Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[SidetrackedSue]

About an hour after they tweeted R1 buses would stop running after rush hour, a train was stopped by the driver for rattling noises and all trains were put on hold.

OC Transpo tweeted out:

"O-Train Line 1: Reduced service between Lyon and Tunney's Pasture due to a stopped train. Service on eastbound platforms from Lyon to Tunney's Pasture. Customers will need to change trains at Lyon."

The system continued to run because you can do that when there are only 7 trains running and the civil service is WFH. Try that with full service and having to stop to transfer passengers downtown to another train will become unmanageable.

Still no word on what the problem with the train was.

[sseguin]

• Video Link

O-Train Line 1 - A Discussion on the State of the O-Train - November 2021

O-Train Line 1 opened in September 2019. In the following 2 years of service, it has encountered numerous technical challenges. The most recent set of issues involved two derailments, 6 weeks apart in August and September 2021.

In this video discussion with Jeff (J.OT13), we talk about the recent incidents, the information that has been shared, the work that has been done, what the ridership really wants, and the promise of Stage 2 and the future.

[daud]

Originally Posted by sseguin

O-Train Line 1 opened in September 2019. In the following 2 years of service, it has encountered numerous technical challenges. The most recent set of issues involved two derailments, 6 weeks apart in August and September 2021.

In this video discussion with Jeff (J.OT13), we talk about the recent incidents, the information that has been shared, the work that has been done, what the ridership really wants, and the promise of Stage 2 and the future.

Thanks for posting. I watched a good chunk of it. I don't think the worst is behind us unfortunately. I hope I am wrong. I think we have purchased a network with pieces that are not fully working well together in the manner we expect them too. Call it a design flaw-not of any individual piece but of the package. I worry these issues will continue for another couple of years before we isolate a major change to some element of the whole-maybe different trains-I have no idea.

What is really depressing, is to see the infrastructure video clips through your segment. The system is visually so impressive but it just doesn't work well!

Sadly, this is not a model train for our basements-its got to work every day and work very well. I don't know what lessons have been learned-maybe we don't opt for the "chevy" model in the future. maybe we don't rely on state of the art, brand new and not fully tested technology for our climate or speeds. I just know we are knee deep in a disaster of a situation and this has the feeling to me, of a never ending cycle of issues, finger pointing and rationalization.

Probably the scariest of all is stage 2 is going to drive so much traffic to the confed line. Will it ever support this cities transit needs?

[Richard Eade]

The other side of the coin:

What problems actually remain for the trains, that are not ‘fixable’?

From the start, the door sensors were set to be too sensitive – which is the SAFE default. Gradually, a more realistic setting was found; as well as the training of the people using the trains to not interfere with the doors. In the next generation of these trains, I think that we will see some modifications to the doors to make them more robust so that they can better deal with North American impatience.

Cracked wheels were discovered early on, during routine maintenance work. This was very odd to find on a new train. It turned out that a new wheel manufacturer was sending jack-screws preinstalled in the wheels; and some of those screws protruded out the back-side of the wheels. Since no other wheel manufacturer had sent Alstom wheels with installed jack-screws, the wheel installation procedure did not include the step to ensure that any jack-screw did not protrude from the wheel before installing. That step has now been added to the procedure and we have had no further cracked wheels (at least, due to jack-screws).

Showers of sparks from the pantograph, during the winter, was traced to salt water spray from when the trains went under roads. We use a tremendous amount of salt on our roads in Ottawa. The insulators. Temporary modifications were implemented to prevent the sparks. Meanwhile, new insulators have been completely redesigned to account for this issue, manufactured, and installed (over time). This issue should no longer be a problem.

The wheels were developing flats at a higher rate than expected. (Yes, ‘than expected’, since wheel flats are expected on every system.) Instead of the expected 330,000 kilometre tread life, Ottawa is now requiring bogies to go through a retrofit program (regrinding wheel treads, changing out wheel bearings, etc.) approximately every 100,000 kilometres. Yes, occasional wheel flats can still be heard, but they don’t remain for long.

[One remaining issue might be to find out WHY we are getting so many wheel flats – even though they are being promptly dealt with, after the fact.]

We have had ONE wheel bearing fail. The procedure to monitor wheel bearings had been to visually inspect them for signs of grease leakage every 25,000 kilometres. (If a bearing gets hot, the grease that lubricates it gets thin and thin grease can seep past the seals.) That interval has been reduced to every 10,000 kilometres, and a physical check for wheel-play has been added. A prybar is used to verify that an elevated wheel has very limited ‘in and out’ movement.

So, problems that have arisen have been dealt with in one way or another. Ottawa’s trains have become better and more reliable over the last two years. I think that Toronto (Finch-West LRT) and other future sales of this version of the Alstom Citadis will benefit from the debugging that has been done in Ottawa.

Perhaps, the biggest problem remaining is the lax control of maintenance standards. I expect that one part of that issue is the continued use of half of Ottawa’s maintenance facilities to assemble Stage 2 vehicles. Once that ends, there might be enough capacity to actually deal efficiently with all of the additional (unplanned when the specifications for the maintenance facilities were drawn up) work that is needed on these trains. There is bound to be some rushing through of work, since they are currently required to do about three times as much as originally envisioned for the facilities.

[sseguin]

Thank you for your comments. I would just point out that come Stage 2, the number of people riding the train (specifically between Blair to Downtown and Tunney's to Downtown) will remain about the same, as they are currently taking a bus to Blair or Tunney's to catch the train to complete their trip, they will come Stage 2 access the train closer to their origin.

If ridership on the train goes up, it is more people coming to use it and natural growth increases, not necessarily that the line is longer and will be carrying many more people. Hope I am explaining that well enough.

As far as capacity it can handle it and with more trains / higher frequency of service, it has lots of room to grow. Again assuming it runs without issues or interruptions.

[daud]

thanks @richard for the breakdown of specifics. It is moderately encouraging to see that issues are being addressed.

That old donald rumsfeld quote comes to mind though...

as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know

Good point @sseguin. Hopefully increased commuter traffic on the lines isn't a variable in the equation.

There's some commentary about the curves on the rails, the noises, replacing track. Some saying the curves might be too sharp, others saying they are spec'd fine for the trains. It all just gives me pause but I really do hope OC Transpo can "turn the corner" on all this.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

The other side of the coin:

What problems actually remain for the trains, that are not ‘fixable’?

From the start, the door sensors were set to be too sensitive – which is the SAFE default. Gradually, a more realistic setting was found; as well as the training of the people using the trains to not interfere with the doors. In the next generation of these trains, I think that we will see some modifications to the doors to make them more robust so that they can better deal with North American impatience.

Cracked wheels were discovered early on, during routine maintenance work. This was very odd to find on a new train. It turned out that a new wheel manufacturer was sending jack-screws preinstalled in the wheels; and some of those screws protruded out the back-side of the wheels. Since no other wheel manufacturer had sent Alstom wheels with installed jack-screws, the wheel installation procedure did not include the step to ensure that any jack-screw did not protrude from the wheel before installing. That step has now been added to the procedure and we have had no further cracked wheels (at least, due to jack-screws).

Showers of sparks from the pantograph, during the winter, was traced to salt water spray from when the trains went under roads. We use a tremendous amount of salt on our roads in Ottawa. The insulators. Temporary modifications were implemented to prevent the sparks. Meanwhile, new insulators have been completely redesigned to account for this issue, manufactured, and installed (over time). This issue should no longer be a problem.

The wheels were developing flats at a higher rate than expected. (Yes, ‘than expected’, since wheel flats are expected on every system.) Instead of the expected 330,000 kilometre tread life, Ottawa is now requiring bogies to go through a retrofit program (regrinding wheel treads, changing out wheel bearings, etc.) approximately every 100,000 kilometres. Yes, occasional wheel flats can still be heard, but they don’t remain for long.

[One remaining issue might be to find out WHY we are getting so many wheel flats – even though they are being promptly dealt with, after the fact.]

We have had ONE wheel bearing fail. The procedure to monitor wheel bearings had been to visually inspect them for signs of grease leakage every 25,000 kilometres. (If a bearing gets hot, the grease that lubricates it gets thin and thin grease can seep past the seals.) That interval has been reduced to every 10,000 kilometres, and a physical check for wheel-play has been added. A prybar is used to verify that an elevated wheel has very limited ‘in and out’ movement.

So, problems that have arisen have been dealt with in one way or another. Ottawa’s trains have become better and more reliable over the last two years. I think that Toronto (Finch-West LRT) and other future sales of this version of the Alstom Citadis will benefit from the debugging that has been done in Ottawa.

Perhaps, the biggest problem remaining is the lax control of maintenance standards. I expect that one part of that issue is the continued use of half of Ottawa’s maintenance facilities to assemble Stage 2 vehicles. Once that ends, there might be enough capacity to actually deal efficiently with all of the additional (unplanned when the specifications for the maintenance facilities were drawn up) work that is needed on these trains. There is bound to be some rushing through of work, since they are currently required to do about three times as much as originally envisioned for the facilities.

I agree with all of this in principle. At a distance, it seems like we've hit the bathtub curve pretty hard, but things are improving.

I believe that the larger problem is that people are now weary. It's not just the trains - it's poorly designed station, bus transfers and other physical issues. In the long term we'll forget about these issues with rolling stock, but the fixed infrastructure people interact with will remain the same.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Catenary

I agree with all of this in principle. At a distance, it seems like we've hit the bathtub curve pretty hard, but things are improving.

I believe that the larger problem is that people are now weary. It's not just the trains - it's poorly designed station, bus transfers and other physical issues. In the long term we'll forget about these issues with rolling stock, but the fixed infrastructure people interact with will remain the same.

Considering that Hurdman is a permanent major bus transfer, we really could use better weather protection, if only a canopy between the rail station and the bus stops, certainly more than the bus shelters that were provided. Also, inadequate next bus display boards, not always situated where the user could most benefit from it. It seems we cheaped out when it came to the bus side of these interchanges.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Considering that Hurdman is a permanent major bus transfer, we really could use better weather protection, if only a canopy between the rail station and the bus stops, certainly more than the bus shelters that were provided. Also, inadequate next bus display boards, not always situated where the user could most benefit from it. It seems we cheaped out when it came to the bus side of these interchanges.

Thankfully, of all the issues, this actually can be fixed with a bit of investment. Hopefully, this is something folks like Sean Seguin can bring up with decisionmakers when they do interviews with them.

[Richard Eade]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Considering that Hurdman is a permanent major bus transfer, we really could use better weather protection, if only a canopy between the rail station and the bus stops, certainly more than the bus shelters that were provided. Also, inadequate next bus display boards, not always situated where the user could most benefit from it. It seems we cheaped out when it came to the bus side of these interchanges.

What an interesting observation, LRT’s Friend. It makes me wonder if the bus infrastructure components were some of the components that were deemed ‘Not Eligible’ to have the upper levels of government share the cost of. We know that many things were in that category but were included in the contract anyway – but the City was responsible for paying 100% of those costs.

Because there is no transparency to the contract details, I have no way of knowing whether that is true, or not; but it would answer a bunch of ‘Why on earth would they have done it that way?” questions. I can only theorize that if the City was paying 33¢-dollars to a world-renown transit designer, there probably would have been more thought put into making bus riders comfortable. If the City had to pay the full cost, then a few simple shelters would suffice.

Also, if the City was totally responsible for the bus infrastructure, then it might have been the City’s job to design it – outside of what was being designed by the Confederation Line Consortium. Thus, in the case of Hurdman Station, for example, the RTG was left to design the LRT station, and the City designed a separate bus station. Integration between the two would amount to sharing the spec’s on which paving blocks were being used.

[sseguin]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Thankfully, of all the issues, this actually can be fixed with a bit of investment. Hopefully, this is something folks like Sean Seguin can bring up with decisionmakers when they do interviews with them.

Indeed. Totally agree.

There was a similar topic started on our forum and I provided a response there : https://www.railfans.ca/forums/topic/113...-insufficient/?tab=comments#comment-4131

In any case, I believe I have actually discussed all three stations with Pat Scrimgeour in two of the interviews I have had with him in the past 2 years. A cantilevered canopy at Blair and something at Tunney's on the South platform (closest to the LRT) were being investigated/planned. When asked about Hurdman, he said nothing was planned. When asked about why the bus platform wasn't located under the LRT guideway, I think he had suggested there were issues due to the land being owned by the NCC or something to that effect. Although surely the land underneath the guideway at the station itself shouldn't be in dispute.

For those interested, you can see those two videos here, one from 2020 and the other from 2021. Interestingly, the 2020 happened right on the Cyrville Platform (which right at the conclusion, I found out shouldn't have happened..., so a rare interview right on the platform).

Cued to the points in each when Station Improvements such as shelter are discussed.

• Video Link
SKIP TO 4:11

• Video Link
SKIP TO 15:31

[rocketphish]

LRT service to add 8th train on Thursday
Transit commission hears LRT much improved over pre-shutdown system

Joanne Chianello · CBC News
Posted: Nov 17, 2021 1:01 PM ET | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

An eighth train is expected to be added to the Confederation Line service on Thursday as the LRT inches its way back to an 11-train service with replacement buses sent back to their previous bus routes, the transit commission heard Wednesday morning.

In an update on state of Ottawa's public transit system, commissioners heard the Confederation Line that's slowly returning to service is better than the one shut down after a second derailment on Sept. 19.

"We need to be proud today that the safety work that needs to be done was done," the new head of OC Transpo Renée Amilcar said in French.

The head of the maintenance arm of the LRT builder, which is responsible for making sure the system works properly, agreed the Confederation Line that reopened last Friday is improved.

"The system we delivered to you is better than the one that was shut down," said Mario Guerra, CEO of Rideau Transit Maintenance.

The complete shutdown allowed maintenance technicians to get to outstanding issues they haven't been able to get to during regular service, he added later in the meeting. That included speed restrictions along the line, Guerra said.

Coun. Catherine McKenney asked about reports the train often "slows down to a crawl" between Rideau and uOttawa stations. Amilcar said a piece of rail at Rideau station is being replaced Wednesday night to improve the noise experienced in that area, but it's not clear the new rail will improve the speed through that part of the line.

Representatives from Transportation Resource Associates (TRA) — the consultants the city hired to review and approve the LRT return-to-service plan after the September derailment — said they would look into the speed issue at Rideau.

TRA executives did tell transit commission the Confederation Line is solid.

"It's not a lemon," said TRA CEO Kenneth Korach. "There's no aspect of it that strikes me as being inherently defective or deficient."

Daniel Hauber, vice-president of TRA, said "from a design perspective, from an execution perspective, it's really an excellent system … There's nothing inherently deficient."

Amilcar said she expects 11 double-car trains to run by the end of the month and to be available in December when passengers can ride for free. OC Transpo officials say only 11 trains are needed to provide full service during COVID-19, instead of the 15 that are supposed to be available during rush-hour service.

The buses that were used for R1 service were returned Wednesday to local routes that had been cancelled.

During the LRT shutdown, ridership took a hit as people likely found other ways to travel because R1 service is slower than the train, said Pat Scrimgeour, OC Transpo's director of systems and planning.

He said ridership fell by 100,000 in October compared to September. That means ridership last month was about 41 per cent of what it was pre-pandemic.

The transit commission also heard that RTM has not been paid for September or October, as the LRT was down, but is looking at whether to pay the group for November. The Confederation Line was down for 11 days this month, and is only offering partial service for the rest of November.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lrt-service-update-1.6252186

[rocketphish]

LRT in better shape now than before the service-closing derailment, maintenance boss says

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Nov 17, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 2 minute read

The entire Confederation Line is in better shape now than it was before the 54-day closure caused by a train derailment, according to the CEO of the LRT maintenance company.

Mario Guerra, the head of Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM), said during a transit commission meeting Wednesday morning that the shutdown helped the company fine-tune operations.

“I can say with a great degree of confidence that the system that the citizens of Ottawa have today is a better one than the one that was unfortunately taken out of service some time ago,” Guerra said in response to questions from citizen transit commissioner Michael Olsen.

Answering other questions from citizen commissioner Sarah Wright-Gilbert, Guerra said one example of an improvement is the removal of speed restrictions on the railway, since workers were previously unable to get to certain maintenance activities during the nightly shutdowns.

The LRT system was running with seven trains on the line on Wednesday. OC Transpo GM Renée Amilcar announced an eighth train will be put into service on Thursday as the transit agency and RTM incrementally return to full service by the end of the month.

Full service during the COVID-19 pandemic is considered to be 11 trains. The $2.1-billion construction contract provided 15 trains at times of peak demand, but ridership has dropped during the public health crisis, leading to the lowered fleet requirement.

Technicians were examining a train removed from service on Tuesday afternoon to find out if there was anything wrong. The operator heard a sound getting louder, leading to the train being emptied and placed out of service, according to Transpo operations director Troy Charter.

The commission has previously heard that operators have been retrained to flag any issues, even seemingly minor ones, if they sense potential problems.

Executives from Transportation Resource Associates (TRA), the city-hired consultant monitoring the LRT’s return to service, participated in the commission meeting. TRA experts have been lauded by transit commissioners and councillors for their work digging into the Ottawa LRT program.

TRA is based in Philadelphia and experts have been on assignment in Ottawa since early October.

Citizen commissioner Anthony Carricato asked TRA experts if the city bought a lemon, prompting TRA CEO Ken Korach to reply, “It is not a lemon” and “You’ve got a great system.”

Dan Hauber, a TRA vice-president, said the Confederation Line is “really an excellent system.”

TRA has emphasized the importance of having a good maintenance regime for the LRT system with an adequate number of resources to keep it in working order. TRA’s work in Ottawa has largely focused on RTM’s maintenance program.

Amilcar called on transit commissioners and councillors to “be indulgent with us” as Transpo works through the LRT kinks.

A train derailed near Tunney’s Pasture Station on Aug. 8. Another train derailed near Tremblay Station on Sept. 19, causing the lengthy shutdown.

The transit commission was scheduled to debate the draft 2022 budget on Wednesday afternoon. The proposed budget includes a 2.5 per cent increase to fares, starting in January.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...closing-derailment-maintenance-boss-says

[lrt's friend]

I don't think this has been posted yet, and it is almost certainly resulted in the decision of the Ontario government to proceed with a full inquiry. This tells us that the Confed Line opened before it was ready.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lrt-reliability-issue-testing-john-manconi-1.6249830

[DTcrawler]

From Chianello's article:

The complete shutdown allowed maintenance technicians to get to outstanding issues they haven't been able to get to during regular service, he added later in the meeting. That included speed restrictions along the line, Guerra said.

Coun. Catherine McKenney asked about reports the train often "slows down to a crawl" between Rideau and uOttawa stations.

I'm confused, based on reports I've seen (admittedly, on Reddit), the issue of trains slowing to a crawl in the aforementioned section seems to have arisen after the return to service last Friday. So, was Geurra implying that the speed restrictions were intentional and meant to be an improvement? I sure hope not. Especially since the reports I've read have mentioned that the slow-crawl is accompanied by a demonic grinding noise.

Amilcar said a piece of rail at Rideau station is being replaced Wednesday night to improve the noise experienced in that area, but it's not clear the new rail will improve the speed through that part of the line.

This leads me to believe the restrictions are temporary, but then it also raises the question, why wasn't the rail replaced during the almost two-month shutdown?

And then from Willing's article, we see:

Answering other questions from citizen commissioner Sarah Wright-Gilbert, Guerra said one example of an improvement is the removal of speed restrictions on the railway, since workers were previously unable to get to certain maintenance activities during the nightly shutdowns.

Now I'm even more confused, were speed restrictions added or removed? In either case, why are there reports of slower speeds after the return to service? Is he possibly referring to other segments of the line?

All I can say is, I really find it hard to be confident things will change. It always seems like, after a major issue, we're on the path to "reliable service" until something else breaks. Rinse and repeat. Perhaps the most troubling part of all of this is that Guerra admits some key maintenance activities are neglected because RTM apparently can't get to them during the regular nightly closures. Does anyone else not see that as a huge problem? Are we supposed to expect further two-month shutdowns as pending maintenance activities start piling up again? I guess we'll see.

[DTcrawler]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I don't think this has been posted yet, and it is almost certainly resulted in the decision of the Ontario government to proceed with a full inquiry. This tells us that the Confed Line opened before it was ready.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lrt-reliability-issue-testing-john-manconi-1.6249830

I don't get it, I thought we were all well aware that the system stumbled its way through the 12-day testing period prior to the handover. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but articles like this one (dated Dec. 20, 2019) suggest otherwise.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...reliability-in-first-days-of-lrt-testing

I remember there was much talk about all the excuses officials made for accepting the system, despite it not passing the 12-day test. That's why I find it odd that this is seemingly being treated as a new revelation.

[Nowhere]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

Now I'm even more confused, were speed restrictions added or removed?

Both. While the trains now go really slow from Rideau to UOttawa, they definitively also go way faster from Lees to Hurdman.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

From Chianello's article:



I'm confused, based on reports I've seen (admittedly, on Reddit), the issue of trains slowing to a crawl in the aforementioned section seems to have arisen after the return to service last Friday. So, was Geurra implying that the speed restrictions were intentional and meant to be an improvement? I sure hope not. Especially since the reports I've read have mentioned that the slow-crawl is accompanied by a demonic grinding noise.



This leads me to believe the restrictions are temporary, but then it also raises the question, why wasn't the rail replaced during the almost two-month shutdown?

And then from Willing's article, we see:



Now I'm even more confused, were speed restrictions added or removed? In either case, why are there reports of slower speeds after the return to service? Is he possibly referring to other segments of the line?

As Nowhere said, there have been different slow orders in place across the line at different times.

In terms of Rideau to uOttawa, speeds were normal when I took it on Friday afternoon, though the ride was rougher than normal. Based on the videos I saw, it definitely got worse over the weekend hence the new slow order, and new repair work.

All I can say is, I really find it hard to be confident things will change. It always seems like, after a major issue, we're on the path to "reliable service" until something else breaks. Rinse and repeat. Perhaps the most troubling part of all of this is that Guerra admits some key maintenance activities are neglected because RTM apparently can't get to them during the regular nightly closures. Does anyone else not see that as a huge problem? Are we supposed to expect further two-month shutdowns as pending maintenance activities start piling up again? I guess we'll see.

I have to imagine that the amount of rectification work they had to do on top of regular maintenance likely didn't help.

[DTcrawler]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

Based on the videos I saw, it definitely got worse over the weekend hence the new slow order, and new repair work.

It just got a whole lot worse, as in, I’m currently stuck on an EB train in the tunnel between Rideau and uOttawa. Train inches forward every few minutes before stopping. Back to the drawing board, I guess!

[SidetrackedSue]

On reddit this evening (Nov 18) there are reports from two sources including photo proof, that an eastbound train is stopped in the tunnel between Rideau and UOttawa.

No tweet or text message from OC Transpo. [edit: until ~40 minutes into the stoppage.]

They are 238m from UOttawa and 700m from Rideau but still held on the train for just under an hour. The reason for the stoppage kept changing.
[Edit: they were taken off the train after 55 minutes after it made it to UOttawa.]

https://www.reddit.com/r/ottawa/comments/qx543l/been_stuck_on_the_lrt_in_the_tunnel_between/

and

https://www.reddit.com/r/ottawa/comments/qx4sgl/lrt_again/

Two different redditors are on the train and others are at Rideau saying, "That's why we aren't going anywhere..."

[Edit: east and westbound trains continued to run during this time on the westbound track, so it was a problem with the train that coincidentally? started as the train went through the bad section of track where it gets so noisy. What I don't know is if the track repair took place last night or next Wednesday.]

It is this sort of incident, unreported by OCT but reported in social media, that adds to the distrust of the system.

On the plus side, I now have visual confirmation that if I have to exit a train in the tunnel, there are signs telling me the distances to the next and previous stations. They should add that to the whole line so if you have to get off and walk after a derailment, you'll know the distance to the nearest way off the tracks (be it a station or a designated pathway off the track to a suburban street where you can pick up an uber.)