‘It’s critical we have a reliable transit system that’s properly funded’: Coun. Gower
Posted Jul 31, 2023 02:32:31 PM.
Last Updated Jul 31, 2023 10:46:33 PM.
The city’s light rail transit (LRT) failed to resume on Monday, July 31 despite City of Ottawa and OC Transpo officials hoping that service would restart.
Glen Gower, councillor for Stittsville and chair of the city’s transit commission, told The Sam Laprade Show on Monday, July 31, that this decision was made with safety as a priority and explained that based on results from tests, more modifications need to be made before train service can resume.
“We don’t want to restart trains and have safety issues, nor do we want to restart trains and have to stop them again and get back to this R1 bus replacement situation,” said Gower.
OC Transpo is taking additional time to ensure when the train does relaunch, it can do so safely and reliably, he explained.
He noted the cost of testing, investigations, and maintenance is being covered by Rideau Transit Group (RTG) and Alstom, while overtime pay and additional employees required for R1 replacement buses are paid for by OC Transpo.
In reaction to whether transit riders holding passes should be reimbursed, Gower said compensation should most definitely be considered. But added, the focus now is having trains running safely and ensuring R1 service is reliable.
According to Gower, it’s a challenging time for the transit budget, with the strain of a $39 million dollar deficit for 2023.
“We’re not saying compensation isn’t possible but as a council, we have to make sure we understand where the money is coming from and make sure we’re able to meet our other financial commitments,” he added.
Gower acknowledged residents’ frustrations and added that while they’ve had to adapt to another LRT shutdown – changing their hours or working from home – many are facing extra expenses and longer commute times.
But he noted OC Transpo, RTG, and the transit consortium are working diligently to restore service as soon as it’s safe to do so, and explained it’s all hands on deck trying to improve the R1 replacement bus system in the meantime.
On a positive note, the councillor said he believes that there’s been an improvement since the last term of council in terms of communications.
“It’s not just management and councillors,” Gower added. “Every level of OC Transpo is working on communications and helping customers.”
Better communication between the City, OC Transpo, and its partners – including RTG, Alstom and parts of the consortium – is another improvement, he explained. City Council’s approach is significantly different compared with last term, and it has responded directly to recommendations from the inquiry.
As Ottawa’s population continues to grow beyond one million people, Gower said it’s critical we have a reliable transit system that is properly funded – from the LRT system to our regular network of buses.
“We need to learn from our lessons and learn from what worked poorly and what worked well,” he added. “We need to always be improving our approach and can’t put the breaks on funding transit in our City if we’re going to be able to have a healthy community going forward.”
