Ottawa city councillors talk divorce from LRT contractor amid another problem-filled week
Posted Feb 28, 2020 05:18:00 PM.
One of the most painful weeks so far for O-Train riders has some city leaders openly discussing whether it's time to fire Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM), the private contractor that provides Ottawa's light rail service.
RTM recently mounted several air fresheners around Parliament Station, which has long been the subject of complaints about sewage-like odours. The chair of the city's transit commission says he didn't receive any communication from RTM about whether the consortium installed the air fresheners as a temporary measure, or if it feels that's an appropriate solution to the smell.
“It just reinforces the frustration that everybody's feeling in this relationship right now,” said Kanata South Councillor Allan Hubley.
The city's General Manager of Transportation Services has since ordered that the air fresheners be removed.
The O-Train's Confederation Line saw part of its overhead catenary system fall down, Wednesday, and two trains lose power Thursday morning. All three incidents required passengers to exit their train and either walk the line back to a station or board another nearby train.
“We need to start looking at what's the remedies in the contracts to force [RTM] either to do the job, or to bring somebody in that can do the job for them,” said Hubley.
Other councillors are past the point of discussion and working things out. They are ready for divorce.
“We have to find some options that will allow us to cut ties (with RTM),” said Gloucester-South Nepean Councillor Carol Anne Meehan. “Because if they're not up for the job in the first six months, God forbid what they're going to be doing for us in five years' time, let alone 30.”
Hubley cautions that cancelling contracts are expensive, pointing to the millions of dollars the city had to pay to break the contract with its original supplier for the cancelled north-south LRT plan in 2006. Hubley hopes that a simpler, cheaper solution can be found, but admits that the city may need to find another contractor to replace RTM.