Ottawa Rapid Transit Network developments

[McC]

and finally, Part IV on the ORP:
http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/western-lrt-part-iv-the-river-parkway/

[McC]

in the Citizen:

City of Ottawa has plan to hurry light-rail project for Canada’s 150th
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
By Joanne Chianello, The Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA — The city plans to fast-track its light-rail project in hopes that it could be ready for at least a “ceremonial” event on Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017 and carrying paying passengers by spring 2018.

A report expected to be released Thursday, to be considered at a special meeting of city council’s finance committee next week, will lay out how city staff will advance the “pre-construction” stage of the $2.1-billion project and reduce the time to gather bids on the project from 12 months to nine.

These and other measures promise to have the light-rail project completed about a year ahead of its original schedule.

“There was a pretty clear indication that the public and the council are expecting us to move at a faster pace,” said Mayor Jim Watson. “I certainly heard on the campaign trail that people were frustrated that we’ve had this never-ending debate on light rail. They wanted us to move on it.”

But if light rail is being sped up, then the widening of Highway 417 must also be accelerated.

A key element of how public transit will operate during the light-rail construction involves running OC Transpo buses in dedicated lanes on a widened highway. That major construction project, which has already begun in the west end, will be sped up as well.

“That has helped us move at a faster pace,” said Watson. “We had to wait for confirmation from the province that they had the funding for the expansion of the 417. That was one of the other factors that was helpful to us.”

The Ontario government identified money for upgrading the 417 in its recent budget, in addition to the $600 million both the provincial and federal governments have each pledged to contribute to the project.

Although the city has always said the project would cost $2.1 billion, the actual price won’t really be known until the tendering process is complete. Still, said Watson, an accelerated schedule helps keep down costs it two ways: the sooner the new transit system is running, the sooner the city takes in revenues from it; and costs generally increase over time due to inflation (the $2.1-billion price tag is in 2009 dollars).

It’s unclear why the light-rail project wasn’t planned with an earlier deadline in the first place.

In early March, members of council’s finance and economic harangued senior city staff over what they characterized as the slow progress of the light-rail plan.

“Four years and three months ago, we kissed off the north-south rail plan and since that time all we have to show for it is two bore holes,” said Barrhaven Councillor Jan Harder at the time, referring to the previous light-rail plan cancelled under former mayor Larry O’Brien — a move that left taxpayers on the hook for more than $36 million in a settlement with Siemens Canada, the company that was signed to build the previous rail line.

It’s now looking like the light rail project will be officially commissioned by 2018, which means it needs to be ready for testing by late 2017.

While members of the public won’t actually be able to ride the rails on Canada’s sesquicentennial, it may be possible for visitors to see what the tunnel or some completed stations look like.

More important, the most disruptive of the construction will be minimized in the downtown core during the nation’s birthday celebrations, when thousands of tourists are expected to descend on the capital.

[McC]

Originally Posted by McC

and finally, Part IV on the ORP:
http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/western-lrt-part-iv-the-river-parkway/

and finally-er Part V on how the western route will be chosen
http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/western-lrt-part-v-choosing-the-best-route/

[waterloowarrior]

http://www.merx.com/English/SUPPLIER_Men...E=Y&hcode=u2xALFK3sYTUe%2bacbwUdbg%3d%3d
RFP - Ottawa Light Rail Transit Transportation Demand Management Strategy

Description:
Request for Proposal # 19611-91896-P04 Ottawa Light Rail Transit Transportation Demand Management Strategy

GSINS:
C219A Other Engineering Studies
B109A Other Environmental Studies
B302A Feasibility Studies/Needs Analysis

Requirement:
The Rail Implementation Office of the City of Ottawa, hereinafter referred to as the City is seeking proposals to provide professional services for a Transportation Demand Management Strategy for the Ottawa Light Rail Transit.

The development of a Transportation Demand Management Strategy (TDMS) for Ottawa’s Light Rail Transit Project is essential to ensure sustainable mobility during and after construction of the system. The goal of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to choose a proponent capable of developing a comprehensive TDMS for the Ottawa Light Rail Transit project.

Period of Proposed Contract:
The proposed period of contract is from Date of Award to 31 March 2012

Inquiries:
All inquiries regarding this Request for Proposal (RFP) are to be directed to the Contracting Authority specified herein. Inquiries must be received in writing (e-mail) no later than Monday, 16 May 2011. All inquiries received, and the answers as provided by the Project Authority will be provided to all Proponents by way of written addendum, no later than Thursday, 19 May 2011 without naming the source of the inquiry.

This Request for proposals document is only available from Merx.

The bid document MUST be received NO LATER than 3:00 p.m. local time, Tuesday, 07 June 2011.
at the following location:

[eternallyme]

I find the proposals through Carlingwood quite interesting (increases ridership as it serves a key destination) but how to connect there will be an issue.

[McC]

proposed station design vocabulary and concept for Hurdman (rest of the stations to come):
http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/lrt-stations-revealled-part-i/

[Richard Eade]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

I find the proposals through Carlingwood quite interesting (increases ridership as it serves a key destination) but how to connect there will be an issue.

Yes, I like that idea also - except I would make some slight adjustments to the proposed alignment.



Notice that I have come up along Lochart instead of Woodroffe. This avoids disruption of Woodroffe during construction and means that the tracks might be able to be along the surface. Also, coming under the parking lot offers a better angle for turning under Carling.

I suggest that the train would head underground just south of Saville and stay there until after it had turned the corner onto Carling and gone west of Woodroffe (the western Woodroffe).

I have forced the removal of the auto-service wing of the mall, but I don't think that would be a major concern; and it could be re-built over the station if it was really needed.

The draw-back of going to Carlingwood is that the train will no longer pass the towers in the Ambleside area. There will need to be some study to figure out which provides the most passengers, the all-day service to the Mall (including a re-developed Fairlawn Plaza), or the commuter service for the towers.

[OttawaSteve]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

The draw-back of going to Carlingwood is that the train will no longer pass the towers in the Ambleside area. There will need to be some study to figure out which provides the most passengers, the all-day service to the Mall (including a re-developed Fairlawn Plaza), or the commuter service for the towers.

No contest there, I should think. Barring a major shift in the travel patterns of Ambleside residents with the arrival of LRT, that is. I get the sense that this is currently a very auto-oriented community (although with a fair number of commuters walking to/from Lincoln Fields station at peak times, I imagine).

On the other hand, Carlingwood is a fairly significant trip generator, not to mention a major transit hub.

[Cre47]

Not sure if it is Randall Denley who wrote but anyways if it was Randall , we don't care about his 🞵🞵🞵🞵 anymore since now he is running for the PC in the next provincial election against Bob Chiarelli.

Originally Posted by Ottawa Citizen

Be careful with light rail


Ottawa Citizen May 14, 2011



Mayor Jim Watson did the right thing by moving expropriations for light rail back to July when the city treasurer will issue an affordability report on the plan.

Watson needs to be extremely careful with this project because its $2.1-billion cost, with the city responsible for overruns, could, if things go wrong, put a huge strain on municipal property taxpayers and the local government's ability to pay for other important municipal projects.

Residents have correctly spoken out loudly about the need for light rail. However, council must be absolutely sure that this is the right model of light rail for the community. At this cost, this project must be near perfect. It's an enormous amount of money. The plan must stay within budget and it must be the correct project for the needs of riders. To go forward with a plan that is badly flawed at this price is foolhardy.

On a city council that appears reluctant to debate anything, there needs to be a thorough discussion on this issue. That's because there are very good reasons to have reservations. Here are some of them:

Is the line too short? Certainly ? ? it covers downtown, but does it go where people live?

Could the line be extended ? ? by scrapping the tunnel and using the money saved to drive rail eastward toward Orléans, where it could help alleviate some of the congestion at the Highway 417-174 split?

How good is the planning ? ? for the line? When the tunnel is shortened by one-third but the cost remains the same, the plan looks somewhat like guess work;

Will the transfer points be-? ? tween buses and trains at Tunney's Pasture and Blair Road be efficient or have massive tieups?

Is city staff being open and ? ? transparent? Stonewalling on a bore hole testing report that contained embarrassing information was unnecessary;

What are the chances of over-? ? runs on the project and on the tunnel in particular? Tunnels are notorious for surprise costs;

Could money be saved by ? ? running light rail on a surface transit corridor, perhaps banning cars along Albert or Slater streets? Would ridership improve if trains were accessible at street level rather than 10 storeys down?

These are just some of the questions the mayor and council should be pondering before going forward on this expensive and risky project.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by Cre47

Not sure if it is Randall Denley who wrote but anyways if it was Randall , we don't care about his 🞵🞵🞵🞵 anymore since now he is running for the PC in the next provincial election against Bob Chiarelli.

Sounds like Ken Gray to me.

[Richard Eade]

Yup, it definitely has that certain shade of 'Gray' about it. I think Denley is in the clear on that editorial.

[McC]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Yup, it definitely has that certain shade of 'Gray' about it. I think Denley is in the clear on that editorial.

Sounds like Ken Gray to me.

agreed

in other news, Westside action has moved west to Tunney's http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2011...ed-part-ii-tunneys-pasture/#comment-2468

[Kitchissippi]

Here's what I would love to see in each of the LRT stations:

• Video Link

[Ottawan]

I'm sure it costs far too much for Council to consider building some, but I love it!

[MountainView]

Great idea! Too bad we live 100 years behind Japan...

[waterloowarrior]

ottawa LRT update (large pdf) to advisory committees
http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycou...20Cycl%20&%20Transit%20advis%20cttee.pdf

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

ottawa LRT update (large pdf) to advisory committees
http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycou...20Cycl%20&%20Transit%20advis%20cttee.pdf

They've made the stations shorter, maxing out at 150m now, not 180m. A small victory for cost control.

[McC]

OC Transpo wants to buy new O-Trains, nearly double service
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
By Joanne Chianello, The Ottawa Citizen
People come and go on the O-Train and the O-C Transpo Transitway. OTTAWA — OC Transpo wants to spend $59 million to buy six new diesel trains and build some new passing tracks in order to double O-Train capacity and increase service to every eight minutes from the current 15, the city’s transit commission heard Wednesday.

And in something of a surprise move, the transit commission approved a $200,000 study for OC Transpo to figure out what it would take to extend the O-Train as far south as the Leitrim Park and Ride station, as well as to Riverside South.

Alain Mercier, the general manager of the transit system, was supposed to present the business case for increasing capacity on the O-Train at Wednesday’s transit commission meeting. But the report wasn’t ready, so Mercier gave a verbal outline of the plan, which did not include details on exactly how the project will be paid for. However, Mercier indicated that fewer buses would have to be purchased in the near future if the O-Train capacity is increased by 2014. That’s the year Hurdman Station will have to shut down for the light-rail project and Mercier argued that increased O-Train service could help alleviate the transit issues that will arise from that closure.

The O-Train system, which runs from the Bayview Transitway station in the north to Greenboro station in the south, was started as a pilot project in 2001. The initial ridership target for the three existing trains was 6,400 customer trips per day, but has reached 12,000. Mercier said that at the Carleton University station, for example, the traffic level is almost at capacity.

When the O-Train system was first built, OC Transpo purchased three used Bombardier-built diesel trains, originally meant for a German client. However, said Mercier, there are no used trains on the market right now, so OC Transpo would have to purchase six brand-new trains to offer more frequent service. The three existing trains would be rehabilitated and kept on hand for whenever extra capacity is needed.

The official report will not be made public until June 14, and presented to the transit commission a week later on June 21, which is when commissioners will debate and vote on the recommendations for the extra trains. The issue is scheduled to go to full council the very next day, on June 22.

However, the transit commission did vote Wednesday in favour of a motion moved by Councillor Diane Deans, who chairs the commission, to direct OC Transpo to study the feasibility of extending the O-Train from Greenboro to Leitrim, and to Riverside South, using the corridor from the proposed north-south light-rail project that was cancelled by the previous council.

Deans, who represents the Gloucester-Southgate ward, said that purchasing more diesel trains “presents a golden opportunity to provide a lot more service to the south that will be without that kind of (rapid) service for at least 15 years, probably much longer.

“It’s not saying we’re going to do it, it’s saying ‘Let’s look at it, let’s find out if it’s financially feasible, if it makes sense.’”

But not everyone was happy to spend money on the report, which is due back at the transit commission within six months.

Cumberland Councillor Stephen Blais lost a motion to defer the study to the 2012 budget process, saying it was “hogwash” to spend money on a feasibility review when council recently ordered transit to cut $22 million out of its operating budget. That directive led to network-wide changes in routes that will come into effect in September.

“We just went through a very difficult process to cut a bunch of bus routes,” said Blais. “The $200,000 cost of this study is one-third of a bus route.”

Blais said the study was “fiscally irresponsible” because it was not budgeted for and has nothing to do with alleviating the “pressure” that will be caused by the closing of Hurdman Station.

“We’re buying the trains to expand the frequency of service,” he told his fellow commissioners, “not to extend it down to Leitrim 10 years ahead of schedule.”

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/mobile/ipho...nearly+double+service/4804504/story.html

[Ottawan]

While this is very good news (a low cost way of making transit more attractive in the short term), I wish that a Gladstone station were added as part of this move. This would be an excellent way of encouraging TOD.

[McC]

they mention new passing tracks, but nothing about new stations. To Gladstone-Marconi and a Leitrim Park-and-ride, I'd add Walkley and South Keys too, at the very least to provide options for mitigating the Transitway Conversion Hell (TM) to come. Would there be any utility in a stop at Lester? (besides the fun in having a Lester Station?)