Ottawa city council approves light rail project, but financing, hard decisions on route choices still to come.
By Jake Rupert
Published in the Ottawa Citizen on Thursday, May 29, 2008.
City council approved a new mass transit system based on electric light rail yesterday.
It could provide a public transportation backbone in the region for a century, but now the hard parts begin.The long-term city-wide plan would see light rail serving all parts of the city and is estimated to cost $8 billion if every part were completely constructed today. The first phase is estimated to cost $4 billion, based on 2007 estimates, and the city will have to secure at least $1.33 billion each from the Ontario and federal governments to get it going.
The chosen routes, including a downtown subway, will also have to be studied to make sure building them is feasible, the costing has to be done in detail, and city council has to sort out the politically sticky decision of what parts of the system to build first. Staff also have to study and cost out secondary light-rail routes.
In the fall, council is scheduled to decide the order in which to build the system, and final approval of the entire transit system and strategy is scheduled for next spring. At the same time, the city is to revamp land-use planning rules designed to support the system and create more compact neighbourhoods across the city.
City staff estimate that if all goes well, transit users could be sitting in rail cars moving through the subway within eight years.
Of all the issues surrounding the project, questions of costs dominated debate at city council before the 19-4 vote to proceed with the plan.
This is the city's second stab at creating a rapid transit system in the last few years after the first plan was nixed by council, a move that led the consortium of companies chosen to build that system to sue Ottawa for $277 million. Those claims are making their way through the courts.
If built, the first phase of the new system would see light rail running from Blair Road downtown on the current bus Transitway, through a subway across downtown and west to Baseline Road on the western bus Transitway and Ottawa River Parkway. Another light rail line would run north from Bowesville Road to LeBreton Flats, where it would hook in with the east-west line. Bus Transitways would connect Orléans, Kanata, and Barrhaven to light rail.
Under the current approach, the system and some improved inner-city transit routes would be the city's main public transportation network until 2031, and the suburban busways would be converted to light rail after that. However, the entire system could be converted to light rail sooner if there is demand and funding. Decisions to move ahead with those plans will be determined by a yet-undefined formula.
Mayor Larry O'Brien said if built, the system will shave 15 minutes off travel times for the average transit commuter, will be a huge economic boost for the city, and "will help keep this city the No. 1 city in Canada to live, work and play in."
He also said early indications on funding from upper levels of government are good.
"We will not be able to build this system unless our provincial and federal partners come to the table, and the indications are that they will," he said.
Bay Councillor Alex Cullen, chairman of city council's transit committee, said the plan is "sane, sober, and rational.
"I think it will be attractive to our provincial and federal funding partners," he said. "This is a seminal event, a massive change. There's lots of work that still needs to be done and lots of questions that need to be answered, but we are moving forward."
Gloucester-Southgate Councillor Diane Deans voted for the plan, despite having many concerns, particularly about the cost estimates of the project, which are to be clarified by much more detailed studies. The price of the downtown tunnel is especially uncertain. But Ms. Deans said to keep the plan moving and with the goal of creating a better, more sustainable city, she supports the plan.
"I don't think we have any clarification on the question of cost," she said. "We really have no idea what this is going to cost, but the flip side is I don't have enough information to say no either."
Gloucester-South Nepean Councillor Steve Desroches' ward would have benefited greatly under the old transit plan. He said he was still disappointed the last failed, but this plan could have the same benefits for his community.
"What I like about this plan is that it leaves (light rail) to the suburbs wide open. I think this could open up a range of opportunities in south Ottawa. My residents want transit, they want to move forward, and this is the first day of that."
College Councillor Rick Chiarelli voted against the plan because he feels the city doesn't have enough information on costs. He said at a later date, if the plan can be shown to be affordable, he will support it, but he needs much more detail on money than has been put before him so far.
"Nobody has put a long-range financial plan in front of me that shows how me can afford this, and until I see evidence that the city can afford it, I'm not willing to go down this road," he said.
Three other councillors voted against the plan:
Capital Councillor Clive Doucet voted against the system largely because it doesn't focus enough on secondary inner-city light-rail lines.
Knoxdale-Merivale Councillor Gord Hunter was against it mainly because city council didn't agree to wait until the National Capital Commission gave permission to run light rail on the Ottawa River Parkway, which it controls, and staff refused to follow his idea of serving the south of the city with light rail on the southeastern Transitway.
Kitchissippi Councillor Christine Leadman also voted against the plan.
The deputy city manager for transit, planning and the environment, Nancy Schepers, backed by an international panel of transit and urban planning experts and a host of studies, urged elected leaders to support the plan on the grounds that it will be fast, cost-effective in the long run, will increase ridership, and can be expanded if demand increases faster than thought.
Beacon Hill-Cyrville Councillor Michel Bellemare concurred with Ms. Schepers.
"The plan is sound," he said. "It's a long-term plan, and we finally have a bold ambitious rapid-transit plan worthy of the nation's capital."
Number of trips in Ottawa, morning peak hour, 2006: 214,800
2031 (projected): 296,000
Morning transit ridership, 2006: 44,500
2031 (projected): 78,300
Amount to be spent on train infrastructure (not including downtown tunnel): $1,081 M
Amount to be spent on bus infrastructure: $1,021M
Projected price of a downtown tunnel: $555M
| Emissions | Option 4 | Option 1 (bus only) |
|---|---|---|
| Carbon Monoxide (kg) | 512,000 | 682,900 |
| Hydrocarbons (kg) | 47,800 | 63,900 |
| Nitrogen Oxides (kg) | 387,300 | 515,500 |
| Sulphur Oxides (kg) | 25,000 | 33,300 |
| Particulates (kg) | 8,800 | 11,800 |
| Carbon Dioxide (tonnes) | 88,875 | 88,875 |