Tag Archives: OC Transpo

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 […]

The Inspection

On this Flashback Friday we go back to the post from December 20, 2016. Our local bus service was running a $120 million deficit last time i looked, and fare inspectors aren’t cutting into that much. Of course, if the buses ran on time or when they are scheduled, ridership might improve. Apparently though, the […]

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 […]

Broken Again

Almost four years after its launch, Ottawa residents have become used to the unreliability of the city’s light rapid transit system, the LRT. As I write this, there is no timeline for the train to return to service. Proponents of the train may feel I am overly harsh with my criticism. When the system works, […]

Doors Open 2023

It is the annual Doors Open weekend in Ottawa, where various public buildings – churches, embassies, museums and other public and private places of interest – are open for free tours. You can’t possibly squeeze them all in. I’ve probably been in about half of them before anyway, and it being a busy weekend already, […]

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 […]

Back On Track?

Did you know Ottawa gets snow in the winter? And sometimes freezing rain? Of course you did. Do you know who apparently didn’t know that? The people who run our transit system. That has to be the explanation. The people in charge cannot possibly live here. Nor can they be aware of the weather we […]

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 […]