Effects of the Hamilton Street Railway Strike of 1982 on Downtown Businesses

Abstract

<p> This study investigates the effects of transit strikes on the central business districts (C.B.D. 's) of large cities. It focuses directly on the Hamilton Street Railway (H.S.R.) strike which occurred during the summer of 1982, and attempts to outline exactly what age-groups were affected the most and whether or not the merchants of the downtown were significantly affected monetarily. Information was acquired from merchants through the circulation of a questionnaire which was distributed in September and October of 1983. A regression equation was formulated which took into account some possible causes for diminishing revenues other than the transit strike. The findings of this analysis were that the transit strike had a significant effect on the revenues of downtown businesses, as well as on the age-groups that were present in the downtown at the time of the strike. The regression analysis found that the other factors which were considered did not account for a very significant proportion of decreased revenues when compared to transit strikes.</p>