Ottawa LRT Public Inquiry

[rocketphish]

LRT — What happens next will define Sutcliffe's term as Ottawa mayor
With provincial and federal governments not fully committed to funding LRT Stage 3, the scathing report issued this week will make the city’s request for funds much harder to approve.

Mohammed Adam, Ottawa Citizen
Dec 01, 2022 • 2 hours ago • 3 minute read

The Ottawa LRT commission has issued a scathing indictment of the city and construction company RTG for their handling of the signature $2.1-billion project, and the report presents a serious test of leadership for Mayor Mark Sutcliffe. How he responds may well decide the future of light rail in the city.

Citing “persistent failures in leadership and partnership” between the city and the Rideau Transit Group, malfeasance, and “egregious violations of public trust,” Justice William Hourigan said the partners failed Ottawa residents. More damning for a city that is planning even bigger and more expensive light rail extensions, Hourigan questioned its ability to handle such complex projects in the future. “While human errors are understandable and expected, deliberate malfeasance is unacceptable in a public project,” Hourigan wrote. “It is difficult to imagine the successful completion of any significant project while these attitudes prevail within the municipal government.”

The commissioner was particularly critical of both former mayor Jim Watson and retired city manager Steve Kanellakos’s deliberate efforts to hide vital information from council. Most troubling, Hourigan said, was that Kanellakos knowingly misled council on the decision to lower testing criteria for trial runs so the trains could pass. And even though Watson knew about the deception, he did not inform council, “irreparably” compromising its oversight role.

“Worse, because the conduct was wilful and deliberate, it leads to serious concerns about the good faith of senior city staff and raises questions about where their loyalties lie,” Hourigan said, noting that the deception was not an “aberration.”

The city, especially Sutcliffe, who has made expansion of the light-rail project one of his top priorities, now faces a big problem. With provincial and federal governments not fully committed to funding LRT Stage 3, Hourigan’s comments make the city’s request for funds much harder. It is tougher now for provincial and federal governments to readily provide funding after such a damning assessment of officials’ integrity and competence.

In a moment of exasperation at the height of the many rail breakdowns, Watson conceded that “our reputation is in tatters.” Indeed, it is. There is nothing in the report that the city can be proud of, and the question now is whether it can repair that battered image. The good thing is that of the quartet most responsible for the fiasco, Watson, Kanellakos and John Manconi, the former general manager of transit are all gone. While none of them can be held accountable, council must ensure that the only one still around, Coun. Alan Hubley, the former transit commission chair, never gets anywhere near a leadership role again.

Looking back, everything about the LRT project, as detailed by the commission, had disaster written all over it. We just didn’t know it. The pricetag for one, was too low, but because Watson campaigned on completing the project “on time and on budget”; the city stuck with it when he became mayor. It also chose an unproven technology for its trains, and, for political reasons, rushed the launch before the trains were ready. As well, it settled for a “design-build-finance-maintain” P3 model that may have saved money but also “contributed to several of the ongoing difficulties,” the commission noted.

There is a lot to unpack from the 600+ page report, and its more than 100 recommendations. Hourigan has laid out a clear road map to redemption that council must follow, not just with words, but immediate, concrete, and measurable action.

One of the most worrying observations Hourigan made is that the city “faces the spectre of a dysfunctional partnership” operating and maintaining the Confederation Line for decades. It is a scary thought. The city and RTG have morphed into combatants locked in a furious legal battle, and how this toxic partnership can do any good, is anyone’s guess.

Sutcliffe has vowed to implement the “key” recommendations of the commission, and we will see what that means. Sutcliffe did not create this mess, but how he deals with it may well define his mayorship.

Mohammed Adam is an Ottawa journalist and commentator. Reach him at [email protected]

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/adam-l...l-define-sutcliffes-term-as-ottawa-mayor

[Richard Eade]

Well, I am not very impressed by Sutcliffe’s first steps. The new Council and Mayor have just (Nov. 30, 2022) approved the latest Governance Model. In it, the Transit Commission will no longer have any citizen members. Instead, staff will begin to set up an Advisory Body, where citizens can meet. An Advisory Body can more easily be kept in the shadows and ignored. Citizen members on the Transit Commission have a more public forum to debate issues – and there are several Councilors sitting at the Commission who will hear their views.

A new Advisory Body will, likely, consist of city-selected citizens who will debate matters among themselves. They might produce a report, that will be ‘forwarded to the appropriate staff’, but that will be purely advice, which city staff can ignore. This is not the same public forum that the citizen members of the Transit Commission have. Even if they can’t vote on issues, Citizen Commissioner's advice can be heard, publicly.

[acottawa]

I am disappointed Dalton McGuinty got away scot free. The report criticized the mayor for considering the 2009 staff estimate as the "budget" and for not regarding inflation, but a big reason for this is that McGuinty capped the contribution at 600M rather than negotiate a cost-sharing arrangement like he did with other transit systems in Ontario.

[DarthVader_1961]

So will this fiasco spell the end of PPP arrangements?

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by DarthVader_1961

So will this fiasco spell the end of PPP arrangements?

Given that city staff were a huge part of the fiasco, I don't see how running the project in house would have made a difference.

I wonder if transferring responsibility for transit projects to Metrolinx is the answer. The provincial bureaucracy seems to be the most competent of the three bureaucracies.

[rocketphish]

'Disastrous' LRT experience should end public-private infrastructure projects, says Ontario NDP
Model 'caused or contributed' to ongoing difficulties on LRT project, inquiry found

CBC News
Posted: Dec 01, 2022 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: December 1

Errors revealed in a scathing report into Ottawa's light rail transit system should push the province to stop promoting public-private partnerships for major infrastructure projects, according to Ontario's NDP, which says the deals lead to costly delays, huge bills and a lack of transparency.

Justice William Hourigan, commissioner of the public inquiry into Ottawa's LRT system, released his 664-page report on Wednesday, complete with 103 recommendations for how to prevent similar problems in the future.

Among the findings are a rift between the City of Ottawa and LRT builder Rideau Transit Group (RTG), which he called an underlying risk of public-private partnerships.

The arrangement allowed the city to offload the geotechnical risk associated with the LRT project to RTG, ultimately saving taxpayers $100 million.

However, the model also "caused or contributed to several of the ongoing difficulties on the project." For example, while the city would traditionally play a more direct role in such a major construction project, it had "limited insight or control" over this one.

Hourigan also recommended that all levels of government examine whether a public-private partnership contract, used here for the first time in a transit project in Ontario, is appropriate.

Ottawa NDP MPPs Joel Harden and Chandra Pasma released a statement Wednesday criticizing the model, also known as a P3.

"We see that the true results of P3 projects are a brutal lack of transparency to the public, conflicting interests from partners, and less control by a city over massive infrastructure plans," the statement read.

"We are calling on the Ford government to stop promoting disastrous P3 project delivery that subjects cities like Ottawa to costly delays and huge bills."

The statement also referenced Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown, an ongoing public-private project, saying "no other city should have to suffer the same hardship inflicted on Ottawa."

During this summer's hearings, the inquiry heard major construction companies have been declining such partnerships because they're unwilling to assume the significant financial risk associated with them.

The Ontario government, which paid $600 million of the cost for the first stage of Ottawa's LRT project, ordered the inquiry earlier this year.

Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney said she and her staff would review the massive report in the coming days. She did not comment on these partnerships specifically, but said taxpayers "deserve accountability for their money."

Like the province, where it was the Dalton McGuinty Liberals that committed that Stage 1 (and Stage 2) money, it was a different party in power that committed $600 million in federal money in 2010.

Liberal MP Dominic Leblanc, who's also the federal minister of intergovernmental affairs, infrastructure and communities, told CBC the federal Liberals have not yet read the inquiry report but have "taken note" of it.

"These are large projects involving in many cases billions of dollars. We expect there to be rigorous oversight. We work with partners, mainly provincial, who have in many cases the substantial responsibility in terms of oversight, municipal partners as well. We'll be looking at that," said Leblanc.

"I'm always looking at ways to ensure we are spending taxpayers' dollars in the best way possible."

The federal Liberals committed to funding part of Stage 2 of the LRT in 2017.

Ottawa Centre Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi also said he hadn't read anything about the final report, but repeated that governments should learn from the recommendations and "ensure that those mistakes are not made ever again."

Former Ottawa city councillor Jenna Sudds, who is now a Liberal MP, refused to comment on the report.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ot...provincial-federal-politicians-1.6669608

[rocketphish]

Deans calls on Watson to apologize, Hubley to resign over damning LRT report
Former councillor Diane Deans calls just-retired city manager 'cowardly'

Dan Taekema · CBC News
Posted: Dec 01, 2022 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Allan Hubley is one the last people standing at city hall who had insight into how badly Ottawa's LRT system was operating. Now a former council colleague is calling for him to resign in the wake of the damning final report from the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Public Inquiry.

Diane Deans, who sat on council for 28 years and previously led the transit commission, said Hubley must step down as a city councillor. If he won't, she added, his colleagues need to ask him to leave his position.

"I don't know how [he] could sit at the council table and make decisions about the future of this city when there could be no public confidence left in him whatsoever," she said.

Hubley was head of the transit commission during the final stages of LRT construction and testing.

Deans is also demanding former mayor Jim Watson apologize to residents.

Among the report's 664 pages and 103 recommendations is mention of a WhatsApp chat group including Watson, staff members and Hubley where "critical information" including the city decision to lower testing standards for the LRT system were discussed, but not shared with the rest of council.

Hubley did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Watson, the mayor from 2010 until last month who oversaw the line's approval, construction, delays and 2019 opening, is currently on a "long-planned personal holiday" and will read the report when he returns, a former staffer told CBC.

Deans, who had an acrimonious relationship with the former mayor, said he's the one who "politicized" the project, set the mantra of "on time and on budget" and should be held accountable too.

"Jim Watson needs to offer a full apology to the people of Ottawa," she said.

"If you boil it down to who the bulk of the blame from the public part of this partnership goes to, it goes to Mayor Jim Watson."

She didn't spare recently retired city manager Steve Kanellakos either.

Deans said she was "disappointed" by his decision to step down just two days before the final report was due, describing Kanellakos as one of the most trusted and respected leaders in the city.

"He had the confidence of council. He had the confidence of the entire city staff who I'm sure are all reeling today," she said.

"This has been going on for several years. He took a paycheque until two days before the report came out. I mean, that's cowardly."

Deans isn't the only past council member speaking out following the report.

Former downtown representative Catherine McKenney had pushed for a judicial inquiry into the process that led to the launch of the Confederation Line and any potential misconduct by members of council.

They described the report as "damning" adding they were struck by the "strong tone" it took.

"It does lay out in no uncertain circumstances that fact that council has been misled," said McKenney, who ran unsuccessfully for the mayor's seat in the October election.

"It's not lost on me that I believe [Watson] is on another train headed west right now and I do believe that he needs to answer to the residents of this city."

Like Deans, McKenney pointed to the fact many senior staff involved in LRT decisions have since jumped ship, leaving their roles with the city. John Manconi, then-general manager of transportation, left the city a just over year ago.

"Everybody who needs to take some responsibility has left now. It leaves a frustration with residents," they said.

Ottawa's new mayor pledged to improve accountability and transparency around the city's light rail network and implement "key recommendations" from the scathing report issued Wednesday.

Mark Sutcliffe was asked about Hubley and what confidence he had in the councillor continuing to chair committees, but didn't answer directly, saying he'd let the report speak for itself.

"My intention is to collaborate with city council and not withhold information from them," said Sutcliffe.

Former councillors, including Deans, had long pushed for answers on LRT issues before the inquiry began, but were repeatedly rebuffed.

Carol Anne Meehan, who previously represented Gloucester-South Nepean, tweeted Wednesday that those who asked hard questions had been "sidelined and bullied."

McKenney shared a similar sentiment and said the culture at city hall needs to change so no one is "bullied" into a vote.

Deans also urged the sitting council not to put the LRT report on a shelf and move on without taking steps to rebuild trust and improve accountability.

River Coun. Riley Brockington posted on social media that he still has a council colleague "chewing me out for supporting a public inquiry," something that didn't go unnoticed by Deans.

"That speaks volumes to me about the problem," she said.

"They didn't think the public had the right to know what was going on, that they were lying, and they're still mad at the people that were upholding public accountability, honesty and transparency."

With files from Trevor Pritchard, Joanne Chianello and Giacomo Panico

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lrt-report-watson-hubley-council-ottawa-reaction-1.6669566

[rocketphish]

Ottawa LRT report shows project 'stunk to high heaven,' says Ford
Premier speaks bluntly about scathing 664-page report into Confederation Line

Trevor Pritchard · CBC News
Posted: Dec 01, 2022 12:51 PM ET | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Ottawa's light rail line project was "absolutely in shambles" and a searing report into its litany of failures has confirmed the value of the province's public inquiry, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says.

At a press conference in Toronto Thursday morning, Ford spoke bluntly with reporters about the 664-page report released Wednesday by the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Public Inquiry.

The province called the inquiry last November, after a derailment near Tremblay station — the second of two that summer — took the Confederation Line out of commission for nearly two months.

Ottawa city council had also just voted 13-10 against calling for a judicial inquiry, settling instead for an investigation by the city's auditor general.

In his remarks, Ford aimed his vitriol at city officials, including former mayor Jim Watson.

"I think they did a terrible job. Mayor Watson — I'm being very frank here — he wasn't transparent, he didn't oversee the project properly," the premier said.

"He's gone, and so is the city manager and some other people that worked on it. [They] high-tailed out of there because they knew it was a disaster. And the people of Ottawa knew it was a disaster. The people of Ottawa finally have an answer now."

During three terms in office, Watson oversaw the line's approval, construction, delays and 2019 opening. He did not run for re-election in 2022.

In his report, Justice William Hourigan had harsh words for both Watson and former city manager Steve Kanellakos, who resigned Monday. He accused them of withholding information during the LRT's final testing phase, when officials lowered the criteria for the line to be given a passing grade but didn't tell the rest of city council.

That conduct raised "serious concerns about whether the City of Ottawa can properly complete significant infrastructure projects," Hourigan wrote. It also prevented councillors "from fulfilling their statutory duties to the people of Ottawa."

Watson is currently on a "long-planned personal holiday" and will read the report when he returns, a former staffer told CBC.

While the report and its 103 recommendations also targeted Rideau Transit Group, the consortium that built the $2.1-billion Confederation Line, Ford did not mention them by name in his remarks.

"[Ottawa LRT] was just absolutely in shambles and stunk to high heaven, and we wanted to dig deeper. And we did," Ford said.

One of Hourigan's recommendations was that all levels of government look hard at the appropriateness of using a public-private partnership contract for a major transit project.

Ottawa NDP MPPs Joel Harden and Chandra Pasma released a joint statement Wednesday criticizing that model, known as a P3. Then during Thursday's Question Period at Queen's Park, Pasma demanded to know whether the Ford government would stop signing the "risky" contracts.

Pasma's colleague, Toronto MPP Bhutila Karpoche, also pressed the province on the model — specifically as it was being used for a 25-kilometre LRT line in Toronto that's already missed several deadlines.

But Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma defended the use of P3s in the right circumstances, saying they'd allowed the government to build hospitals and transit lines and widen highways across Ontario.

"Our P3 history in the province of Ontario is a wonderful one," Surma said. "We were elected on a strong mandate to build this province, and that is what we'll do."

Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney is planning to review the LRT report in the coming days. While she hasn't commented specifically on P3s, she has said taxpayers "deserve accountability for their money."

Before Ford's Progressive Conservatives took power in Ontario in 2018, the previous Liberal government had committed $600 million to build the first stage of the Confederation Line. Another $600 million came from the former Conservative federal government.

Speaking to reporters Thursday in London, Ont., Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the current government was also looking "very closely" at the inquiry's final report.

"We know how important it is for the federal government to be a partner to municipalities and to provinces on investing and infrastructure," Trudeau said.

"And we're always going to make sure that the investments the federal government sends to municipalities and provinces deliver those results for Canadians."

Both Trudeau's Liberals and Ford's PCs have contributed more than a billion dollars each to fund the Stage 2 expansion of Ottawa's rail network.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/doug-ford-lrt-report-ottawa-reaction-1.6670690

[rocketphish]

How 'made in Canada' rules delayed Ottawa's LRT
Alstom found it hard to find qualified workers in Ottawa to build its light rail vehicles for the new system in the national capital.

Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Dec 01, 2022 • 55 minutes ago • 2 minute read

Provincial Canadian content rules and a lack of trained manufacturing workers in Ottawa were sources of significant delay in building trains for the Confederation Line, according to the final report of the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Public Inquiry.

Ontario’s 2008 CanCon law stipulates that 25 per cent of the overall value of the system’s Alstom Citadis Spirit vehicles in both material used and labour employed to build them had to come from within Canada. Not meeting that threshold would put the province’s $600-million commitment to the overall cost at risk, the report said.

“The Canadian content requirement gave Alstom no choice but to work with Canadian suppliers,” Justice William Hourigan wrote in his report, released Wednesday.

That was fine with Alstom — it had been planning to get a manufacturing foothold in the North American market — but the company found it hard to find qualified workers in Ottawa to build its light rail vehicles.

“There was no broad pool of skilled labour available to draw from in Ottawa — a city whose economy is not focused on manufacturing, much less on the specialty of train manufacturing,” Hourigan wrote.

Those who were hired were sent to New York for training. That gave them the necessary skills, but not the experience to deal with unexpected complexities.

“Still, the relative inexperience of the workforce had the potential to lead to quality issues that would be less likely to occur with a workforce that has been building trains for years,” Hourigan wrote. “In the case of the OLRT1 project, the inexperience of the workforce may have resulted in problems, such as defective wiring that then had to be fixed, adding to delays.”

Adding to Alstom’s difficulties was that its Ottawa shop would build the first cars for the LRT, then would become just a maintenance facility. That made it hard to attract employees.

As one Alstom executive told the inquiry: “It becomes very problematic to cycle up a workforce of 100 to 150 people for 18 months to two years … and then say, ‘Goodbye, we don’t need you.’”

In some cases, Canadian-manufactured parts were inferior to those built by Alstom’s more experienced European suppliers, the report said.

There are benefits to CanCon laws, including fostering economic development, shortening the supply chain and creating skilled manufacturing jobs. “As a general matter, the local content requirements are to be encouraged,” Hourigan wrote.

But he recommended the province allow waivers and exceptions to its rules to allow for problems of labour shortages and to ensure “transit operators are able to obtain a quality product produced by a qualified workforce and for the public interests.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/how-made-in-canada-rules-delayed-ottawas-lrt

[rocketphish]

'Critical safety' issues remain unaddressed: LRT inquiry

Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Dec 01, 2022 • 2 hours ago • 3 minute read

Critical safety issues remain with the trains on Ottawa’s Confederation Line that must be remedied to keep travellers safe and prevent derailments, according to the final report of Ottawa Light Rail Transit Public Inquiry released this week.

The inquiry examined two derailments in detail. The first occurred on Aug. 8, 2021 just east of the Tunney’s Pasture Station and involved an empty train. The second, six weeks later on Sept. 19, happened near Tremblay Station on a train carrying 12 passengers, one of whom happened to be the director of train maintenance. No one was injured in either incident.

Human error was to blame for the second derailment: a worker failed to tighten the bolts on a gear box that had been removed for inspection, Justice William Hourigan wrote in his report. But the first was caused by problems in the “critical wheel/rail interface” between the train and the tracks. Although the trainmaker, Alstom, and Rideau Maintenance Group have been working to resolve that issue, a permanent fix isn’t in place.

“This is important, as it is a critical safety issue affecting the OLRT1 system if left unaddressed,” Hourigan wrote.

The first derailment was caused by a broken axle bearing assembly. Alstom said that failure was caused by vibration due to curves and uneven track and by how train operators are driving. Rideau Transit Group said the track wasn’t to blame, but the failure was caused by defects in the axle itself.

Alstom presented some short term fixes, including greasing the rails, lowering the speed limit at critical locations and modifying the profile of the train wheels to better withstand the forces at play. It even suggested completely regrinding the rails, a massive task that would make for a smoother ride but would shorten the life of the track.

“It is critical that the risk of future derailments be mitigated,” the inquiry report said. “While the City and RTG need to continue with the interim measures already in place, and any others that are deemed advisable as more becomes known about the root cause of this derailment and the wheel/rail interface more generally, it is clear that a more permanent solution needs to be found.”

That accident remains under investigation by the federal Transportation Safety Board.

In his report, Hourigan also recommended changes to maintenance practices to reduce the risk of another mishap like the Tremblay Station one, which caused significant damage to the system and shut down the LRT for weeks.

“At the time of the derailment, Alstom’s maintenance work was inconsistent and lacked sufficient quality control checks,” he wrote. “This human error might have been avoided with effective quality control measures.”

Twenty-two of the report’s 103 recommendations have to do with improving safety on the system. They include better training for operators so that they’re more aware and quick to report problems, that safety-critical tasks not be spread over more than one shift at the maintenance facility, that the province give legal protection to “whistleblowers” who come forward with concerns, and that an independent expert continue to monitor safety issues and remedial actions.

And continuing the over-arching theme of Hourigan’s report, he urges the parties involved to be transparent, accountable and to play nice.

“If RTG continues to be responsible for maintenance during the remainder of the maintenance term, RTG and the City, as well as RTM and Alstom Maintenance, should make efforts to repair their relationships and work together better for the greater good of the OLRT1 project,” he wrote.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/critical-safety-issues-remain-unaddressed-lrt-inquiry

[rocketphish]

Voices: Reactions to the LRT report

Staff Reporter, Ottawa Citizen
Dec 01, 2022 • 3 hours ago • 2 minute read



“Collaboration and co-operation must be at the heart of the relationship between a public entity and its private partners. Unfortunately, with the LRT, in their efforts to protect their legal or commercial interest the parties created an atmosphere of mistrust.” — Justice William Hourigan, Inquiry commissioner

“It’s not something that’s been seen before, as far as we’re aware, in a public inquiry — a participant putting out daily press briefings. We need to return to accountability and transparency with the people of Ottawa rather than information control and spin if the people are going to feel comfortable that their city is working for them.” — John Adair, counsel for the OLRT Inquiry

“All of the recommendations in this report could be adopted and that would still not guarantee perfect performance of Stage 1 nor will it ensure Stage 2 will be implemented without any challenges given the complex nature of the project and its contract. It’s now up to City Concil and city management to ensure there will be the right expertise in place and more transparency and accountability going forward.” — Mark Sutcliffe, Ottawa mayor

“My members and this union should feel vindicated. We had been enduring all the issues that were going on with LRT, even prior to its launch. The fact is that these trains were put on and there was a lot of dishonesty, a lot of disinformation, it was unproven technology… the list just keeps going.” — Clint Crabtree, president, Amalgamated Transit Union

“I can’t say I’m surprised by the findings because I had a front-row seat to what was going on. I saw it with my own eyes and this report validates for me that everything I thought I saw was accurate.” — Diane Deans, former city councillor

“As a funding partner, provincial taxpayers deserve accountability for their money. This public inquiry was called to address three fundamental concerns about the Ottawa LRT: safety, accountability, and value for tax dollars. Moving forward, we will continue making sure that Ontario taxpayers and transit riders get the best value for their money possible.” — Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation

“There was a lot of frustrating stuff that we saw and thank goodness we did the inquiry. We say Mayor Watson not being transparent with his councillors. We saw the city manager having to step down. it was absolutely in shambles and stunk to high heaven and we wanted to dig deeper and we did. And it’s come out now.” — Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario

“We acknowledge that all parties, including RTG and its subcontractors, have work to do to restore the public’s confidence in the city’s light rail system. That work starts with a renewed commitment to working together on a path forward in the spirit of partnership required of all of us.” — Statement from Rideau Transit Group

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/voices-reactions-to-the-lrt-report

[Richard Eade]

Personally, I think that the conclusion of the inquiry is bang on. It wisely steered away from the superficial problems that the ‘news’ media loves to harp on about – you know; “faulty doors and brakes, flat wheels, cracked wheels, and a broken-off wheel, kinked rails and collapsed cables, glitchy switches and stinky stations, multiple shutdowns and two derailments”. These are teething pains. As the inquiry points out, these could have been reduced had proper procedure been followed – you know; like proper specification of components and thorough testing.

Thankfully, the inquest searched for the deeper causes that drove these problems. It turns out that the main issues were the dishonesty of the main players and their lack of consideration for the public.

The inquest pointed out numerous times where the public did not get true information. I'm sure that many of you can come up with other examples. For instance, does anyone else remember being told, time and time again, that the Light Rail Vehicles we were getting were tried and true, and working in many countries, including ones with similar weather to Ottawa's? Or, how about this one: We haven't paid a single penny to RTM. (OK, that could be argued as true, since they had actually paid 450 million pennies to them - not just a singe one.)

My point is; the inquest brought to light just how dishonest some upper management and officials were.

Now, the question is; how far down the chain does the rot go? I would find it hard to believe that the second tier of managers had no knowledge of any of this. There were always many staff sitting around the Council table when the misinformation was given. For example, shouldn't someone from Finance have corrected the 'facts' right away, when Manconi told Council that RTM hadn't been paid for months? What about the third tier of management? Were they somehow totally isolated from hearing and seeing what was happening?

It's looking like there is no-one who had the moral fiber to stand up and blow the whistle. The 'big three' are gone, but who of those still working at City Hall, would you trust? The next City Manager will need to be brought in from outside the organization - and they will need to do some house cleaning.

Forget Denmark; there is something rotten in Ottawa. I wonder if that is the 'stink' that Ford is referring to?

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Personally, I think that the conclusion of the inquiry is bang on. It wisely steered away from the superficial problems that the ‘news’ media loves to harp on about – you know; “faulty doors and brakes, flat wheels, cracked wheels, and a broken-off wheel, kinked rails and collapsed cables, glitchy switches and stinky stations, multiple shutdowns and two derailments”. These are teething pains. As the inquiry points out, these could have been reduced had proper procedure been followed – you know; like proper specification of components and thorough testing.

Thankfully, the inquest searched for the deeper causes that drove these problems. It turns out that the main issues were the dishonesty of the main players and their lack of consideration for the public.

The inquest pointed out numerous times where the public did not get true information. I'm sure that many of you can come up with other examples. For instance, does anyone else remember being told, time and time again, that the Light Rail Vehicles we were getting were tried and true, and working in many countries, including ones with similar weather to Ottawa's? Or, how about this one: We haven't paid a single penny to RTM. (OK, that could be argued as true, since they had actually paid 450 million pennies to them - not just a singe one.)

My point is; the inquest brought to light just how dishonest some upper management and officials were.

Now, the question is; how far down the chain does the rot go? I would find it hard to believe that the second tier of managers had no knowledge of any of this. There were always many staff sitting around the Council table when the misinformation was given. For example, shouldn't someone from Finance have corrected the 'facts' right away, when Manconi told Council that RTM hadn't been paid for months? What about the third tier of management? Were they somehow totally isolated from hearing and seeing what was happening?

It's looking like there is no-one who had the moral fiber to stand up and blow the whistle. The 'big three' are gone, but who of those still working at City Hall, would you trust? The next City Manager will need to be brought in from outside the organization - and they will need to do some house cleaning.

Forget Denmark; there is something rotten in Ottawa. I wonder if that is the 'stink' that Ford is referring to?

It was always my understanding that our trains were a brand new model and that Ottawa was the first city to get them. Perhaps, there was misleading information given out suggesting it was similar to a model in use in many countries. But that was a foolish assumption that I never accepted. There were many comments on this board asking why we had selected LRT instead of light metro vehicles.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by acottawa

I'm just making the point that when comparing apples to apples (trains of similar size on a similar route) the passenger experience is better in a light metro type system, the operating costs are lower and the capacity is higher which is why most cities looking for medium capacity systems choose light metro type technologies and nobody outside of Ontario chooses tram type technologies for that purpose. The passenger experience in light metro systems (Copenhagen Metro, Docklands in London, Vancouver Skytrain, etc). is better than in an Alstom Citadis of similar size.

The city did all of this analysis several years ago. Light metro won in most categories except "ability to build a non-segregated system in low-density areas" which is at best a phase that will come in the relatively distant future and at worse is not even technically feasible (I seriously doubt the downtown stations will have the capacity to support multiple lines to low density areas - remember the length (and I think width) of the platforms was reduced as a cost-saving measure after the tram technology was chosen. The report is here:

http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycou...0017%20-%20Rail%20System%20Selection.htm

The point I made in 2014

[rocketphish]

Ottawa LRT report damns everyone — as it should
The LRT commissioner unmistakably demands a wholesale change of culture in city government, which should be Mayor Sutcliffe's first priority.

The Ottawa Citizen Editorial Board
Dec 01, 2022 • 20 hours ago • 3 minute read

The report of the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Inquiry is withering toward key figures in city government when the Confederation line was launched in 2019. Report author Justice William Hourigan excoriates former mayor Jim Watson, retired transit boss John Manconi and recently departed city manager Steve Kanellakos using phrases such as “deliberate malfeasance,” “misled” and “outright misrepresentation.”

Hourigan isn’t any more charitable in describing the “egregious” behaviour of the Rideau Transit Group, the private consortium that includes SNC-Lavalin, ACES Infrastructure and Ellis-Don. RTG’s role after winning the $2.1-billion bid to build and maintain the light-rail system was punctuated by inexperience, delays, poor communication with subcontractors and a “misconceived scheme” to put commercial pressure on the city. The increasingly testy relationship between city officials and RTG following the 2016 Rideau Street sinkhole, coupled with various missed deadlines to deliver a service-ready train system, made post-launch problems even worse.

Ottawa transit riders know what happened once the trains were finally running: problems ranging from jammed doors to buckling tracks to cracked wheels and electrical failures, at times bringing the whole system to a halt. Replacement buses were rushed into service; commutes grew longer; reliability issues mounted.

RTG and its construction partners had known the system wasn’t ready, Hourigan concludes, but misled the city about the problem. City officials and the mayor then withheld vital information from council, even as a small insider group exchanged key bits of information via private WhatsApp chats. “Because the conduct was wilful and deliberate, it leads to serious concerns about the good faith of city staff and raises questions about where their loyalties lie,” the commissioner writes. “It is difficult to imagine the successful completion of any significant project while these attitudes prevail within the municipal government.”

Missteps, mistrust and a failure to keep the public interest top of mind are not the only revelations in Hourigan’s exhaustive report. He explains in detail how Canadian content requirements left RTG scrambling for skilled workers to build the train cars locally. He delves into the unproven technology of the Alstom Citadis model itself, urging future project managers to opt for “service proven” designs and components. He suggests contracts spell out precise standards for trial runs of light-rail vehicle systems, and that agreements clearly require reporting accurate information to the public. He urges RTG and the city to “make efforts to repair their relationships.” And adds, “all private sector stakeholders should acknowledge they are working in the public interest.”

At the city level, though, what the commissioner’s report unmistakably demands is a wholesale change of culture — from the secrecy and message control of the last administration to a commitment of full future transparency about big projects. And as he evidently doesn’t trust the current culture at city hall to achieve such a turnaround, he says it would be a good idea to strengthen whistleblower protection too.

With more than 100 recommendations from Hourigan now in front of him, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has vowed to produce an “action plan.” He needs to start with openness and accessibility. No more secrets from taxpayers or their representatives, even when — especially when — there are problems.

In the meantime, here’s a modest suggestion for the mayor and council that isn’t in the commissioner’s report: Take the LRT to work every day. It’ll remind you of who you serve — and of the huge task you now face in rebuilding public trust in transit.

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/editorial-ottawa-lrt-report-damns-everyone-as-it-should

[lrt's friend]

On the last point, it will remind city council every day, that there is no easy access to city Hall from the Confed line. Another cost saving measure.

[eltodesukane]

"In the meantime, here’s a modest suggestion for the mayor and council that isn’t in the commissioner’s report: Take the LRT to work every day."

And wait for the bus every day, like here (Rideau Chapel), fully protected (?) from the sun, the wind, the cold, the rain, the snow.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

On the last point, it will remind city council every day, that there is no easy access to city Hall from the Confed line. Another cost saving measure.

Except they all drive to their nice underground (reserved?) parking spots.


Funny to see every political agenda come in. It's PPP or Made in Canada or ...

It reminds me of Brexit a little bit as it starts with O'Brien election and respecting the democratic will. Notice he himself now says ripping up the previous project was a mistake. I don't think voting for him was a mandate on LRT only and interpreting as such was the first principles mistake.

[Stacmon]

What I wonder/worry about is what impact that this inquiry paired with post-pandemic hybrid work will have on Stage 3 expansion to Kanata/Stittsville and Barrhaven.

We already could see that changing travel patterns and fewer days spent in downtown offices would weaken the arguments for expanding the O-Train deep into the two other major suburbs at great cost. Now with all the bad press and legitimate issues/concerns, I could imagine that a government at the federal or especially provincially level could use the results of the inquiry (and well known problems that we all saw before the inquiry report) as a reason to pause/delay/rethink support for Stage 3. Something like: "Do we want to throw more money at this before we figure out what all the problems are and fix them?" I still think Stage 3 is more likely than not to happen in a reasonable/mostly expected time frame but am far less confident about that now. I also find further expansion beyond that extremely unlikely, and no infill stations in the foreseeable future.

This is one of the reasons you can't absolutely bank on plans and expansions becoming a reality when making decisions for your future. Orleans is guaranteed to be well served by the train upon completion of Stage 2 and that process is so far along and "locked in place" through commitments and contracts that I can't see that changing. Kanata and Barrhaven on the other hand may be delayed by a few years due to a combination of delays to Stage 2 West, delays due to the fallout from concerns raised by the inquiry report (plus possibly delays from lower post-pandemic ridership) and likely delays even once a contract is in place and work is under way (like we have seen with Stage 2 West and South). Access to rail transit was one of several factors that made me choose Orleans, and now more than ever I am happy I put the (near) sure thing of Stage 2 East over the possible when thinking about future station locations (e.g., I considered Stage 3 stations while looking at possible neighbourhoods in those other two suburbs outside the Greenbelt).

Ultimately we will have to wait and see, but what do the rest of you think? Will this report materially affect Stage 3 or will the unease subside by the time Stage 2 West is wrapping up given the delays in construction?

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Except they all drive to their nice underground (reserved?) parking spots.


Funny to see every political agenda come in. It's PPP or Made in Canada or ...

It reminds me of Brexit a little bit as it starts with O'Brien election and respecting the democratic will. Notice he himself now says ripping up the previous project was a mistake. I don't think voting for him was a mandate on LRT only and interpreting as such was the first principles mistake.

The previous project would have been an even bigger fiasco. Trying to run streetcars along with hundreds of busses an hour down downtown streets would have been a recipe for disaster. It was the same staff that implemented it, so it would have had the same problems as the Confederation Line. At least the Confederation Line will eventually work, the Barrhaven streetcar never would have worked.