I have talked already about our Mayor (Mayor F/F for Flip Flop) changing his tune on the Light Rail transit plan now it's time to drag the whole council into it. Yesterday council voted on whether to continue with the plan and it was defeated 13 to 11. This leaves the city open to a possible lawsuit by Siemens, the previously announced winner of the bid process, which may cost in excess of $ 100M. I'm not too happy about the prospect of that large sum of our tax dollars going to someone as a settlement over a contracting issue - but it seems better than the $ 1B that was about to be spent on the project.
A light rail plan that doesn't include a downtown loop does not make environmental or business sense. I'm glad the two senior levels of government both indicated their unwillingness to support such a bastardized plan and that it has died. It also became apparent quickly that a subway approach for the downtown core didn't make sense for a city the size of Ottawa.
We have a transit system that works now, that enjoys peak time ridership volumes that are acceptable for its cost. Maybe what makes sense is to push it further into the suburbs with additional park/ride facilities deeper in Barrhaven, Kanata and Orleans. This would encourage additional riders for the peak times when our road network is crowded to capacity.
Keeping the cars off the roads and increasing ridership should be the goal of council and Mayor F/F. Perhaps offer pricing incentives that would make the transit system look like an even better financial alternative to driving times/parking costs/gas costs.
Cheers from the Valley.
A light rail plan that doesn't include a downtown loop does not make environmental or business sense. I'm glad the two senior levels of government both indicated their unwillingness to support such a bastardized plan and that it has died. It also became apparent quickly that a subway approach for the downtown core didn't make sense for a city the size of Ottawa.
We have a transit system that works now, that enjoys peak time ridership volumes that are acceptable for its cost. Maybe what makes sense is to push it further into the suburbs with additional park/ride facilities deeper in Barrhaven, Kanata and Orleans. This would encourage additional riders for the peak times when our road network is crowded to capacity.
Keeping the cars off the roads and increasing ridership should be the goal of council and Mayor F/F. Perhaps offer pricing incentives that would make the transit system look like an even better financial alternative to driving times/parking costs/gas costs.
Cheers from the Valley.
