Tag Archives: Light Rail
Light Rail Dreams
Apparently Kevin Costner wasn’t completely accurate in the movie Field of Dreams when he said “if you build it they will come.” The Ottawa version is “we have built it, and we are going to make sure you come. You have no choice” Ottawa’s transit provider, OC Transpo, unveiled a complete revamping of its system […]
It’s Back…!
.. or is it? Yesterday I mentioned that I had wanted to link to the online clock that showed how long Ottawa’s LRT had been out of operation, but I couldn’t find it. Today someone put it up. The clock I remember was cumulative, showing how long the light rail service had been out of […]
No Surprise
Tuesday night I was waffling about whether I should go in to work Wednesday or work from home. The weather forecast was bad, and I had brought work home with me, just in case. Wednesday morning everything seemed fine. The bad forecast remained, freezing rain, but it hadn’t started. I figured I was go to […]
Stuck!
Ottawa’s transit commission has said that this winter they will keep their articulated bus fleet off the road when more than 30 centimetres of snow is forecast. Buses not on the road don’t get in stuck the snow Problem is, 30 centimetres isn’t a magic number. As I headed downtown this morning there was a […]
Only In Ottawa
The commission of public inquiry report on Ottawa’s light rail (LRT) system is out and the results are not pretty. As expected, the report isn’t complimentary towards those in charge of the multi-billion dollar project. Ordinarily you would expect repercussions for those who made bad, possibly illegal, moves while misleading the public and city council. […]
Waste? What Waste?
Ottawa taxpayers are wresting with the big questions this week. Which was the bigger waste of money?Monday’s federal election cost more than $600 million to stage, and has left us with pretty much the same government we had before. That price does seem like a bargain though compared to the city’s light rail line. Built […]
COVID Silver Linings
City officials in Ottawa, Canada, probably won’t admit it, but the timing of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a blessing for them. People are focusing on health and not the city’s under-performing light rail system. The multi-billion dollar project was opened to the public with great fanfare in September, and the breakdowns started almost immediately. […]
The Two Billion Dollar Lemon
Citizens of Ottawa can be forgiven for thinking their municipal government has squandered a couple of billion taxpayers dollars in exchange for some sour fruit, in this case a large lemon. The train is running in Ottawa again, or at least it was Friday when I wrote this. No guarantees that will continue. When […]
Bus Woes
It’s amazing how much you can forget in a year. But it is coming back to me now: Ottawa’s transit system is designed to give riders ulcers. That many route numbers and routes have been changed is no surprise. Those in charge of OC Transpo don’t want people getting comfortable. They’ve added a new layer […]
Not Taking The Bus
OC Transpo, our municipal transit service, is down 1.5 million riders from this time last year. That is a significant drop. There’s a cliché about rocket science that I am going to forego here, no matter how tempting. Apparently the people in charge haven’t quite figured out why people are no longer taking the bus. […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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