Gower: It's time for a bus-centred rethink of transit to Barrhaven and Stittsville
Per kilometre, the cost to build bus rapid transit is a fraction of the cost of rail. The infrastructure can usually be built in a fraction of the time too.
Author of the article:Glen Gower
Published Apr 17, 2023 • Last updated Apr 17, 2023 • 3 minute read
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/go...nd-stittsville
It’s time to rethink our plans for bringing light rail all the way to Barrhaven and Stittsville, and focus instead on new bus rapid transit (BRT) infrastructure.
That’s going to be a controversial idea for many people. For the past two decades we’ve been focused on trains instead of buses, but with rising construction costs and changing travel patterns post-pandemic, the cost of light rail is getting harder to justify — even with help from other levels of government.
This is not in any way to suggest that the current light rail projects were a mistake. The O-Train will move tens of thousands of passengers through our city for decades to come. And rail may be needed in the future toward the south and west — just not now.
The current construction of Stage 2 light rail will bring the O-Train south to the airport and Limebank Road, east to Trim Road, west to Moodie Drive, and south to Algonquin College. The southern extensions should open later this year, with the entire project scheduled to be finished late in 2026.
The latest estimate to extend Stage 3 light rail to Kanata and Stittsville is $2.5 billion, and $4 billion to build it to Barrhaven. Even if we were to begin construction today, it could still be a decade until these lines are ready to go.
Bus rapid transit could be the solution. I’m thinking separated, bus-only infrastructure like the kilometres of transitway we’ve had in Ottawa for years. (Our transitway system was the envy of many cities when it was first introduced in the 1980s.)
Per kilometre, the cost to build BRT is a fraction of the cost of rail. The infrastructure can usually be built in a fraction of the time too. The capacity is less (bus rapid transit moves up to 9,000 people an hour versus 18,000 for light rail) but it could be better matched to the new hybrid-work commuting demand.
It’s an approach other cities are warming up to. In 2021, construction started on the South Dade TransitWay in Miami, Fla. It’s a 32-km busway with 14 stations, scheduled to be completed in 2024. Level crossing gates and signal priority ensure the buses will never stop at a traffic light. Total cost: about $370 million U.S. (In comparison, the Stage 2 light rail project currently under construction is around $4.7 billion for 44 kilometres and 24 stations.)
I can see a case for extending light rail from Moodie Drive as far as Eagleson Road or Terry Fox Drive, then connecting to a bus-only transitway in two directions: north along March Road toward the technology park, and west towards Stittsville. In the south, a few improvements (bridges, priority traffic signals, etc.) could segregate buses along Woodroffe Avenue, linking deep into Barrhaven via the existing transitway.
With the money saved, we could then move up the timeframe to (finally) build a transitway east to South Orléans. And we can accelerate the timeline for dedicated transit priority lanes and traffic signals along east-west corridors such as Hazeldean-Robertson-Baseline-Heron, and Carling Avenue.
The price tag for all of this would still be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but it’s a far cry from the billions we would need for Stage 3 light rail. We would see a massive improvement to trip times and improved access to transit. It would jump-start our efforts to reduce car dependency, which would reduce greenhouse gases and lower congestion.
Over the next two years, Ottawa Council will be finalizing its Transportation Master Plan and Long Range Financial Plan for transit. So, the timing is right to revisit past decisions and move quickly to improve transit in Ottawa.
Glen Gower is the city councillor for Stittsville, ward 6. He is chair of the city’s transit commission.