Communication amid LRT shutdown falls short, crisis experts say

With frustration among transit riders mounting and no word on when LRT service will resume, experts in communication and crisis management say OC Transpo needs to apologize and offer free fares.

The entire light rail line has been shuttered since Monday, as experts try to decipher why a bearing on a train became loose and whether any other cars are afflicted.

A replacement bus service immediately hit the streets but had to be adjusted time and again to provide reliable service.

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"I get it. They're trying to improve the route and they're trying to maximize the buses. But this is the sort of stuff you should implement before everything goes to hell," said Justin Kelly, who runs an Ottawa transit website.

Kelly's tongue-in-cheek site, Occasional Transport, gives riders updates and lets them blow off steam amid the frequent disruptions that have plagued the service since its launch.

"You'd think these lessons would've been learned. But we know previously there's been a culture of we do what we want and you live with it, right?"

Only 'missteps' so far

Renu Bakshi, an international crisis manager and leadership coach based in Vancouver, said the city should be following the same advice NASA follows: When everything is going right, tell the media everything. When everything is going wrong, tell the media even more.

"From what I've gathered looking into this situation so far, I have only seen missteps. I have not felt any empathy," she said. "I've certainly not heard any action plan, and there has been no apology."

The city gave an hour-long media conference on Tuesday, with officials and experts from the city and the maker and maintainers of the line, Rideau Transit Group and Rideau Transit Maintenance.

Since then, the city has opted to provide memos and some individual media interviews — a move it says allows experts to focus on solutions to the problem.

To Bakshi, that's the bare minimum. She also wants more action from Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, who has been in New York since before the issue was discovered taking part in the first stages of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. 

"Which I find ironic," she said. "If he's at a leadership conference, he should have known that this is his time. It's time to step up into that leadership role."

Mayor working from New York

Sutcliffe said he's been fully engaged on this issue from New York. He said he's been "in constant contact with city councillors, with city staff" and with his office — a work ethic which earned him praise from Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

Sutcliffe tweeted about an hour after the shutdown began on Monday that the situation is "frustrating" and that "with every issue that is identified and fixed by our contractors, we will be one step closer to providing residents with the light rail service they paid for and deserve."

Bakshi called the initial response "very weak" and lacking accountability. She said the correct response would have been to immediately call a remote press conference so that he could speak directly with the public and explain what he will do to "make this right."

Kathryn LeBlanc, the principal consultant at LeBlanc (& co.) Communications, likewise said she would have advised the mayor to be "a trusted face" on the ground, which can "go a long way in reassuring the public."

Sutcliffe denied any suggestion that his trip affected his work.

"I'm doing as much here as I could be doing in Ottawa," he said. "If at any time there's a reason why I need to be back in Ottawa, and it would be better to be back in Ottawa, then I'd be there."

Rocky history increases need for leadership

The LRT has been the subject of Transportation Safety Board investigations and a public inquiry. Both called for long-term solutions.

They also brought forward calls for accountability.

"We're in a really unique situation with the LRT, because we've had years of this billion dollar boondoggle breaking from time to time. There's been a lot of public trust that's eroded," LeBlanc said.

"There's been a culture of secrecy over the years, particularly under the last mayor at city hall."

LeBlanc agreed that it's important to boost communication during a crisis and meet the public where they are on social media, radio, television and online.

A strong example of that sort of response occurred during the pandemic, LeBlanc said, when public health experts provided consistent daily updates whether there was substantive new information or not.

"While politicians are not engineers and they're not making the calls on what's safe and what's not, there's a certain responsibility when it comes to clarity," LeBlanc said.

Experts recommend fare refunds

Kelly, LeBlanc and Bakshi all agreed on more piece of advice.

"If I was guiding the city," Bakshi said, "I would say, 'Right now, make an announcement that you will reimburse those people who are holding monthly passes. You will reimburse them for every day that this train is down."

Fare-free travel is something that city councillors have voted to provide in the past, but general manager of transit services Renée Amilcar has said the city is not looking at the option at this time.

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LeBlanc encouraged leaders to consider the idea as a human response to the struggles of a mom who may be commuting to work and picking kids up at daycare or a minimum-wage worker who may be worried their boss won't understand why they're late.

"As someone who relies on public transit, I'd say I feel a lot of empathy for the public and everyone else in this situation," she said. "City hall should too."