City of Ottawa unveils 'robust' plan to tackle LRT inquiry recommendations
Fulfilling inquiry report recommendations 'top priority,' says transit GM
OC Transpo's plan for tackling the recommendations put forth in a scathing report into Ottawa's problem-plagued light rail network is "robust" and can be applied to Stage 2 LRT as well, according to an independent firm the city hired to assess its plan.
That analysis from global transportation consulting firm Roland Berger came during Wednesday's briefing on the plan the city struck in the wake of last year's public inquiry into the Confederation Line.
The $2.1-billion line has been plagued by a litany of problems since its 2019 launch, including cracked wheels, broken axles and a faulty overhead power system.
There were also a pair of derailments in 2021, one of which that resulted in the LRT network being shut down for nearly two months and arguably sparked the resulting public inquiry.
In his report, inquiry commissioner Justice William Hourigan wrote that both the City of Ottawa and line builder Rideau Transit Group (RTG) lost sight of public interest as they "rushed" to complete the LRT, which was more than 15 months late.
He also issued 103 recommendations for how municipalities could prevent a similar situation in the future.
"I know I speak for my colleagues here when I say we are committed to implementing all of the recommendations," transit general manager Renée Amilcar said at the start of the meeting.
"This is a top priority for me."
Will 'ensure the success' of Stage 2
Wednesday's briefing saw a cavalcade of city directors outline how their departments had taken the report's 103 recommendations to heart and were striving to do better.
The action plan, now available on the city's website, spells out each of the recommendations, as well as the concrete steps being taken to ensure they were being followed.
According to a statement from the city, 36 of the 103 recommendations are either complete or have been "incorporated into ongoing city policies for implementation into future projects." The rest of the recommendations that apply — some are targeted at other levels of government — are expected to be fulfilled by the end of the year, the city said.
Roland Berger looked at the recommendations and found there were 40 resulting actions that applied directly to OC Transpo.
"The internal action plan is robust and feasible, exhaustive and relevant," said Dominique Gautier, the firm's senior partner. "And we really do believe that the plan ... will contribute to ensure the success of the Stage 2 light rail project."
The nearly $4.7-billion Stage 2 project includes extending the Confederation Line west to Moodie Drive and east to Trim Road. It also involves an expansion of the long-closed north-south Trillium line, one that's slated to be finished in August or September but will likely take longer to complete.
Cause of 2021 derailment still elusive
One recommendation was completed earlier in 2023 when the city and RTG reached a joint settlement that put to rest several disputes that had been brewing over the years.
That settlement "cleared the table" for the two sides to work productively, said Michael Morgan, the city's director of rail construction.
"As of today, the city and RTG meet daily to discuss issues, to discuss the root causes of the problems that we've had over the past," Morgan said at the briefing.
"These are not trivial meetings. These are meetings with senior staff, senior staff from [train-builder] Alstom that are coming to the table on a regular basis to explain to [the city] how we're going to improve the service, how we're going to fix the issues."
RTG CEO Nicolas Truchon echoed that positivity, while noting one particular root cause — why a wheel broke off an axle in the first of the two derailments in the summer of 2021 — still remained elusive.
"It's a very complex technical issue, with a number of contributing factors," Truchon told reporters afterward, adding RTG was leaving "no stones unturned."
While many councillors were in attendance, only a few asked questions, as the plan is going to the light rail subcommittee on April 28 for more discussion.
One of those who did, Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Sean Devine, said afterward that even with the action plan in place, he would be pushing for both openness and accountability on future LRT work.
"I'm still relatively new in my role here at council, but I will say that I have encountered multiple instances where I don't always feel there are consequences for bad systems, bad plans, mistakes that are made," he said.
"I'm confident that we can get there. I just don't think that we're there yet, but I hope that we do get there."
Read the action plan as of April 2023 here:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Giacomo Panico