 41 and 17 both run from the downtown Hamilton Go Centre to the McMaster University GO Bus Terminal before heading out of Hamilton and can be used to get to campus. These trips will cost around $3. 

Driving 

  • Carpooling will be an effective way of getting to campus if you live far away and don’t have access to a car. You can either try to organize with nearby friends, use forums such as the McMaster carpool Facebook group, or use Hamilton’s Smart Commute Tool to find others to carpool with. This can be a cheaper solution for those with longer commutes. 

  • Those who can drive but do not have access to a car can also use CommunAuto, a carsharing app that allows you to access cars all around Hamilton to drive onto and off from McMaster campus. You can either get a monthly plan or pay per trip. Check out the CommunAuto website to learn more about pricing. They currently have a promotional offer where, if you get a monthly FLEX pass, you get unlimited 30 minute rides at no extra cost, which you can learn more about here. Carpooling can help cut costs here too. 

  • You can also use a rideshare app or taxi to get to campus, with options such as Uber, Lyft, or Hamilton Cab in the area. If you’re coming from around downtown Hamilton or up the escarpment, this usually costs $12 to $25 dollars for a ride. Hamilton Cab also offer a 10% discount when booking through their app. You can share the ride with friends to reduce the price per person. However, there is a chance that these prices will increase as more people use these services to get to campus.  

  • If you already have access to a car, you might be planning on driving to campus. Heads up, though! Parking tends to be quite full, so plan ahead for how you will park. To learn more about McMaster parking, you can take a look at the parking services website. You can also talk to friends and others you know who live close to campus about using and/or renting their unused parking spaces. 

Alternative Transport 

  • For those who can bike, Hamilton’s SOBI bicycle-share is a good option for getting to campus. For $16 a month you get 90 minutes of biking time at no additional cost per day. There are SOBI stops all around campus and Hamilton generally. The added benefit in using bike-share is that you do not need to worry about having your bike stolen 

  • Those who want to use their own bicycles to bike to campus can also access secure bike parking facilities. You can either use CycleSafe bike lockers, where only your individual bike will be stored, for $40 a semester, or the shared secure bike lockup for $5 a semester. You need to fill out applications to use either of these, so be sure to check out the transporation website to fill them out. 

  • You can also use the Bird e-scooters you might have noticed around campus. You can get a three-day pass for $13 if you plan on riding 60 minutes a day and for $18 if you plan on riding for 100 minutes a day. You can also not use a pass and pay $1.15 plus $0.42 a minute while riding. Be careful though! The weather is getting colder, so dress warm if you plan on using this option. 

  • Those closer to campus can also walk over. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to get to campus from the Westdale area, and 15- 30 minutes from the Ainslie Woods area. You can always use Google Maps to see how long it would take you. 

It is also important to know that you will get a partial refund on your HSR bus pass if the disruption lasts 10 days or longer.  

We hope some of these options help you out while the HSR bus service is down!  

Note that this video was made over the summer and that some of the transportation options we discuss might not currently be as accessible in the Winter.