By Greg Wigmore
Picture it: Ottawa in 2020. A city with 400,000 more residents driving 200,000 more cars and trucks.
For drivers already accustomed to traffic jams and bottlenecks on Ottawa’s major streets and commuter arteries, that may seem a nightmarish vision of the future.
In fact, it’s the forecast presented in the city’s recent “Charting a Course” report.
The potential consequences of such a scenario offer the greatest incentive to expand the city’s O-Train network.
Most importantly, the city requires an east-west rail line passing through the downtown and linking both ends of the city.
This would not only alleviate traffic problems for commuters, save money on road investment and reduce pollution – it would serve as a catalyst for new commercial and mixed-use development all along the route.
The value of properties within walking distance of light-rail stations would likely rise, particularly in areas like LeBreton Flats.All of this would translate into more money for the city, which would eventually pay for the expansion.
However, before proponents of light rail expansion become too excited, they may have to defend the survival of the O-Train past the pilot-project phase, which ends April 2003.
Coun. Gord Hunter, who opposed the pilot project, has dismissed it as nothing more than “a luxurious toy.”
Critics such as Hunter, who feel the city is getting a paltry return on its investment, do raise a valid point. Trains are running at less than one-fifth of capacity, while the project’s mounting costs (about $26 million so far) have already run over-budget.
Budget projections call for $4 million in spending this year and $1.3 million in 2003 for maintenance facilities and passenger safety and security.
Should the city decide to continue the O-Train service beyond the end of the pilot phase, it will be on the hook for another $25 million by 2005, in order to finalize the purchase of the trains and construct a maintenance yard.
Since most of the project’s costs are one-time investments, the strongest argument people like Hunter can make in favour of scrapping light rail is that it hasn’t reduced the number of cars on the city’s roads. OC Transpo’s figures showed four in every five of the project’s users already rode the bus on a regular basis.
So far, Hunter is one of only a few detractors who have openly criticized the project. Public opinion could swing decisively against the O-Train if it is allowed to remain irrelevant to most Ottawa residents, except those living along the Bronson corridor.
Mayor Bob Chiarelli, the project’s most prominent backer, must convince critics he’s built more than a model train set by expanding beyond the current line.
He and the project’s other supporters on council must not let such a progressive development be turned into a liability by opponents with a short-sighted, bean-counting mentality.
If these critics can’t see the big picture and envision the city’s transportation needs over the next two decades, then now is the time to give it to them.
In order for light rail to succeed in Ottawa, the project’s backers need to hasten its expansion and provide potential riders with more places to go. That’s the only way to produce results that will justify the money already spent on the project.