Ottawa LRT

[Pheidippides]

Hard to believe there isn't athread for Ottawa's LRT yet.

Anyway, they got $1 billion from the province today for their phase two.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ott...-1.3614386

[neonjoe]

Since this isn't in the GTA and on a system that hasn't been completed maybe there's hope for our phase two getting funding in the nearer term.

[Pheidippides]

I think it would lower the chances for our project to get funding because the outside the GTHA pool of money just got that much smaller.

[Spokes]

But on the other hand, isn't it setting a precedent?

[Canard]

There was some comment on the radio about next year there being $46Bn in infrastructure spending still to be allocated, so I'm not too worried. I thought all the Stage 2 recommendations were supposed to be finished up by Spring 2016 though, with a funding request being submitted Fall 2016.

To me, it does seem a little "out of the blue" since Stage 1 in Ottawa is still a few years away from opening, but then again, I haven't been following their project anywhere near as closely as our own. Perhaps they already had their Stage 2 "shovel ready" and just needed the cash. Good on them, it's going to be a solid system (and a beautiful one, at that, with lots of flashy stations).

[KevinL]

I gather their Stage 2 is much more 'shovel ready' than ours. They recently sorted out how a sticky part of the alignment will work along the riverside parkway (a tunnel box will be installed for the trains, and the road will ride atop that), so things look to be in good shape.

[jamincan]

I think Ottawa is hoping that construction on Stage 2 will begin immediately after Stage 1 opens (or maybe even before?)

[Markster]

Ottawa was doing Stage 2 consultations immediately after locking down Stage 1. There's been a strong political pressure to get to Stage 2 ASAP, because Stage 1 clearly favours the east side, and Stage 2 will finally give the west end something.

They're about 2 years ahead of us on Stage 2.

[KevinL]

Yes, Stage 1 was the easier one because it was a straightforward adaptation of the existing busway in the area east of downtown. There is something of a busway to the west as well, but then it transitions to the river parkway where trains would be obtrusive, so that took a bit more time to plan out in full.

[Pheidippides]

Ottawa has unveiled changes to it's transit system's bus routes and fares upon start of its LRT service in 2018. For those familiar with Ottawa's bus transitway and it's infamous bus jams across the the downtown this fact should astound you: the number of buses will drop by 90% on the main east/west corridors through downtown.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ott...-1.3620313

Which got me to thinking that the annual GRT service improvement plan for the fall seems late this year. It usually comes out between April and May for the coming September, but is not out yet. I suspect we will see it this Friday because there are only two committee meetings left before September and an August roll out and consultation seems too late.

[Markster]

Which got me to thinking that the annual GRT service improvement plan for the fall seems late this year. It usually comes out between April and May for the coming September, but is not out yet. I suspect we will see it this Friday because there are only two committee meetings left before September and an August roll out and consultation seems too late.

It'll likely be rather boring. We're in the "off" year for real improvements/realignments. I almost wouldn't be surprised if GRT is actively avoiding making basically any changes, in light of the ongoing detour madness.

[Viewfromthe42]

The article also mentions a savings of ~$15 million due to driver layoffs (worked out with the union) due to the removal of not only express routes - a very familiar Ottawa feature to me - but also due to the efficiency gains (8:1) of LRT over articulated buses along that route. The express system should save a bunch in its destruction; paying a driver to come in for 3 horus in the morning and then to sleep for 5-6h before doing another brief evening express shift was an issue the city had with the union in at least their second most recent strike.

Here, I'm curious how many driver and bus hours will immediately be removed once we align the iXpress (and 7?) to ION, and what fraction of that will be redeployed.

[zanate]

Here, I'm curious how many driver and bus hours will immediately be removed once we align the iXpress (and 7?) to ION, and what fraction of that will be redeployed.

I'm going to make some guesses.

• All 200 iXpress bus and driver hours north of Fairview gone (completely gone-- ION will have its own vehicles and workforce)
  
• Route 7 probably unaffected, at least first year or two
  
• GRT might try and use the freed up buses and driver hours to implement expansion at that time. (If it prevents leaving depreciating bus assets sitting idle and needing to lay off drivers, it could be "cheaper" than an expansion requiring new buses and drivers.)
  

Overall, I don't expect the same huge operational savings as Ottawa had, as they had a lot of different bus routes filtering through the core.

[Spokes]

I gather their Stage 2 is much more 'shovel ready' than ours. They recently sorted out how a sticky part of the alignment will work along the riverside parkway (a tunnel box will be installed for the trains, and the road will ride atop that), so things look to be in good shape.

Isn't stage 2 an extension of the O Train?

[Markster]

Isn't stage 2 an extension of the O Train?

That, and much much more.