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Posted Aug 30, 2013, 12:23 PM
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From today's Citizen.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/ot...940/story.html
Quote:
Just build it already: O-Train expansion slowed by LRT construction
BY DEREK SPALDING, OTTAWA CITIZEN AUGUST 30, 2013 7:44 AM
Ottawa’s never been short on big ideas, but we always seem to fall short when it comes to making them happen. In this series, the Citizen’s City Hall bureau checks in on some of the apparently good ideas that still haven’t made it off the drawing board.O-Train Extension
The idea: Extend the O-Train past the airport to link Ottawa’s southern neighbourhoods to easily accessible transit
The cost: An estimated $75 million
The problem: Construction of the LRT means increased ridership on the O-Train for the next five years. City staff suggests the expansion would overwhelm the line and some connecting bus routes during LRT construction
The status: No funding allotted for the extension until 2031, but some councillors want the plan moving ahead as soon as LRT is complete, if not sooner than that.
O-Train extension would be extremely popular, but would create problems, say city staff
Ever since the O-Train pilot project began on October 15, 2001, the rail line has evolved into one of the city’s most important public transit connectors.
The diesel-powered trains provide more than 12,000 passenger trips per day, operating seven days a week along the eight-kilometre corridor between Greenboro Station and Bayview Station. With Carleton University located along the route, this north-south line has allowed students to live in neighbourhoods where commutes were once logistical nightmares.
Ridership is expected to increase this fall when the city completes its $59-million upgrade to the existing line, increasing the frequency of trains from every 15 minutes to eight minutes. When councillors agreed to this improvement in 2011, they also wanted to know how much it would cost to extend the track incrementally south from Greenboro Station to Leitrim Road and then west toward Riverside South.
The answer: an estimated $76 million, according to a staff report presented to the commission in February 2012.
OTTAWA — Angie D’Aoust stopped taking the bus to get from her home in Riverside South to her work in Centrepointe because the lengthy commute was a logistical nightmare.
Her family is just one of many in the area who would gladly turn to public transit, if there was a quick and easy link to the rest of the city, D’Aoust says.
One viable and reasonably affordable option is an extension of the O-Train past the Macdonald Cartier Airport, but there is no political will to make that happen any time soon. City staff studied the option of doubling the line by adding an additional eight kilometres of track south of the airport and then west to Bowesville Road.
The extension would push the number of annual passenger trips up to a whopping 3.6 million, according to the staff report from 2011. And despite the estimated low cost of $76 million, the anticipated ridership increase would be too much for the system to handle during the construction of the downtown light rail transit line.
But for people like D’Aoust, an extension can’t come soon enough. Last year, her son moved out of the family home on Tewsley Drive because the commute to Algonquin College was just too much.
“A college student to spend four hours a day on the bus, when they could be studying or working instead? That’s insanity,” D’Aoust said.
City staff’s report shows that about 725,000 of the 3.6 million trips would be new to the transit system and would include people like D’Aoust, while 2.8 million trips would be from people who would have otherwise taken a bus.
Demand for the extension is there, said Diane Deans, ward councillor for Gloucester-Southgate. Echoing the report, she believes people would prefer to take the train instead of driving or busing.
“I’d like to see it sooner rather than later,” she said.
The extension would stretch approximately eight kilometres south of Greenboro Station, where the line ends now, doubling the length of the track. Trains would reach just south of Leitrim Station, then head west to a new station at Bowesville.
Communities such as Riverside South would have to be serviced with convenient local transit buses to make the connection, and a new park-and-ride would provide options for people wanting to drive.
“If there was a service there, I would definitely use it,” D’Aoust said.
She started driving her car to work after bus service in her neighbourhood changed and made it more difficult for her to get to work. Her 20-minute drive became much more attractive than a bus ride that took nearly two hours.
The airport already has a route selected in case the city does follow through on expanding a train service farther south. For Ann Tremblay, director of airport planning, working with the city for a new service to the site is important to maintain easy access to the airport.
“We’ve always said to the city that if they bring some form of rapid rail, whether it’s LRT or the O-Train, that we would certainly consider it and make room for it,” she said.
The O-Train expansion, however, comes with its complications, which is the main reason for not moving forward with the project. The staff report indicates an extension “or any other enhancement” would lead to severe congestion on the O-Train and on connecting bus routes into the downtown during construction of the Confederation Line.
While the LRT line is being built, the O-Train is providing alternate service for customers who could face delays because of detours between Hurdman Station and downtown, according to the report that suggests “no enhancement” until after the Confederation Line is running in 2018.
“A southerly extension would then be possible without causing overcrowding,” the document states.
To deal with the LRT construction, the city invested $59-million to upgrade the existing O-Train line, increasing the frequency of trains from every 15 minutes to eight minutes. Any additional capacity would be too much during the next five years of construction, which is a hurdle for politicians such as Deans who would like to expand the line now.
“I would like to see us get on with this and proceed, but having said that, I also recognize that one of the reasons we have expanded the service and purchased new trains, is to deal with the construction years ... when we’re transferring a lot of our riders from the bus service and onto the O-Train line,” she said. “So, the issue for the city is capacity during those construction years.”
Demand for the extended O-Train service will certainly increase by 2018, says Deans, who recognizes the growing communities in her ward. D’Aoust also sees the growth and hopes the transit services follow.
“This is a family community. There’s a lot of college aged students and there will be more and more,” she said.
A breakdown of the proposed O-Train expansion
The Cost:
$76 million
The plan:
The extension would stretch approximately 8 km south of Greenboro Station, where the line ends now, doubling the length of the track. Trains would reach just south of Leitrim Station and then head west to a new station at Bowesville Road just south of the airport. To allow the trains on the single-line railway to pass each other when travelling in opposite directions, three crossing sections could be built near Greenboro Station, Lester Road and between Leitrim Station and Bowesville Road.
South Keys Station:
New train platforms would be built at the existing Transitway Station.
Leitrim Station:
With new platforms next to the existing bus loop and park and ride, the station would serve residents from Findlay Creek and other nearby communities who could then bike, walk or drive to the O-Train.
Bowesville Station:
A new station at Bowesville Road has already been considered for the future north-south light-rail line. Local bus routes and a new park and ride would provide connections to the new service.
Operating:
With the latest purchase of six new trains, the city now has enough (nine trains) to operate an extended track with service every eight minutes. Seven could run regularly with two spares.
Ridership:
Extension to Bowesville Road could have 3.6 million one-way trips each year, including 725,000 new trips and 2.8 million trips that would otherwise be made by bus.
Complications:
The O-Train will be heavily used during construction of the Confederation Line and the anticipated increase in ridership from an extended line would create a high risk of overcrowding, both on the O-Train and on connecting bus routes into the downtown.
dspalding@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/Derek_Spalding
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
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We should be starting the planning for the south O-Train extension immediately so that it can open the same day as the Confederation Line!
As for the lady in Riverside South heading to Centrepointe, her problem will be addressed once the Strandherd Bridge finally opens and the 94 is extended across it.
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