The Friends of the O-Train lobby group is poised to release an alternative to the city’s four transit plans, which outline how the city would build the new Ottawa transit system.
The organization advocates for better public transportation in Ottawa, and spokesman David Jeanes says their plan reduces bus congestion in the downtown area better than the city’s current options.
City councillors have favoured one plan that would shut down the O-Train for three years, Jeanes says. The closure — which would coincide with the construction of a planned downtown tunnel, seen as the key to Ottawa’s transit future — would allow the city to convert the O-Train from diesel to electric rail and extend it to Riverside South, officials say.
Electric rail is more environmentally friendly, says Mona Abouhenidy, program manager of the city’s transportation strategic planning.
But Jeanes says his group would not convert the O-Train to electric rail and would only shut it down for four months for the southern extension. The Friends want to reduce disruption to commuters and potential downtown congestion, he says, adding that the O-Train has diverted commuters away from the downtown core for several years and commuters traveling from south to west would have to go through the downtown core during a closure.
Alex Cullen, Bay councillor and chair of the transit committee, says the committee will listen to groups such as Friends of the O-Train, an affiliate of Transport 2000, another lobby group, but disagrees with Jeanes’ stated concerns.
“Transport 2000 is, unfortunately, looking shortsighted,” says Cullen. “At the end of the process, when we have the tunnel in place, we will have resolved the downtown congestion issue.”
The city and the Friends agree the planned underground tunnel downtown would decrease bus traffic.
The Friends’ plan also includes building a railway east and west at the same time, so that many downtown buses can be taken off the streets after construction is completed, says Jeanes, who is also president of Transport 2000.
He says three of the city’s proposed options, including the one shutting down the O-Train, start construction in either the east or the west, prior to building in the other direction. These plans would continue bus congestion, says Jeanes.
He says under those scenarios, the streets would still be congested with almost the same number of buses that they have now.
Another city plan, named scenario four, builds east and west simultaneously but does not use enough of the existing railway, says Jeanes.
The Friends’ plan extends the O-Train to Gatineau with existing tracks than run through the Prince of Wales Bridge.
“Scenario four doesn’t take advantage of all the trip opportunities that can be handled on the O-train,” Jeanes argues.
The full Friends’ plan will be made public early November. The transit committee is expected to approve or defer a recommended plan outlined in a city report Nov. 19. Committee members will receive that report on Nov. 10. It must also be approved by city council.
Cullen says the option that would shut down the O-Train and build the railway east is the most achievable. The city already did some work on the rails south of Greenboro, says Cullen. The east also has the most commuters, he says.
Cullen said rail construction cannot immediately begin along the Ottawa River Parkway because the city must resolve problems with the National Capital Commission (NCC), which controls that corridor and questions the city’s transit plan.
The NCC is also studying how to connect the Ottawa and Gatineau transit systems, so there is a possibility of the extension north in the future, says Abouhenidy, the city transportation planner.
The public needs to put more pressure on the city for changes, says Jeanes.
“We do want to hear from the public, obviously,” says Cullen. “But at the end of the day, we have to make decisions.”