Crowd-funding a Transit Blog

10:16 AM Hamilton Transit, HSR No Comments

Since February 2011 I have been tweeting out information to the followers and more in the city of Hamilton from @HSRTransit about public transit in the city. The Twitter account began as a hobby and as something that I started to help those who took transit get real time access to information about transit.

On February 13th, 2012 I began the Hamilton Transit Blog, originally hosted on Blogger. My goal with the blog was and is to bring more extensive information about transit. Fleshed out and easily accessible information about detours, news about upcoming service changes, details of transit presentations being brought to council as well as a multitude of other information. In May of 2013 I upgraded that blog with paid hosting and a top-level domain at www.HamiltonTransit.ca.

Since that time the blog has expanded somewhat and the focus on the Twitter account has as well. Not only do I do my best to provide details on detour and service changes for the Hamilton Street Railway, but have also done the same for other public transit that Hamiltonians use. Buses from both GO Transit and Burlington Transit operate on the city streets in Hamilton so information on those systems as it relates to the daily commute of those who live here is just as important to me.

And I do all of this on my own time, on my own dime and without any official support; support that I don't think is coming any time soon.

Having been inspired by the can-do attitudes of so many others I decided that I would attempt a crowd-funding campaign to see if the transit riding community at large would support my unofficial endeavours. I'm keeping this support target small and modest, looking to only attempt to offset the actual annual cost of operating the website - domain and hosting costs.

What I Need & What You Get

The total cost amount for the domain and one year of hosting for HamiltonTransit.ca runs a total of $134.56. The goal doesn't seem that far out of reach. In fact the Twitter account for the Hamilton Transit Blog (@HSRTransit) as of this writing has 2,222 followers. If every follower were to donate just 6 cents I would reach my goal. Indigogo has a minimum fundraising goal of $500, so anything raised beyond the one year goal will be applied to years beyond.

Supporters will receive a few different things as a thank you, including a personal email thank you card, a supporter button, advertising space on the blog as well as PRESTO cards, so you can take transit!

The Impact

The funding will go towards paying for the hosting of the website. After suffering a recent job loss I've had to take a long hard look at my expenses, with the cost of hosting and the domain as one of those.

One thing to bear in mind is that the blog will in no way disappear if the funding goal isn't reached. I will find the funds somewhere to keep things up regardless.

Other Ways You Can Help

Don't worry if you can't contribute. Spreading the word about the campaign is also very important and will be greatly appreciated!

Spread the word on Twitter and Facebook! You can also use the Indiegogo share tools!

Find the HAMILTON TRANSIT INDIEGOGO page here.

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Making Good News Sound Bad

10:22 AM No Comments

I'm not a journalist. In the past though I used to regularly contribute to a sports magazine and the editor there told me one thing to keep in mind in my writing. Be positive. Focusing on the negative isn't a good thing.

Its something I try to keep in mind to this day.

A brief piece popped up in the Spec on Saturday reporting on the announcement of the James North GO construction starting. Transportation Minister Glen Murray also announced that there would be two additional morning and two afternoon trains initially with all-day service dependant on GO buying the right-of-way and repairing tracks.

The rail corridor is owned and maintained by CN.

The Spec's view was of a "glass half empty" mentality of that's all? The $60 million cost will only buy us four new trains?

The article made the notion that there must be an election coming for the announcement to come now. Because we've forgotten that the station is partially been set for now because of the timeline for the 2015 PanAm games.

We're getting a new GO Station with expanded all day service in the future. Also trips to Niagara will now stop in Hamilton with the new station. So even until that all-day happens we're getting more than just the four trains.

Don't be so pessimistic.

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Why LRT Can benefit Everyone

9:03 AM Light Rail Transit No Comments

This isn't going to be a long winded information article about the positives of Light Rail Transit in the city. The fine folks at Raise the Hammer have gone over that in plenty of detail, even though it would seem that no one is listening.

The one thing most people seem to get hung up over, including both leaders of the provincial opposition parties, is the cost of putting the needed transit improvements into place. Before the revenue tools can even be announced, these parties have vowed to not support them. In Hamilton there is also dwindling support around the council table, according to an article in The Spec today.
Mountain councillors object to their constituents having to pay for the lower city rapid transit line. I wonder if they understand how many people who live on the mountain regularity use transit to get downtown and then take lower city transit. The same argument could be said about residents in the lower city paying to improve mountain transit, or Stoney Creek residents sharing the cost of improving transit in Waterdown for example.

Improving transit as a whole in Hamilton will benefit everyone.

Another missed point is that LRT will actually allow transit improvements in the reat of the city.

When the light rail rapid transit vehicles are quickly delivering transit users from all over the city, through the lower city, do you think that the HSR will shutter the 15-20 buses they can remove from the corridor in the garage? No, they will then be freed up to allow for frequency and service level improvements in the rest of the city.

One bone of contention with people who take the bus from downtown to McMaster is the amount of buses that arrive or pass by full. Light rail vehicles will have more than twice the capacity and run nearly twice as often. And since the LRT operates on its own right of way it will never get stuck in traffic or be tied up in a traffic jam like we saw last week.

I have no personal allegiance to any political party or politician, but I understand the importance and necessity of a great local and regional public transit system. Support transit and I will support you.

And to those who drive everywhere and vow never to to take transit. When the day comes that your vehicle dies or goes into the shop and you need to take transit, don't grumble that "public transit sucks." You were part of the problem.

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Some sport betting tips

10:58 AM Special No Comments

The first and most important tip to remember if you are planning to embark on football, cricket, rugby or any other kind of sports betting, is to choose a sport you are interested in to bet on. This will enable you to avoid having to do lots of research into the various issues that can affect your bets, such as the fitness or the form levels of key playing personnel. In this way betting on a sport is not much different to playing blackjack online at sites like Lucky Nugget online blackjack, as you would not attempt to play blackjack without understanding the dealer advantage.

Another key tip is to not allow periods of wins or losses to affect the way you bet, as any sports betting fan experiences good and bad spells. It can be very tempting to rip up your budget in those circumstances, in the hopes of recovering losses (or maximizing winnings), but this is never a smart move. You should also take time to learn about betting value, as always going with the player or team rated favourites by bookmakers isn’t always wise. Value means calculating whether the odds being offered by the bookies are high enough to offer you the chance of a decent payoff should you bet correctly. Odds are frequently calculated based on how the bookies think the public will bet, not on probable outcomes, so look for those bets where you think general public opinion is wrong.

Again this is where being a fan of the sport you are betting on is so important – because otherwise you are unlikely to know that sort of thing. It is the same sort of thing as knowing how both the dealer and the player advantage works with a casino game like blackjack. If you do not fancy learning about this sort of thing there are games like slots that you can start playing even if you have never visited a casino site before, and these slot games combine easy game-play with a great jackpot and ultra-cheap betting. This has tended to make such games one of the most popular forms of betting, and if you aren’t much of a sports fan, they will probably be more suitable for you.

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