[waterloowarrior]

Mayor calls for independent commission of OC Transpo
http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100319/OTT_Transpo_Commission_100319/20100319/?hub=OttawaHome
Updated: Fri Mar. 19 2010 10:58:35 AM
ctvottawa.ca

Ottawa's mayor says he's frustrated with how OC Transpo is being run, and is now calling for an independent commission to take control of the transit system.

"All is not right at OC Transpo," O'Brien said in an exclusive interview with CTV Ottawa.

"I for one believe that in a completely independent OC Transpo Commission, something that's charged, reporting to council, but charged with making sure we have the most economically viable and the most efficient system for the majority of citizens."

OC Transpo has been under heavy criticism since bus drivers walked off the job in Dec. 2008, propelling the city into a winter transit strike that lasted almost two months.

Most recently, OC Transpo was fined $12,500 for failing to call out stops. It was the second fine issued to the city in less than one year.

City council approved a review of OC Transpo in February, saying transit riders deserve better service.

Several incidents prompted the decision, including:

-maintenance problems in January leading to 100 cancelled bus routes;
-the ballooning price of a new garage that's jumped from $60 million to $97 million.




Video is on the CTV Ottawa website

Sounds like a good idea... there seems to be too much micromanaging of transit by city council

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Well Mr. Clean, a good start would be to actually run OC Transpo like a business and get the meddling hands of council out of how OC Transpo operates.

[eternallyme]

I think an independent, multi-municipal and interprovincial National Capital Region Transit Authority should be introduced, merging all systems into a single large system.

Only the federal government has the power to introduce such a system though if it crosses provincial boundaries (as it would). The board should be set up with 14 members (politicians would be banned from serving) appointed as follows:

2 appointed by the National Capital Commission
1 appointed by the Government of Ontario
1 appointed by the Government of Quebec
5 appointed by the City of Ottawa
3 appointed by the City of Gatineau
1 appointed by the outlying municipalities in Ontario (joint vote)
1 appointed by the outlying municipalities in Quebec (joint vote)

[Dado]

Sounds like a good idea... there seems to be too much micromanaging of transit by city council

We've been here before, a little over a decade ago. Before adjusting the deck chairs again, we should look back as to why the transit commission was dissolved in the first place. There must be lots of old reports kicking around somewhere from that era.

Personally, I think the "micromanaging" thing is a red herring. Very seldom does Council vote against proposed OC Transpo operational changes; the ward councillors often do but seldom the whole lot of them.

The exception to the above is with respect to fare increases to cover increasing operating costs, which is something Council does meddle with. But that's the exception that proves the point since it gets us back to my first paragraph - bringing OC Transpo under municipal council control was premised partly on controlling runaway costs at OC Transpo.

When the commission was dissolved before, it came on the heels of the completion of the Transitway, something that was supposed to reduce costs and increase ridership, but it failed utterly on the latter and at best restrained cost growth. Ottawa has a fundamentally inefficient transit system because of its reliance on BRT. Switching governance back and forth between commission and department isn't going to change that. Until the light rail line is in place, and preferably to Baseline, proposed changes to governance should be iced.


OC Transpo's other major issue is employee relations, which, O'Brien aside, is not something that Council has interfered with, and even O'Brien's interference has been more vocal than anything else. If the same bureaucrats are left in charge of a commission, I can't see that employee relations are going to improve much, especially if it is done while we still operate our inefficient BRT system with its pressure on hours of work and length of day.


Additionally, any of these discussions on a transit commission should cease ignoring the other side of the river. The National Capital Region should have one interprovincial transit commission with representation from both cities and the federal government (whose employees and workplaces it serves in large measure).

[jeremy_haak]

Well Mr. Clean, a good start would be to actually run OC Transpo like a business and get the meddling hands of council out of how OC Transpo operates.

That's basically what he proposing. We'll see if he can actually do anything about it though, as he doesn't seem all that effective at implementing his agenda.

[jeremy_haak]

I think an independent, multi-municipal and interprovincial National Capital Region Transit Authority should be introduced, merging all systems into a single large system.

Only the federal government has the power to introduce such a system though if it crosses provincial boundaries (as it would). The board should be set up with 14 members (politicians would be banned from serving) appointed as follows:

2 appointed by the National Capital Commission
1 appointed by the Government of Ontario
1 appointed by the Government of Quebec
5 appointed by the City of Ottawa
3 appointed by the City of Gatineau
1 appointed by the outlying municipalities in Ontario (joint vote)
1 appointed by the outlying municipalities in Quebec (joint vote)

I don't see why the federal government has to be involved. Both OCtranspo and STO operate on both sides of the river now, and the federal government would actually be seriously overstepping its constitutional authority by getting involved in municipal transit. The major hurdles are funding and management of the system (how do you prevent one city from being short-changed by the other?) I think the best they can hope for is having better integration between the systems - common fare card which can be used on both systems, the option to purchase discounted transit passes which would allow use over both systems, etc.

[Dado]

I don't see why the federal government has to be involved. Both OCtranspo and STO operate on both sides of the river now, and the federal government would actually be seriously overstepping its constitutional authority by getting involved in municipal transit.

But the federal government IS involved. Its decisions of where to put workplaces are deterministic as to where transit service has to be provided. No transit project can be proposed around here without seemingly involving some federal land. It also has jurisdiction over new river crossings as well as over interprovincial transit/transportation services.

Maybe what's required is something like Transport for London, which looks at everything, not just transit.

So long as the body is empowered not just by the federal government but by the two provincial governments as well, it would have all the authority it required.

[eternallyme]

I don't see why the federal government has to be involved. Both OCtranspo and STO operate on both sides of the river now, and the federal government would actually be seriously overstepping its constitutional authority by getting involved in municipal transit. The major hurdles are funding and management of the system (how do you prevent one city from being short-changed by the other?) I think the best they can hope for is having better integration between the systems - common fare card which can be used on both systems, the option to purchase discounted transit passes which would allow use over both systems, etc.

Constitutionally, interprovincial/international transportation falls under federal jurisdiction. This is a virtually unique case in Canada. That is why Queen's Park was helpless in the strike.

They already run under federal labour laws now. The only difference is that such would be a bi-provincial governing body. Funding would have to be done by revenue shifting of what would currently be the transit taxes, set based on the level of services received.

[waterloowarrior]

Good article from Randall Denley on the makeup of the transit commission..
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Denley+Transit+group+tilts+suburbs/4231722/story.html

[trebor204]

I got a suggestion:
OCTranspo and STO operate only within their provincial boundaries.
Create a third service (that could be run by the NCC - free service for tourists?), that operates on a loop using the Portage and Alexandra bridges.
You would also have to run service (STO Routes 28/58) on the Champlain Bridge from Gatineau to Tunney's Pasture.
Fare integration would still be provided with all three services.

[eternallyme]

I got a suggestion:
OCTranspo and STO operate only within their provincial boundaries.
Create a third service (that could be run by the NCC - free service for tourists?), that operates on a loop using the Portage and Alexandra bridges.
You would also have to run service (STO Routes 28/58) on the Champlain Bridge from Gatineau to Tunney's Pasture.
Fare integration would still be provided with all three services.

That creates too much bureaucracy in my opinion. I think there should be one system for the entire region.

[reidjr]

I got a suggestion:
OCTranspo and STO operate only within their provincial boundaries.
Create a third service (that could be run by the NCC - free service for tourists?), that operates on a loop using the Portage and Alexandra bridges.
You would also have to run service (STO Routes 28/58) on the Champlain Bridge from Gatineau to Tunney's Pasture.
Fare integration would still be provided with all three services.

The probleam with that is alot of people go from ottawa to gatineau and use the bus be it sto or the oc.