LRT In Crisis. Subcommittee Vacations

I would say “Unbelievable” but, unfortunately, it’s only too believable and par for the course.

Aside from anything else, the return to service has been delayed for ten days from July 31st. By my calendar, that puts the (possible) new date around August 9th. Any normal person would want an update of where in the process towards service reinstatement the LRT is and what the forecast is for the future recovery measures. They should be looking for more meetings, not fewer.

No doubt they will point to the fact that Mme Amilcar is giving frequent written updates to Council as well as making herself available to the media. If they think this will suffice, they don’t understand the concept of ‘oversight’. Yes, she is presenting information and is taking questions from the press. As the oversight body for the LRT, they should be directly receiving regular reports in person (or Zoom) so that there can be discussion of the information and questions put to staff.

This subcommittee was set up, as I understood, to be an oversight body and give full attention to the LRT over and above what it was getting as an item on the Transit Commission’s regular agenda. Part of the point was that it would be able to respond to LRT issues more nimbly than when they were being dealt with as part of a long and often complex Transit agenda.

They, like the train they oversee, are failing miserably. This committee meets at the call of the Chair so this is on Steve Desroches.

One more point on the absent LRT subcommittee. As we know, OC Transpo is plundering the core bus services to supply buses to operate the R1 line that “replaces” the train. This is, of course, because according to them, they have a finite number of drivers and vehicles and the rest of the service has to make do with what’s left.

So that takes me to the people at RTG. Presumably they have a finite number of staff and a set amount of equipment and workstations. If those resources are now being applied to inspecting and replacing axles, what’s happened to the work that they were originally assigned to during this period? Have they been pulled off work associated with Phase 2 and what delays will that cause to the advancement of Phase 2, a project we already know to be seriously behind schedule?

That brings me in turn to the LRT oversight committee. If they are not meeting, who’s keeping an eye on what the knock-on effect of the LRT stoppage is on the overall light rail project. Is anybody looking at the losses that will accrue to Phase 2 if the resources allocated to it are diverted to axle repairs over the short- and long-term? Has anybody even asked the question of RTG about the fallout from the axel issue and how it will affect their overall capability to deliver on Phase 2 sometime in this century?

Did they even hear Doug Ford stating that he would not release Phase 3 funding until Phase 1 is actually fully operational and Phase 2 is getting back on track? Maybe they think he was kidding or that that was political bluster. I don’t. I think Ford is as fed-up about the LRT fiasco as the rest of us. The difference is he holds the purse strings and they can’t do Phase 3 without him.