LRT Project Management Is Short Of Poor: BENN

Three problems, according to Stittsville Councillor and Transit Commission chairman Glen Gower, are combining to create the long commute times back to Stittsville.

The city and OC Transpo have some influence over those problems.

Not enough buses. Why? The city decided, back in 2019, when the LRT was launched that it would need fewer buses. On the surface this sounds like a reasonable plan. Except the LRT only operates along a short 12-kilometre stretch. OC Transpo still had to move a growing population from where they live to the LRT, and back again.

Not to worry. The electric buses that the city ordered, the ones that city staff did not complete their due diligence on, the ones that according to Kanata South Councillor Alan Hubley told one and all would be purchased with ‘free money’ are so far back in the production line schedule that they won’t be here until the end of 2027. For those who need a refresher on their elementary school arithmetic, that is just a tad over two-and-a-quarter years from now. So, Stittsville commuters, please be patient. Your one-and-a-half-to-two-plus hour commute will be shortened by – why hasn’t Gower told you by how many minutes – the new year. The new year being 2028.

As an aside councillor, did the city’s incomplete due diligence include checking on the actual delivery performance by the electric bus supplier – before the order was placed?

Not enough mechanics. Mechanics are in high demand. In addition to wages, working conditions are part of the decision criteria for where a person with an in-demand skill set chooses to work. Conditions like hours of work, the quality of the management team and the resources available to do the job correctly. How does OC Transpo match up on key job retention criteria against the long-haul truck companies? Against the long-haul bus operators?

Traffic congestion. The western extension of the LRT was supposed to be finished and operating by now. According to former mayor Jim Watson, the challenges of building a kilometre-ish long trench a hundred or so metres south of the Ottawa River, from Dominion Station to Cleary were ‘engineered’ out. Whatever that means. Except that area has taken exceptionally long to complete. The long-past due-date LRT construction has pushed buses off of bus-only routes to roads filled with motor vehicles heading west, out of downtown. Scott Street is over capacity in the afternoon. Why? Because the LRT related construction along the Kichi Zibi – is moving along at a snail’s pace. Because the LRT-related construction along Richmond Road is moving along almost as fast. Because the city has allowed the LRT contractor to expand the work to fill the time available. Because the quality of the project management by city has not even reached the level poor.

The long commute times that the residents of Stittsville, the people who Gower was elected to represent, are due to city-inflicted problems. Problems that have no meaningful end in sight. Problems that a reasonably competent management team that cared would have anticipated. As for the current crew who are mismanaging city hall – how many of them take OC Transpo to and from the office?

Ron Benn, a finance executive, has been a member of the Centrepointe Community Association for the better part of three decades.

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Bus Shortage, Traffic Hurt Transpo: GOWER

City Hall’s Track Record Is Abysmal: BENN

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