MP Baird supports LRT tunnel

It's had its fair share of critics since the transit plan was launched, but Ottawa's $735M downtown transit tunnel (DOTT) has received a vote of confidence from one particularly notable politician: Ottawa-West Nepean MP John Baird.

Baird wasn't ready to say it was essential (that would be far too committal for a politician, no?), but he did say that in looking to the future, it seems highly likely that public transit will have to go underground in order to satisfy growing ridership levels.

From the Ottawa Citizen:

"By 2017, there just will not be room for any more buses," he said. "If you're not going to build a tunnel, you have to explain how you get that many buses or rail through the downtown core."

[...]

"The city's come forward with a plan," he said. "After the federal announcement, they said they would cut the cost to fit. We've put our money up, and it will be up to them to deliver the project."

He agreed, however, that the light-rail line is a "very, very big project. It's a huge expense."

At the same time, "I don't know what the expense is on gridlock and quality of life if we don't act on public transit," he said.

LRT Affordability on Talk Ottawa

On Monday's Talk Ottawa program, transit was once again the topic of discussion. Notably, we discussed how affordable the $2.1B light-rail plan is for the city. Along with myself (Peter Raaymakers) on the panel were David Jeanes of Transport Action Canada and Rideau-Rockcliffe Councillor Jacques Legendre, with Ottawa-West Nepean MP and Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities John Baird chiming in over the phone.

With his government's recent announcement of $600M in funding to support the transit plan, Baird's comments offered some strong insight into the meaning of the pledge. The most notable comment of his was that this funding is not necessarily tied to a tunnel; the government has given $600M for Ottawa to spend on this upcoming transit plan, but if they decide to revisit the tunnel (as mayoral candidate Jim Watson has suggested he might do), the funding won't necessarily be affected--the only time the feds would revisit it would be if the plan was altered so radically as to bring the bottom line below $1.8B or so. And although Baird wouldn't comment on municipal election issues, he did pose the question of why Watson (at the time Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing) and the provincial government offered their $600M for a plan he now has questions about.

Baird also said that, although this funding represented the last of the Building Canada Fund Ottawa would benefit from, that doesn't mean it's the end of transit funding for the foreseeable future. He said that, once this phase is well on its way and the City has its next stage in the overall plan ready to go, he and his government would be more than willing to sit down at the table and talk about funding the project again.

For his part, councillor Legendre pledged his confidence in the city's plan without wavering. His exact words, in fact, were that this plan is "not even close to unaffordable" for the City to handle. He cited the contingencies built in to the current budget, discussed the potential ways to offset the costs of the plan (development costs, station partnerships with towers downtown, et cetera), and said that this plan was not only good for the city, but necessary.

Jeanes offered quite a bit of insight into a number of issues, from the cancellation of the 2006 north-south rail line to the reality of Ottawa's commuter system inevitably changing and the end of the no-transfer ride. What he was most passionate about, though, was that whether or not this plan is affordable isn't our most pressing question: He said that the 12km of light-rail track in this plan pales in comparison to the 120km of rail track his organization (Transport Action Canada, then Transport 2000) recommended back in 2003. He recommended the city find some way to better stretch the funding they've secured in order to get more kilometres per dollar.

A number of viewers called into the show, with varied comments or concerns. One memorable question was how the LRT as proposed would help people waiting at suburban stations (the example used was those at Baseline) who are forced to watch full buses drive right by them. The response, from Jeanes and echoed by Legendre, was that buses will now be able to turn around at the start of the LRT line (in this instance, Tunney's Pasture) and turn back instead of having to crawl through the downtown logjam, essentially doubling their capacity to move people.

TransitOttawa discussing light rail on Rogers Talk Ottawa tonight

Any transit enthusiasts in the Ottawa area might want to tune in to Rogers cable 22 tonight at 7 p.m. for Talk Ottawa, where the panel will discuss public transit in the city. On the table are discussions about the city's upcoming light-rail transit plan, the $600M in recently-announced federal funding for it, and whether or not it's affordable overall.

On the panel will be Peter Raaymakers, executive director of TransitOttawa.com and Rideau-Rockcliffe Councillor Jacques Legendre. Ottawa-West Nepean MP and Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities John Baird will also join by telephone.

Federal government gives their $600M for LRT

After months of anxiety over when (and perhaps whether) the federal government was going to pledge their share of Ottawa's upcoming light-rail transit plan, citizens can breathe a sigh of relief: John Baird committed their $600M share of the project this morning in a press conference.

From the Ottawa Sun:

"This historic investment in Ottawa's public transit infrastructure demonstrates the Government of Canada's commitment to building sustainable and healthy communities," said Baird in notes prepared for the announcement. "With this funding, I expect that the City will work towards a practical and affordable plan to serve the needs of the residents of Ottawa."

The pledge comes six months after the Ontario provincial government committed their $600M share, meaning the City has funding for $1.2B of the $2.1B project--and now needs to find ways to fund the remaining $900M on its own. Some councillors--including Transit Committee chair and 2010 mayoral candidate Alex Cullen--are confident that the contingencies in place mean that won't be a problem, but another mayoral candidate (Jim Watson) continues to question whether or not Ottawa can afford the downtown tunnel that the plan is built around.

The $600M federal and provincial funding pledges were based on preliminary cost estimates of $1.8B, which has gradually risen to the current estimate of $2.1B. Although some had hoped that the federal commitment would help Ottawa fund that overrun at least to some degree, it is still reassuring that the city now has both funding partners on board with a true pledge that carries a dollar figure with it.

So, about that federal LRT funding...

The City of Ottawa is still waiting to hear the federal government announce their intentions to match (or hopefully exceed) the provincial $600M funding pledge for the city's $2.1B light-rail transit plan. Queen's Park made its pledge back in December, and the general understanding was that a similar announcement from Federal Infrastructure Minister John Baird would come in a matter of days.

And then days became weeks. And now weeks have become months.

Some councillors, including Transit Committee Vice-Chair Marianne Wilkinson, are getting a little antsy waiting for the announcement. From 580 CFRA:

Vice Chair of Ottawa City Hall's Transit Committee Marianne Wilkinson says the environmental assessment is almost complete and she'd like to hear something concrete soon.

She suggests a delay in funding could slow down the project.

The actual groundbreaking for the project is still a ways off, but that date is getting closer, and we haven't really heard a peep since the federal governments most recent re-committing its $200M in transit plan funding--that money that's been on the table for years, waiting for a transit plan to fund.

Hopefully the announcement will come soon; light-rail transit in Ottawa has already been delayed long enough.

Transit plan first phase price tag climbs to $2.1B

Tentatively predicted to run the City of Ottawa $1.8B, it turns out the more realistic cost estimate for the first phase of Ottawa's ambitious transit plan is around $2.1B, according to CBC.ca:

Light rail between Blair Road and Tunney's Pasture, including a three-kilometre downtown tunnel, will cost $2.1 billion, city staff estimated Friday. That's $400 million more than their December 2008 estimate and $300 million more than the estimate in the city's recent funding request to the federal and provincial governments.

In initial discussions of potential direction for Ottawa's transit plan, the above-mentioned first phase of the was estimated to cost $1.4B. In recent weeks, reports indicated it would climb due to unforeseen design changes and land procurement costs. After a more thorough examination, which included consultations with "experienced firms involved in transportation and tunnelling projects" and a review, according to the above-linked CBC story, seems likely to be the best estimate, which City officials will present when appealing to federal and provincial governments for funding.

Although federal officials have been rather quiet in awaiting an official request with hard numbers, Ontario Municipal Affairs Minister and Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Jim Watson has for weeks been announcing his concern with the affordability of Ottawa's transit plan. This past weekend, as reported in the Ottawa Citizen, Watson re-iterated his concerns:

"I'm becoming increasingly worried about the city's capacity to bring this project to a conclusion," said Watson, the MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean. "We're very, very concerned. I have to simply question the affordability of this plan."

[...]

"They've designed the plan without an upper-limit budget. The price just keeps going up," said Watson. "We cannot simply send a blank cheque to the City of Ottawa."

Although Watson is concerned with the city's ability to pay for its third of the transit plan, the recently-unveiled $24.7B provincial deficit in Ontario, which will undoubtedly affect the province's ability to offer cash to municipalities. The deficit is the largest the province has ever carried, according to the Ottawa Citizen. The City is looking for at least one-third of the capital cost of the project from each of the provincial and federal governments, meaning $700M from each level over the course of the first phase.

Funding partners--including, albeit on a smaller scale, citizens of Ottawa--are all likely mindful of the (mostly negative) perceptions of staff and decision makers in this city, which combine to make what Steve Collins refers to as a "trust deficit" in the Ottawa Metro. That scepticism certainly shines through in Watson's comments. It remains to be seen what federal ministers, particularly Ottawa West-Nepean MP and Infrastructure Minister John Baird, have to say about the recently-announced cost increase.

City staff are convinced that Ottawa can foot their portion of the transit plan.

The cost for the full four-stage transit plan is now an estimated $6.6B, up from the initially-predicted roughly $5B price tag.

Ottawa Citizen gives two cents on transit issues of the day

The Ottawa Citizen has published an editorial on public transit in our city for each of the past two days, each of which speaks to a pressing issue in the public transit debate today.

On Wednesday, the Citizen spoke of a rise in complaints received by OC Transpo--including, of course, some stemming from their inability to ensure bus drivers are calling out stops regularly. According to the story, OC Transpo has had a 24 per cent increase in complaints over the last three years, and the Citizen's editorial board had some choice words for OC Transpo General Manager Alain Mercier:

It isn't Alain Mercier's job to justify the high number of complaints that come in to OC Transpo. It's his job to reduce that number.

[...]

The 24-per-cent increase in complaints over three years is partly due to an increase in ridership. But ridership only increased by about 13 per cent in that period. Clearly, there's something else going on.

Mercier, the general manager of OC Transpo, points out that the service is also getting more compliments than it used to. That's nice, but it can't compensate for the rise in complaints. If your bus is late, or zooms right past you, or narrowly misses hitting a cyclist, or runs a red light, it doesn't really matter that on another bus somewhere in Ottawa, a driver gave someone a friendly smile. We shouldn't be aiming for a compliments-to-complaints ratio that evens out. We should be aiming for a baseline, a bare minimum, of reliable, safe, friendly service.

Then, on Thursday, the Citizen responded with kudos to Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Jim Watson for his concerns over funding the city's ambitious and expensive light-rail transit plan:

Watson, a former mayor, says there were public concerns about costs in the first cancelled light-rail plan, which weighed in at $884 million. He's right.

To be more specific, city staff had estimated that the north-south plan would cost somewhere in the range of $600 million. However when the competitive bidding process took place, it became apparent that the staff estimates were about $200 million too low. That spooked the public, and politicians capitalized on the escalating costs -- not the least of whom were Mayor Larry O'Brien and Transport Minister John Baird, the top local federal minister.

Oddly, the new rail plan with a shiny tunnel and much more majestic ambitions costs about $5 billion and yet Ottawans don't seem to mind much at all. But Watson does, and good on him. Remember that the city was stretched to cover the costs of the original plan at about one-fifth the price. Remember, too, that $10 million of civic expenses translates into roughly a one-year, one-per-cent increase in your property taxes. One wonders how much of that $5 billion will land on your tax bill. Watson is concerned about that and is sitting down with city politicians and staff to crunch costs and feasibility with his people in Toronto. What he has found is that this plan costs a lot of money -- so much so that he is worried about its feasibility. So he should be.

Both editorials present a good case, and are good reads, to boot. Feel free to comment on either of them, and the issues presented within, in the comments.

What if the Feds fail to invest in Ottawa's transit plan?

Despite assurances from city councillors that federal and provincial funding pledges are sure to come, the fact that neither higher level of government has guaranteed to fund a third of Ottawa's $4B transit plan inevitably raises some red flags for Ottawa's citizens.When the City of Toronto failed to receive federal funding for a public transit project in that city, they decided the city would pay the extra amount. The City of Ottawa, already stretched to the budgetary limits, wouldn't likely be able to do that--so where are we today?

The City of Toronto had co-ordinated a $1.2B purchase of streetcars from Bombardier, and had budgeted one third of the ($400M) from the city to be matched by each of the federal and provincial governments. Although Queen's Park was quick to offer their financial support, the federal government were not so quick to match because, according to Infrastructure Minister John Baird, the deal didn't qualify under the government's infrastructure program. So Toronto,. facing a June 27 deadline to secure funding, doubled the city's contributions to pay for a full two-thirds of the streetcar deal.

The City of Ottawa's transit plan is even more long-term than Toronto's, which was rejected by the feds because it wouldn't create jobs within two years--and Ottawa's transit plan may not even break ground within that time frame. The $200M both the federal and provincial governments have pledged and re-pledged to Ottawa transit (leftover from the cancelled north-south rail line) won't go far when measured against the city's projected $4B price tag, which many critics are saying will inevitably climb as previously unknown costs surface.

When should citizens in Ottawa become truly concerned about securing funding partners? Are you concerned at the moment?

What recourse would the city, already so heavily invested in this significant transit plan, have should either level of government fail to invest the requested one-third?

Baird rescinds OC's work/rest exemption

Federal Transport Minister and Ottawa West-Nepean Conservative MP John Baird has "decreed" that the exemption given to transit operators under federal jurisdiction no longer stands.

The work/rest rules were part of the City of Ottawa's rationale for changing scheduling conventions for OC Transpo during the city's 53-day transit strike, and was a serious sticking point for drivers. This announcement marks the beginning of the final resolution of the dispute, which is still awaiting the results of binding arbitration on the terms of the final contract.

From the Ottawa Citizen:

Twenty years ago, the handful of municipalities whose transit systems are regulated by the federal government requested exemptions from rules that cover commercial drivers, like truckers. The rules set a maximum of 14 hours of driving and eight hours of rest per day and require at least one day off every 14 days.

The exemption was given, but as a result, a small number of drivers, including at OC Transpo took advantage of the situation to work very long hours with little rest for weeks at a time.

[...]

... the federal transport minister and Ottawa West-Nepean Conservative MP John Baird promised to review the exemption, which was in affect in Ottawa, Gatineau and Windsor.

After a two-month examination of the issue, Baird decreed the changes Wednesday.

See also: Ottawa Metro

Questioning Ottawa's downtown tunnel

On last Thursday, the Ottawa Citizen's Ken Gray wrote an editorial raising the significant number of questions surrounding the light-rail route recently approved by city council. The route, whose downtown portion is shown above in a map courtesy of The Ottawa Project, has raised some concerns from interested parties.

Many of these concerns were raised by Gray in his editorial:

• Transport Canada believes the city's $550-million cost estimate is low
• Minister John Baird isn't sold on Phase 1
• Ottawa doesn't have permission from the Department of Public Works and Government Services Public Works to "drill beside the Langevin Block where Stephen Harper toils, or near the war memorial or the federal conference centre"
• The National Capital Commission (NCC) is, according to Gray, "unlikely to permit rail to run down the Ottawa River Parkway"
• Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty "is wary about rail"
• That the depth of the tunnel, which will have to run below existing structural foundations, makes it less beneficial for business interests downtown to invest in the stations
• As well, Ottawa's downtown business community had expressed preference for a different route
• The route is, in Gray's words, "unlikely to garner many more riders because it travels much the same route as the Transitway"
• There is little room for further development on route, particularly the Parkway (assuming the NCC gives permission to use that route)
• And that Gray, and many other critics, argue "that tunnelling is financially and technically risky"

There are, certainly, plenty of positives to take from Ottawa building a transit line, but it seems to be the concerns which are dominating the news these days.

What are your opinions on the tunnel, and how it's progressed so far? Are you in favour of the route, or do you have problems with how it's going forward (or, if it's your belief, backward)?

Funding transit plans: Transport Canada "neutral" on tunnel

The Ottawa Sun got its hands on a Transport Canada report from April 24 that suggests that a downtown transit tunnel in Ottawa will cost more than the $600-million estimate put forward by city staff.

The report also recommends taking caution when considering how much funding the Ottawa project deserves, the Sun reports.

Transport Canada is supportive of the transit plan, but officials who are engaged in talks with the city should take a "neutral stance with regards to the downtown tunnel alignment and station locations..."

"While the federal government has been supportive of Ottawa's efforts to develop a rapid transit strategy, the federal government should not commit to an agreement in principle to fund the entirety of phase one of the rapid transit plan."

Transport minister John Baird's office, though, says discussions with the city about funding are going well.

The federal government currently has $200 million on the table for Ottawa's long-term transit priorities and Transport Minister John Baird says he is committed to adding to that.

"We are working well with the city and the province to deliver for Ottawa on this important priority," said Baird's press secretary, Chris Day.

City requests $600M from province, feds

The City of Ottawa has officially made requests to the federal and provincial governments to each agree in principle to funding one-third of the first phase of the city's transit plan, estimated to be $1.83B in total. That would be about $600M from each level, plus about the same from the city itself. Transport Minister John Baird reiterated that the $200M in federal funding already promised for the city's now-cancelled north-south rail line is still on the table, and also said they'd double that amount to try and be a "major funding partner." The Ontario Government has also stated that the $200M they'd promised is also still available, but it's unclear whether or not each level is willing to ante up the full $600M for the City's plan.

From the Ottawa Sun:

The first phase of the city master transportation plan would include a downtown tunnel and LRT to Tunney's Pasture from Blair Station; a new bridge over the Rideau River that would link South Nepean to Riverside South; the Cumberland Transitway to Navan Rd. from Blair station; the west Transitway to Bayshore from Moodie; the southwest Transitway to the Barrhaven Town Centre from the Fallowfield park and ride.

On Rogers 22's Talk Ottawa on March 16, 2009, councillors Marianne Wilkinson and Alex Cullen suggested that if the other levels of government were unable or unwilling to cover the full one-third of the project cost, the city would look at cutting some parts of the first phase to ensure equal investment from the municipal, provincial, and federal governments. Both also suggested that some of the parts of the first phase, including the west Transitway from Moodie to Bayshore, may qualify for funding under the federal government's infrastructure investment package.

Feds to transit union: Obey work-to-rest rules

Transport minister John Baird has waded in to Ottawa labour relations with a move that is sure to upset the leadership of ATU 279. From a Canadian Press story:

The federal government is intervening again in an Ottawa municipal transit dispute by imposing federal hours-of-work rules on the city's bus drivers.

This comes after the transit union believed that issue -- limiting the length of drivers' shifts -- would be part of ongoing arbitration to settle outstanding issues left unresolved by the 53-day strike. More from the story:

[Baird] says such long shifts are clearly a safety issue and he can't see how people can object to a rule making 22 hours of work illegal.

"I've got an important responsibility to the safety not just of the travelling public, to the bus drivers themselves, other motorists, to pedestrians, to cyclists," he said.

The rules will take effect quite soon:

Baird said the new rules will be published in the Canada Gazette on Saturday and there will be 30 days for all sides to comment.

"We'll listen to what the parties and what the public has to say, but fatigue kills and I just simply in all good conscience couldn't sit by and do nothing," Baird said.

Budget reaction: Check back here later

Most readers likely know that today is Budget Day in Ottawa.

Given that:

John Baird's multi-billion dollar infrastructure announcement will play a large role in the federal government's economic plan;

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities insists that public transit should be among the government's infrastructure priorities; and

Ottawa can probably expect a lump of federal cash to come its way, potentially for transit projects;

Expect that TransitOttawa.ca will have something to say when the budget comes down late this afternoon. Check back here!

Baird breaks silence on strike UPDATED

At a press conference earlier this morning where transport (and infrastructure) minister John Baird announced a $7-billion package of investment in public-works projects, the Ottawa-area MP also waded in to the city's transit strike.

Baird said that he is open to amending work-rest rules for Ottawa bus drivers (who are currently exempt from federal regulations, along with their counterparts in Windsor and Gatineau). But he didn't say it would be a priority:

[Baird] said changing the regulations on drivers' work time will take consultation and study.

UPDATE: The Ottawa Sun reports that a large portion of the infrastructure funding could come to Ottawa and could include public-transit initiatives (emphasis ours):

The list of projects, worth more than $500 million, has the potential to create over 6,045 new Ottawa jobs.

[...]

Last week the city's Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee directed staff to develop a priority list of all ready-to-go projects, including public transit. The list is to be presented to council on February 11.

TransitOttawa.ca will watch that list's contents carefully.

UPDATED (AGAIN): Kady O'Malley at Maclean's reports that mayor Larry O'Brien was meeting with Baird earlier today, "presumably to try to push his latest pitch for the feds to get involved in our transit strike, now on the verge of hitting fifty days."

UPDATED (ONCE MORE): The Citizen reports on the meeting between O'Brien and Baird.

Mr. O'Brien said he'd had a good meeting with Mr. Baird and discussed a number of issues, including safety, but would not say whether they'd agreed on anything or discussed prospects for back-to-work legislation.

In a Monday-morning press conference, before he met with the mayor, Mr. O'Brien said he was open to changing the rules to cover OC Transpo drivers, but doing so would require consultations and research and could take months.

As commenter Klaus points out in another post, the Citizen mixed up names (the bolded O'Brien paraphrase should have been attributed to Baird.

Negotiations set to resume Monday

Two days after Ottawa City Council met in private to discuss how to handle the 48-day-old transit strike, and decided to explore a "substantial" change in their bargaining position (according to the Ottawa Citizen), the two sides are expected to head back into negotiations.

As a result, according to another article from the Citizen, the Union is prepared to listen to the city's offer on Monday morning:

Randy Graham, the union’s international vice-president, confirmed the meeting with a federal mediator and city representatives, but said he still doesn’t know the details of the city’s new bargaining position.

“I’m going to go and listen to what they have to say,” Mr. Graham said. “We’re just going to see what’s there.”

[...]

When reached for comment, union boss André Cornellier did not sound optimistic that the city’s new position would be enough to get a deal done.

“Oh wow, ‘substantial,’ I can’t wait. I’m just drooling, I can’t wait to see what those are,” he said.

He reiterated that the union is committed to ending the strike and restoring transit service.

“We gave them a proposal where they could have had the buses out on the street over a week ago and they decided not to,” he said.

Although it's unclear what, exactly, the City has decided to change in their bargaining, they have stated their absolute commitment to at least one change: That the new contract respects federal work-rest regulations:

Ottawa’s transit system, one of the few in the country to fall under federal rather than provincial jurisdiction, is currently exempt from federal safety regulations for driver work and rest.

On Saturday, council passed a resolution that the final settlement package must satisfy those rules.

If Transport Minister John Baird were to apply the safety rules to Ottawa’s transit system, the city would have its minimum rest requirements: drivers would be subject to a 14-hour maximum day, at least eight hours rest after a shift and at least one day off every 14 days.

The article also mentioned a demonstration, organized by community advocate Catherine Gardner, to encourage the federal government to ensure that the OC Transpo is required to meet work-rest rules. The demonstration begins at City Hall at 10:30, and then works its way to Parliament Hill.

Throne speech sets the stage for transit funding

As Governor General Michaëlle Jean read the incoming government's Speech from the Throne, entitled "Protecting Canada's Future", it became evident that now is the time to lobby the federal government for funding of public transit infrastructure projects--like the City of Ottawa's. The Speech highlighted the need to invest in infrastructure to invest in job-generation presently, and also for the future, and the need to continue along with the Building Canada plan.

"Public infrastructure is vital not only to create jobs for today, but also to create the links between communities and regions to help generate jobs for the future. Our Government is committed to expediting our Building Canada plan to ensure that projects are delivered as quickly as possible."

The Building Canada plan, for the record, is intended to provide "stable, flexible and predictable funding to Canadian municipalities." It is an initiative of Infrastructure Canada, which may benefit the Ottawa because Ottawa West-Nepean MPP John Baird is the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure, and Communities, and as a result would have some sway over the projects funded under the Building Canada umbrella.

Light rail on the Parkway: The Issues

Emerging as one of the most contentious issues in Ottawa's transit planning is the use of NCC land along the Ottawa River Parkway to run light-rail alonside the river. The NCC has expressed a reluctance--to put it mildly--and have implored city planners and councillors to explore other options before committing to the Parkway option.

Pros:

1. Scenic route allows for a pleasant train ride.
2. Arguably less environmentally damaging than buses.
3. Least disruptive to current roadways and residences.
4. Likely most cost-effective (due to lack of residential and road disruptions).
5. Possibly a shorter distane travelled.

Cons:

1. Difficult to cross when walking to river.
2. Low population density, so people need to walk to get to train stations.
3. Arguably disruptive to greenspace.
4. More banked curves for rail car to negotiate.

There are obviously opinions on both sides of the debate. Recently in the Ottawa Metro, columnist Nadine Doolittle argued in favour of running rail along the Parkway:

I’m assuming the only “buffer” residents will accept is the four-lane strip of tarmac affectionately known as the Ottawa River Parkway. Originally designed as a scenic route, it now functions primarily as a downtown commuter artery for west-end residents, where speed limits are routinely ignored and the air is always scented with exhaust fumes.

But hey, this is NCC land and it’s their call. For its part, the commission wants every other option exhausted before they’ll consider giving permission to run light rail along the route.

Apparently they can accept 250 diesel buses per hour currently bombing down the parkway, but a clean, quiet train has them puzzled. Which means three years of environmental assessments, consultations, studies, open houses, possible expropriation, and so on—all at a cost to the city—before the NCC can render its verdict.

Doolittle also mentions a number of Federal politicians in opposition of rail on the Parkway. Ottawa Centre candidates Penny Collenette (Liberal), Brian McGarry (Conservative), and Paul Dewar (NDP) all suggested that they wouldn't stand for it. Ottawa West-Nepean Conservative candidate and incumbent John Baird has been quoted as being strongly against the idea. Without federal will, it might be difficult to secure the permission of the NCC to go ahead. Difficult, but not impossible; it would be a shame if the Parkway turned out to be the best option, but political posturing forced the city into other alternatives.

On this blog, we have explored two other options: One running rail along the Queensway, and the other running rail along Carling. Both of these solve the cons, but have negative aspects of their own. There are likely more options, too, and I'm sure some of them are good ones. Any and all are welcome in the comments section. It is up to the city to determine which is the absolute best, taking all variables into consideration.

The John Baird LRT Saga makes Scandalpedia

The Liberal Party announced their launch of a Scandalpedia website this week, which documents their impressions of the various Conservative Party "scandals" that have occured while that party has been in government.

Political manouvering aside, there was an entry about the cancelled North-South LRT line, and any impact John Baird may have had on influencing the election and subsequent cancellation of that project. It is an interesting article, at any rate.

Federal support for LRT in Ottawa

According to an article on Canada.com, federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon is poised to support the recently-approved plan for light-rail transit system overhaul in the City of Ottawa.

Not to undermine the importance of $200M that Cannon has re-pledged--becoming the third minister, after the amount was initially pledged by the Liberals and the re-pledged by John Baird before being withdrawn and, now, re-re-pledged--is the support that Cannon is, by virtue of this announcement, putting in the plan itself.

The $200M is a good start, but the city is going to need much more than that from federal sources if the light-rail plan, estimated to cost $4B or more, is ever going to be finished. With a $33B federal fund in the hands of Cannon and Transport Canada, Ottawa (the city) is naturally hoping the feds pull their weight.