OC Transpo

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

It's all political no? I mean the cost per ton of carbon removed from such a project is astronomical. \

A big reason that electric buses are starting to catch on now, is the lower lifecycle costs. Yes, the purchase price is high. But the operating costs are low. The only real barrier is the one-time cost of infrastructure at depots and for en route charging infrastructure. This is why the feds are providing grants for the infrastructure and financing (rather than grants) for the buses. In the long run, aside from carbon removal, conversion to electric buses reduces and stabilizes the operating cost of transit. That's in everybody's interest.

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Actually noise and belching smoke wise it's the suburbs where it makes sense to put them. It's not like an electric bus followed by 5 18 whelers and 5 STO busses will be noticed on Rideau Street.

You must not have stood on Rideau, or Albert or Slater recently. It's massively noticeable. Especially as Covid has reduced traffic in the core.

Also, arguing that areas subject to high pollution already, should be written off as dumping grounds, is quite the take.

[Richard Eade]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

A big reason that electric buses are starting to catch on now, is the lower lifecycle costs. Yes, the purchase price is high. But the operating costs are low. . . .

I’m not sure that you can make such a statement without many, many years of experience to back it up. Remember, the Hybrid buses were supposed to provide big savings, both in reduced fuel usage, and through reduced maintenance; yet those buses were removed from service long before an equivalent diesel bus would have been. The reason? Because, in reality, they cost so much more to keep in service than a diesel bus, it was cheaper to take the hybrids out of service. Yes, there was some minor saving from less fuel usage, but the maintenance bills were very high, and the vehicles were much less reliable (for a number of reasons).

It is fine to read a magazine article, manufacture’s literature, or a piece of ‘hype’ from the city’s Communications Department, but often those present only one side of a story – the side that they want you to look at. There is probably another side to the coin.

One example from my own experience: I was told that the brakes of my new hybrid car would last ‘forever’, because of the regenerative braking. It turned out, though, that the lack of contact between the disks and the pads meant that surface rust was not ‘polished off’ of the disks regularly. Also, wet disks were not heated, through use, to dry them off. As a result, the surfaces of the disks soon became so badly pitted by rust that they were beyond re-facing and needed to be replaced – and this was not a ‘one-time’ thing. Over its life, that hybrid car cost me more to keep maintained than any other car I have owned.

The fallacy that electric buses are SO much simpler because the ‘hundreds’ of parts of the internal-combustion engine have been replaced with a ‘single’ electric motor, is almost laughable. There are many additional parts needed to support an electric motor, and each of those is composed of many parts. Management of high-power circuits is not simple. Not that it is a high-power device, but my comparatively simple furnace has quit twice in its 27-year life, and neither time was it due to a mechanical part. It was due to electronic control circuits failing.

Then there is the ‘off-board’ stuff that needs to be considered. Filling a tank with diesel fuel can be done with a bucket and funnel, in the case of emergency. An electric charging system – not so easily. Even a charging cable that wasn’t hung up properly and got deformed by the bus running over it can put a charging station out of commission for a while. (How many cables have you gone through for your phone?)

Just because the sales literature boasts that there will be lower life-cycle costs for an electric bus, is no guarantee that there will be. Only time will give us the true information.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

I’m not sure that you can make such a statement without many, many years of experience to back it up....

There are studies out there.....

Unfortunately, I can't find the TTC report on their large ebus fleet study. Was amazing work. But transit advocate Steve Munro did an excellent wrap up of that. So I'll just point out what is relevant here from his piece....

Total Life-Cycle Cost

Operating Costs (Energy)

Complete operating costs for the eBus fleets are not yet available because the buses are under warranty and repair costs are borne by the vendors. The report includes a comparison of energy costs. Of particular note here is the drop in diesel operating costs during the pandemic year because of lighter loads and traffic conditions.

An average bus travels 75,000 km per year, and a saving of about $19,000 per bus is anticipated. By 2040 when the fleet is expected to have 2,600 buses or more, this is equivalent to an annual saving of $50 million based on current energy costs.

A further consideration is the use of on-site power storage to build up reserves for charging when power is cheap, or to sell back into the grid when power is expensive. This is not a straightforward in-and-out proposal because each energy conversion step involves losses.



Capital Costs

Current capital cost estimates show that the premium paid for a battery eBus over a hybrid would be about $200,000. This gap is falling and is expected to narrow as the technology matures. However, this is unlikely to be in time for at least the first large-scale purchase of eBuses by the TTC.

A fleet electrification study planned for 4Q2021 will delve into life cycle costs in detail.

Note that the TTC is baselining their buses against hybrids. Not even good old fashioned diesel like many in Ottawa. And they are still finding savings with light loads and the low fuel prices of 2020, unlikely to hold going forward, especially with carbon taxes going up $15/tonne every year. I fully expect the TTC will find lifecycle savings costs when their electrification study comes out. And really, I don't think anybody has done the detailed work the TTC has, in North America, on this subject. There's been no large trial of this kind, with three different vendors and three decent sized fleets (60 buses each), run over all kinds of different routes.

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Just because the sales literature boasts that there will be lower life-cycle costs for an electric bus, is no guarantee that there will be. Only time will give us the true information.

It's well known enough that some OEMs are willing to give out bus or battery leases where they take on the cost risk and will guarantee some level of savings or that savings will net out the higher acquisition costs.

These things may be novel to Canadians. But they really aren't that foreign in Europe (about 5 years ahead) and China (about a decade ahead). So there is data on how they perform. And the tech is only getting better and cheaper every year.

[caveat.doctor]

Originally Posted by Nowhere

I took the 46 and the 291 between Herongate and Billings Bridge today and free transit definitively seems popular. I've been surprised by how empty the buses were around Herongate during the pandemic, even at rush hour, despite being a very low income neighbourhood. There was far more people today in buses and at Billings Bridge Station than usual.

Have also noticed that the O-Train and buses going to/from Tunney's are fuller than before, since 1 Dec - I'd ballpark about double the passengers. (I assume that schedules weren't cut at the same time.)

I hope OC Transpo is doing some sort of counting and trip analysis to track the effects of fare-free transit. I assume more people are using it out of convenience that might have otherwise walked or biked (e.g. see an incoming bus, just get on!), especially for short trips within neighbourhoods, getting to the grocery a bit quicker, getting off the messy sidewalks, etc. My kids and I did a bunch of trips this weekend just to ride for fun, too. I would have thought there'd still be benefit to having people tap-on even to get accurate counts.

[Richard Eade]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

. . . transit advocate Steve Munro did an excellent wrap up of that. So I'll just point out what is relevant here from his piece....



. . .

Hmmm. I wonder if you actually read the quote that you provided from Steve Munro. The first line states

Complete operating costs for the ebus fleets are not yet available because the buses are under warranty and repair costs are borne by the vendors.

Also, the comparison for energy costs is comparing the ebus fleets with the diesel fleet. That means the average energy (diesel) cost for EVERY diesel bus that the TTC runs.

According to https://TransitToronto.ca/bus/8500.shtml, the TTC has 16 different models of diesel bus (excluding the Wheel-Trans units), including four models that are 40’ hybrids, and one model that is 60’ articulated buses. So, when you are reading the table value for the “Diesel Fleet [$/km]” you are getting the average for 2,076 buses (which includes 671 hybrid and 152 artics). It is unfortunate that the TTC did not separate out the hybrids so that a better comparison could be made. However, the grouping of all diesel buses does accentuate the difference, making ebuses look better than if they had been compared against hybrids alone.

The same bias is applied for the Capital cost. The comparison is against only the cost of a hybrid bus, which already has a hefty premium over the cost of a ‘regular’ diesel bus. This minimizes the price differential, making the ebuses look better.

OK, so we can see that the numbers were arranged to put a favourable light on the ebuses. Based in the report, the anticipated savings are about $19,000 per bus per year. I can only assume that that value is for the projected savings in energy costs for a ‘typical year’ – i.e., not a ‘CoViD-19 year’ when the price of diesel fuel is artificially low. To me, that is a relatively low number and it could be eaten up quickly if additional service is required for the ebuses and their support facilities. Remember, so far, any repair has been done at the manufacturer’s cost.

Then, there is the ‘small’ detail of the charging facilities. The information provided only covers the average energy use per bus type, and the additional cost of the ebus. There was no inclusion of additional costs that would be associated with ebuses that are not required for diesel buses.

I stand by my statement that we will not know the real cost of a change to ebuses until we have a lot more experience with them.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

A big reason that electric buses are starting to catch on now, is the lower lifecycle costs. Yes, the purchase price is high. But the operating costs are low. The only real barrier is the one-time cost of infrastructure at depots and for en route charging infrastructure. This is why the feds are providing grants for the infrastructure and financing (rather than grants) for the buses. In the long run, aside from carbon removal, conversion to electric buses reduces and stabilizes the operating cost of transit. That's in everybody's interest.



You must not have stood on Rideau, or Albert or Slater recently. It's massively noticeable. Especially as Covid has reduced traffic in the core.

Also, arguing that areas subject to high pollution already, should be written off as dumping grounds, is quite the take.

I can see Rideau from my house and office. It's not that they are written off but it basically irrelevant. It's a drop in the bucket. Not unlike anything Canada does on climate change but that is another discussion.
In contrast I've visited people who live in very quiet suburbs and the rumble of the hourly bus at 10pm when a car might only go by every 10 minutes is certainly noticeable.


I also noticed it is much busier. I know I took the train to ST Laurent Centre when usually I would drive. With two kids it's $20 to take transit. I saw they are discussing making kids free. Like many public transit systems they forget that no demand is completely inelastic. I know from my family they would actually get more money if kids were free as I would actually use it with them. Going to a hockey game is about the only time it will make sense time and money wise to use transit currently with a family.

[roger1818]

While I am supportive of OC Transpo electrifying, to me a much higher priority for the city would be to electrify our school buses. Children are especially vulnerable to respiratory diseases and the intensifying of conditions like asthma from inhaling diesel exhaust.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Hmmm. I wonder if you actually read the quote that you provided from Steve Munro. The first line states

It's why I said we have to wait for their full study to come out.

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Also, the comparison for energy costs is comparing the ebus fleets with the diesel fleet. That means the average energy (diesel) cost for EVERY diesel bus that the TTC runs.

Very relevant to Ottawa, which runs a higher proportion of diesel buses, in an environment where rising carbon taxes almost ensure that fuel will be more expensive each year (absent some massive crash in global oil markets). The rising carbon tax at minimum puts a substantial floor on the price of diesel. By the end of the decade, diesel won't be less than $1.5/L. If the rate of electrification doesn't exceed the growth in the carbon tax, you should be prepared to pay more in fares or property taxes, or anticipate service cuts.

I also expect that future federal governments will not be willing to subsidize transit agencies that refuse to electrify. Bad look for the feds to be cutting cheques to city governments and agencies that refuse to cut emissions.

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

The same bias is applied for the Capital cost. The comparison is against only the cost of a hybrid bus, which already has a hefty premium over the cost of a ‘regular’ diesel bus. This minimizes the price differential, making the ebuses look better.

That's not so much bias as the TTC baseline. The TTC considers their hybrid buses the lowest total operating cost bus in their fleet. It's also proven to be the most reliable. So they baseline all new acquisitions against that fleet.

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Based in the report, the anticipated savings are about $19,000 per bus per year. I can only assume that that value is for the projected savings in energy costs for a ‘typical year’ – i.e., not a ‘CoViD-19 year’ when the price of diesel fuel is artificially low. To me, that is a relatively low number and it could be eaten up quickly if additional service is required for the ebuses and their support facilities. Remember, so far, any repair has been done at the manufacturer’s cost.

In non-Covid years, as we are now seeing, the price of fuel, and service pattern (more stops), would drive up the savings. Not lower them. Also, while the TTC has found higher maintenance with Ebuses, most of that has not been on the drivetrain and they have found that reliability improves over time and converges to that of their hybrid buses. No reason to believe anything would be different in Ottawa.

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Then, there is the ‘small’ detail of the charging facilities. The information provided only covers the average energy use per bus type, and the additional cost of the ebus. There was no inclusion of additional costs that would be associated with ebuses that are not required for diesel buses.

One time costs don't get incorporated into operating and acquisition costs of new vehicles. Do you include the cost of a new garage or maintenance facility into buses purchased in a given year by OC Transpo?

Also, federal grants are specifically aimed at helping transit agencies minimize these costs, letting them focus on bus procurement. The TTC (like OC Transpo) got federal grants that help with facilities upgrades to support fleet electrification.

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

I stand by my statement that we will not know the real cost of a change to ebuses until we have a lot more experience with them.

Hard to get experience with them if you insist that they must not be procured in the first place....

Originally Posted by YOWetal

I can see Rideau from my house and office. It's not that they are written off but it basically irrelevant. It's a drop in the bucket. Not unlike anything Canada does on climate change but that is another discussion.

You are mixing up greenhouse gases and local pollution. While what happens on Rideau is not exceptionally relevant to global climate change, the concentration of particulate pollution and carcinogens emitted from buses (among other vehicles) is very much relevant to locals who live along there. Or should be at least.....

Originally Posted by YOWetal

In contrast I've visited people who live in very quiet suburbs and the rumble of the hourly bus at 10pm when a car might only go by every 10 minutes is certainly noticeable.

So this makes the noise pollution in the core discountable?

Originally Posted by YOWetal

I also noticed it is much busier. I know I took the train to ST Laurent Centre when usually I would drive. With two kids it's $20 to take transit. I saw they are discussing making kids free. Like many public transit systems they forget that no demand is completely inelastic. I know from my family they would actually get more money if kids were free as I would actually use it with them. Going to a hockey game is about the only time it will make sense time and money wise to use transit currently with a family.

Not exactly sure what this has to do with electrification. But I agree that transit should be free for kids. I would go so far as to say transit should be free on weekends. Both to reduce weekend driving to the core, and to offer a no-excuse alternative to drinking and driving.

Originally Posted by roger1818

While I am supportive of OC Transpo electrifying, to me a much higher priority for the city would be to electrify our school buses. Children are especially vulnerable to respiratory diseases and the intensifying of conditions like asthma from inhaling diesel exhaust.

I agree. But that's not OC Transpo or the city's remit.

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by roger1818

While I am supportive of OC Transpo electrifying, to me a much higher priority for the city would be to electrify our school buses. Children are especially vulnerable to respiratory diseases and the intensifying of conditions like asthma from inhaling diesel exhaust.

So you prefer spending money on school buses that are parked most of the time over OC Transpo buses that are in constant use? The goal of electric buses is to reduce carbon emissions and the bang-for-the-buck is in putting them in intensive use cases. I bet most of the pollution that children breathe in are from vehicles other than the school bus they're in

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

So you prefer spending money on school buses that are parked most of the time over OC Transpo buses that are in constant use? The goal of electric buses is to reduce carbon emissions and the bang-for-the-buck is in putting them in intensive use cases. I bet most of the pollution that children breathe in are from vehicles other than the school bus they're in

We have data on how bad those diesel buses are for kids. It ain't good. And they are unusually exposed on the buses and in loading areas, because of how the buses are designed and how we use them.

Notably, electrification of school buses is actually easier and cheaper. Quebec is pulling it off at for less than $100k per bus. Because they don't travel very far, the required battery packs can be a lot smaller. They also don't need the same amount of high power charging infrastructure because they sit around so much. In fact, there's emerging business models which seeks to use electric school bus fleets as swing capacity for grid storage. After all, they are sitting around, at exactly the time that power demand peaks and renewable power declines.

That said, it's up to the province to step up on this. The city doesn't fund and isn't responsible for school transportation. There's no reason Ontario can't do what Quebec is doing and electrify all school transport by 2035.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

So you prefer spending money on school buses that are parked most of the time over OC Transpo buses that are in constant use? The goal of electric buses is to reduce carbon emissions and the bang-for-the-buck is in putting them in intensive use cases. I bet most of the pollution that children breathe in are from vehicles other than the school bus they're in

The goal of electric buses is to reduce all tailpipe emissions. GHGs are just one of many emissions made when we burn things. There is a reason ICEVs have a tailpipe to try and direct the exhaust away from the cabin. One of the indirect benefits of the electrification of transport is reduced healthcare costs and fewer premature deaths ref.

[lrt's friend]

Now for my latest unpopular comment.

I finally had the courage to use transit from my house to downtown and return.

Overall, the service was fine. About the same travel time as when the Transitway was open. Certainly, not faster. Outgoing, wait times totaled 16 minutes. Not awful, but not great either.

A couple of observations:

1. Buses are busier than the train
2. 40 foot buses can run a route faster than an articulated bus or double decker bus. Much better acceleration.

There was a significant technical issue. The next train signs were not operating reliably. When I arrived at Hurdman, train frequency was listed as 14 minutes in both directions. This was not correct. Trains were running every 5 minutes. On my return trip, the sign at Rideau station had no times when I first arrived then it corrected itself.

My complaint at Hurdman applied to my own bus route and the next bus sign. They had two entries for my route, which made it difficult to really know when the next bus was coming. The big problem is that the route numbers were not arranged consecutively on the screen so the two entries did not appear together. They didn't even appear on the screen at the same time. It took me a while to notice the two entries for the same route with different wait times. I was a little ticked that the listed wait time was 24 minutes when it was peak hours. I had checked the schedule before the trip. Can we not fix this? Of course not.

My suggestion to relocate the bus stop signs to the opposite end of each shelter at Hurdman was never implemented, after 2 years. Why bother having bus stop signs if you can't see them when walking from the train?

Another complaint is the lack of next train and next bus signs as you exit your bus (ingoing) and as you exit the train (outgoing). This would enhance the user experience and might in some cases help you avoid missing the next bus/train.

[rocketphish]

Consultants take different views of Westboro Station canopy

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Dec 20, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 2 minute read

Two firms tasked with reviewing safety at Westboro Station after the tragic double-decker bus crash in 2019 had different suggestions for OC Transpo when it came to a canopy over the passenger platform.

The city released the reports on Monday afternoon, three months after the driver of the bus was acquitted of criminal charges related to the crash on Jan. 11, 2019. On that day, three passengers died and dozens more were injured when the westbound double-decker struck the station canopy.

The city commissioned an independent road safety study on the recommendation of the fatal collision review committee. In fact, the city hired two companies for the work.

The final report by Parsons, dated September 2021, suggested removing the canopy at Westboro Station or reducing the operating speeds of buses to 20 km/h through the area.

Parsons pointed out there should be a clearance of 0.5 metres between the curb and a fixed object, like the canopy. A clearway of between 1.2 metres and 1.8 metres is “desirable,” Parsons said in the report. At the time of its study, Parsons measured the clearway at between 0.5 metres and 0.7 metres.

“When a vehicle collides with a fixed object, the crash response safety systems of the vehicle, such as the bumper and vehicle frame crumpling to absorb energy, may possibly deflect the vehicle and/or reduce the severity of the crash for the vehicle occupants,” the Parsons report said.

“However, these vehicle safety systems may not be engaged in crashes where the fixed object contacts the vehicle at a height higher than the vehicle’s bumper.”

Intus Road Safety Engineering completed a safety audit, with a final report dated Sept. 28, 2021, and reviewed the suggestions made by Parsons.

Intus noted the roughly 0.5-metre clear zone for canopies was in compliance with standards of the construction period, but Ontario road design standards have increased the clear zone to about three metres. Intus wasn’t convinced the canopy needed to go.

“Specifically, the crash risk presented by the canopy is too low to warrant removal of the canopy,” the Intus report said, citing a mathematical formula to calculate how many crashes there could be.

Instead of removing the canopy or reducing the operating speed, Transpo should affix black and yellow striped markings, Intus said.

Parsons also flagged the curb height at the station, found to be between 3.5 and four inches. Road maintenance activities looked to have shaved it down from six inches, potentially reducing the curb’s ability to deflect a vehicle, the report said.

However, Intus said, “there is no undue risk presented by the current curb height at the platform.”

Transpo GM Renée Amilcar told council in a memo that the city had installed black-and-yellow striping on station elements three metres from the platform edge.

The station canopies will dismantled as part of the Transitway conversion to LRT as part of the Stage 2 project. It’s expected buses will be diverted from the Transitway to Scott Street starting in the spring.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...station-canopy

[J.OT13]

As if this is going to help:


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...rash-1.6293944

Still no one proposing bollards.

In my view, the canopies can save people on the platform from being run over by buses (and so could bollards, which in turn would remove the danger factor of the canopy itself).

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

As if this is going to help:


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...rash-1.6293944

LOL. Agreed.

Still no one proposing bollards.

Or better yet, a guard rail angled from the trench wall to the leading corner of the platform to redirect stray busses away from the platform (thus also the canopy)

In my view, the canopies can save people on the platform from being run over by buses (and so could bollards, which in turn would remove the danger factor of the canopy itself).

The reality is, the station only needs to last through the winter. The train should pose significantly less risk. The lessons learned could be applied to other transitway stations though.

[Richard Eade]

Yup, this Westboro Station issue will be moot soon enough, so there is little point in wasting resources on it – EXCEPT for applying any ‘lessons learned’ to the South-East Transitway; which will be the only remaining Transitway with similar shelters.

There were heavy-duty Jersey-Barrier segments on the south end of the former British High Commission building on Elgin. How about the city simply takes those and moves them to the leading edge of select S-E Transitway stations to deflect any wayward buses away from the platforms and shelters?

[Uhuniau]

It being OC Transpo, they will never install those safety features, but they will remove the canopies, because they place zero value on passenger comfort.

[rocketphish]

Three key figures in a year of controversy for Ottawa's beleaguered LRT
A pair of city councillors asked tough questions and made bold moves while Ottawa welcomed a new head of public transit

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Dec 24, 2021 • 4 hours ago • 4 minute read

Three newsmakers grabbed public transit headlines in 2021, a year of controversy and change for Ottawa. There was a 54-day shutdown of the beleaguered light-rail transit system, and in the middle of the closure, a new face took charge of OC Transpo.


Renée Amilcar: The ‘fresh air’ Transpo, and city hall, needed

Renée Amilcar arrived in Ottawa to replace the retiring John Manconi, perhaps the most recognized bureaucrat at city hall in the years he oversaw OC Transpo and the LRT.

It was a move that took guts; the transit agency has struggled to deploy light rail. Amilcar stepped forward.

In her, the city gained an experienced transit executive who ran the municipal bus system in Montreal and who wasn’t worried about the growing pains Ottawa was experiencing with LRT.

Her appointment also injected some much-needed diversity into the upper-ranks of city hall.

In September, the city’s branch overseeing gender and race equity, inclusion, Indigenous relations and social development reported that as of July, visible minorities made up 9.92 per cent of management in the municipal government. The branch set a target of 20 per cent.

While there’s clearly more work to do, appointing a Black, francophone woman to the senior leadership team was a step in the right direction for the municipal government.

Amilcar didn’t shy away from the limelight as the head of public transit in the nation’s capital. In only her second day on the job, she had the city line up interviews with reporters so she could introduce herself to residents.

During her sit-down with Postmedia, she said she hoped to bring “fresh air” to Transpo customers.


Diane Deans: Veteran councillor became a transit interrogator

The time has finally come for Diane Deans to take a run a the city’s top job.

“I have contemplated that on more than one occasion,” Deans said on Dec. 10 in confirming her candidacy hours after Mayor Jim Watson announced he wouldn’t seek re-election in 2022. In making her announcement, she stated: “We need to get transit back on track.”

Her name has been in the mix as a possible mayoral contender for years, but Deans has decided to keep representing residents in Gloucester-Southgate ward in post-amalgamation Ottawa, maintaining a veteran voice on council and one that wouldn’t be silenced on transit issues.

(Though, she was muted once this year. Her microphone was cut off at Watson’s direction during a virtual council meeting in October that included debate on LRT. The mayor later apologized to her).

Public transit issues have kept Deans busy ever since the creation of a former north-south LRT plan, which was replaced with a plan that prioritized east-west LRT. She was once in the thick of it as transit commission chair.

And while her plate has been full this year as chair of the police services board, the LRT has remained on her watch list, especially in the wake of the Stage 2 contract award for the Trillium Line. While an audit backed the city’s management of the procurement process, evaluators on the Trillium Line procurement gave winning bidder SNC-Lavalin a technical score below a scoring threshold.

Deans hasn’t shied away from criticizing Watson’s handling of transit. “This project, in my view, has been mismanaged by the mayor from the very get-go,” she declared when the province called an inquiry into LRT in November.


Catherine McKenney: They fought for an inquiry and the province listened

Catherine McKenney pushed the hardest for an inquiry into LRT.

The Somerset ward councillor, who has also announced their intention to run for mayor in 2022, was initially denied the chance to have council vote on proposal requesting an inquiry into the LRT program.

Council couldn’t ignore the city’s frustration with LRT, especially after the September derailment. There was wide agreement around the virtual council table that something had to be done to show that politicians took the problems seriously.

McKenney went big, putting on the table a motion that would activate a section of the Ontario Municipal Act that allows councils to request a judicial inquiry. Critically, it would be an independent investigation.

Procedural footwork, and some backdoor collaboration, saw council endorse a replacement motion calling for an audit of the project by the city’s auditor general, rather than a more transparent and more costly judicial inquiry.

But McKenney seized their own procedural opportunity and managed to get their motion on the order paper at another council meeting.

“Sometimes you need a judge, sometimes you need an accountant,” McKenney said as council debated the motion, “and, in this particular case, we need a judge.”

Council voted 13-10 against requesting an inquiry, preferring the audit route. Then Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government entered the fray, deciding to call its own inquiry into Ottawa’s LRT program on Nov. 17.

McKenney, in surprising fashion, came out a winner after all.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...eleaguered-lrt

[OttawaTransit99]

Originally Posted by Williamoforange

I highly doubt you will ever see a new high floor bus in any city in Canada. Neither Nova or New Flyer or Alexander Dennis build High floor transit buses

As for Nova, city already has some - octranspo.com/en/our-services/bus-o-train-network/vehicles/

Why don't those corporations build high-floor buses? aren't high-floor buses are more accessible than low-floor buses?

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by OttawaTransit99

Why don't those corporations build high-floor buses? aren't high-floor buses are more accessible than low-floor buses?

The steps needed to access high floor buses are generally considered a barrier.