Council will cut 19,000 hours of "underperforming" bus service to trim the city budget — before seeing the results of a major study meant to overhaul HSR routes.

Transit brass called the changes "tweaks" that will only eliminate one weekday route — the 42 route to the Mohawk four-pad arena, which will still run Saturdays. Most changes involve frequency adjustments at the start or end of the day on various routes and scaling back holiday service.

The changes won't affect an earlier $4-million commitment to add 42,000 hours of new service, primarily on Mountain-serving routes, that will coincide with a five-cent fare hike this fall.

Public works head Dan McKinnon said the cash-saving cuts are intended to have "minimal impact" on riders in a bus network that offers nearly 900,000 hours of service a year. But when asked if staff support the service cuts, McKinnon told councillors "the timing is terrible."

He noted the city is in the middle of a major "Re-envision the HSR" study that involved public consultation and a partnership with McMaster University researchers. The results of that two-year study, which is expected to overhaul HSR routes and improve transit, should come to council in June.

"To have this conversation a year from now would be much more meaningful and valuable," he said.

Transit staff compiled the cuts at the request of councillors eyeing ways to whittle the 2020 budget. The approved cuts represent about $750,000 in savings this year, or a reduction of just under a tenth of one per cent on the average residential tax hike.

This year's estimated tax hike is hovering around three per cent, with a final budget vote yet to come.

Transit staff recommended 28 route or service changes based largely on boardings-per-hour data. In some cases, that means ending service early on routes with few boardings late at night. Other routes will see drops in frequency that will add to average wait times for bus riders. Service will also be scaled back on holidays like Boxing Day and Family Day.

Coun. Brad Clark, who represents Stoney Creek, said the majority of changes pose only a "minor inconvenience" to riders. "In the overall scheme of things, we're making the system work a little bit better."

Coun. Lloyd Ferguson, who pushed for the route review, stressed many affected bus routes have had poor ridership for years. "Holy smokes, it's a use it or lose it situation," he said.

Maureen Wilson and Nrinder Nann were the only councillors to vote against the cuts. Wilson called it "regrettable" that the city would push ahead with service cuts before seeing study recommendations on how to improve the bus network.

Local groups like Environment Hamilton and the Hamilton Transit Alliance also panned the cuts.

"My major concern would be this is (nearly) 20,000 hours worth of cuts made with no public consultation," said Ian Borsuk of the alliance. "They may look like minor changes, but shaving an hour off (a particular route) still potentially prevents someone from taking the bus."

HSR union president Eric Tuck said he meeting with HSR brass Thursday to learn more about the changes. "If we're talking about straight cuts in service hours, we may have some concerns," he said.

Councillors did not accept all the recommended HSR cuts Wednesday.

They voted to keep free summer bus service from the downtown to the waterfront, as well as free shuttle service to the annual Peach Festival in Winona.

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