On Sunday, April 26, Rideau Street will close between Sussex Drive and Dalhousie Street until the end of 2020. This closure is needed to renew Rideau and William streets. Work on Rideau Street includes improved sidewalks, cycling and transit facilities, benches, bicycle parking, pedestrian lighting, landscaping and more. Work on William Street includes an improved pedestrian experience, with seating, trees, lighting and bicycle parking.

Work on William Street between George and Rideau streets will start in early fall. The project will be completed by the end of 2020.

Pedestrian crossings will be maintained through the work and signed detours will be in place.

Transit service detours

• During the closure of Rideau Street, OC Transpo bus routes will be detoured to serve stops nearby.
• Routes 5, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18 and 114 will serve bus stops on Mackenzie King Bridge.
• Routes 6 and 7 will serve bus stops on Daly Avenue at Nicholas Street.
• Overnight service on Routes N39, N45, N57, N61, N75 and N97 will be available at bus stops on Rideau Street at Dalhousie Street, and overnight Routes N57, N61 and N75 will also stop on Mackenzie King Bridge.
• O-Train Line 1 and Rideau Station will remain open.
• Visit octranspo.com for more information.
• For information on STO services, information is available at sto.ca.

Stay informed

• Visit ottawa.ca/rideaustreet.
• Sign up for the Rideau-William renewal e-newsletter.

• Follow the City on social media:
  • Twitter: @ottawacity
  • Instagram: @cityofottawa
  • Facebook: City of Ottawa / @cityofottawa

• Listen to traffic reports from local news media.

Thank you to residents and businesses for your continued support and patience during this construction project.

Source : City of Ottawa 

Work is well underway to extend the Confederation Line from Blair Station to Trim Road. The Confederation Line East extension will see LRT continue from Blair Station to Trim Road, adding 12 kilometres of rail and 5 new stations to the O-Train network at Montreal Road, Jeanne d'Arc Boulevard, Orleans Boulevard, Place d'Orleans, and Trim Road.

The Confederation Line East will travel predominantly within the median of Highway 174 between Blair Road and Trim Road, providing stations that are equal distance from communities on either side. In 2020, crews will be focusing on relocating Highway 174 lanes to create enough space in the median for the stations and track.

The City of Ottawa's Rail Construction Program is closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation and is in contact with the constructors about adhering to guidance provided by Ottawa Public Health and the Province of Ontario. Construction schedules and sequencing are subject to change as work progresses, at the discretion of the project contractor. Should there be any significant changes to this information, and as additional construction activities are scheduled through 2020, the public will be updated via electronic updates. Please sign-up for Stage 2 e-newsletter updates, specifying the extensions and stations of interest, to receive updates targeted for those areas.

Here is what construction you can expect to begin or occur in 2020:

In 2020, a critical component of the Confederation Line East work will be constructing two new bridges at the Highway 174 Montreal Interchange.

Montreal Station will be located above Montreal Road within the median of Highway 174. This requires two new Highway 174 bridges and a reconfiguration of the interchange to shift ramps, traffic, utilities and multi-use pathways away from where the future station will be located.

Work in the Montreal Interchange can be broken down in phases:

Crews have relocated the existing ramps and completed installing excavation support on both sides of the highway.

Crews are building the retaining wall in the interchange. Further to this, work on the drill shafts and additional utility relocations will take place. The new Montreal bridge substructures and deck works begin.

The north side lanes of Montreal Road in this immediate area will be closed to accommodate the work zone, and south side lanes will be used to accommodate bi-directional traffic until Labour Day 2020 or before.

Traffic impacts on Montreal Road - April 10th through summer (up to Labour Day) 2020

Northside vehicular lanes under the highway overpass will be closed, and south side lanes will be repurposed to accommodate bi-directional traffic. As a result, vehicular lanes will be reduced to one lane in each direction in order to construct the new centre bridge piers. One left turning lane from the Highway 174 eastbound off ramp will be closed, and the other will remain open. All on and off ramp movements will remain available, although moderate delays are expected at peak times.

All pedestrians and cycling movements will be maintained via the newly improved multi-use pathway on the south side of Montreal Road. The multi-use pathway on the north side will be closed.

Once the centre pier work is complete, various widenings and realignments of the ramps will continue, along with the work on the second bridge abutments, deck works, and finishing works. Once the two new bridges have been completed, traffic will be shifted during overnight hours, and demolition of the existing bridges will begin in preparation for station construction in the median.

East Flyover Rail Bridge footprint

Later this summer, Highway 174 between Blair Station and Montreal Road will be temporarily shifted south to allow for the construction of the new rail bridge and demolition of the existing BRT bridge. Crews will be commencing construction of the new lanes on the south side of Highway 174 this spring.

Once traffic has shifted, work will begin on constructing the East Flyover's foundation and bridge columns. When complete, precast girders will be laid on top of the columns allowing for the track to span over the westbound Highway 174 lanes. Once installed, a concrete deck will lifted into place.

Ottawa City Council received an update today on Rideau Transit Group's (RTG) Remediation Plan for O-Train Line 1.

Source : City of Ottawa

This purpose of this memo is to provide an update on two significant OC Transpo transit service detours that will begin this spring, which were originally intended to be presented at the March 18 Transit Commission meeting. 

Rideau and William Street Renewal Project 

On Sunday, April 19, Rideau Street, between Sussex Drive and Dalhousie Street, will temporarily close to allow for the construction of the final phase of the Rideau Street and William Street renewal project. During construction, OC Transpo routes that currently serve this section of Rideau Street will be detoured. Rideau Street will reopen when construction is complete, expected by the end of 2020. 

Stage 2 O-Train Expansion 

As of Sunday, May 3, O-Train Line 2 will temporarily close to allow for the construction of the Stage 2 O-Train expansion. During the closure, bus replacement service will run along the entire line, stopping at all stations. Line 2 will reopen when construction is complete.Please find attached a PowerPoint presentation and key messages, which contain details about both detours.

​Source : City of Ottawa

​In this video interview with Pat Scrimgeour, Director of Transit Customer Systems and Planning, we discuss and get some context on the service being offered, improvements that have occurred and are planned, the arrival of Happy Goat Coffee Co., busking program, next bus arrival times, and Stage 2 LRT.

Please note, this interview was conducted earlier in the month of March.

​Please find attached a memo regarding OC Transpo – Changes to Service Levels

Source : City of Ottawa

Please find attached a memo regarding OC Transpo's response to COVID-19.

Following the successful implementation of rear door boarding on conventional buses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, starting today, we are implementing a similar solution for all Line 1 trains.

• We are installing tape to block the doors and area closest to the operator cab from the rest of the train;
• Prominent signage will be placed on the doors closest to the operator cab at both ends of the train to inform customers of the change;
• Customers will still be able to use Cooperative seating areas in all parts of the train;
• Customers with bicycles should use the next closest door at the front of the train; and,
• We will be adding bicycle stickers to the appropriate door.

​Source : City of Ottawa

Please find attached a memo regarding OC Transpo response to COVID-19.

As you know, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is changing rapidly. Ottawa Public Health (OPH) recommended that Ottawans strengthen their social distancing measures and avoid gatherings of all sizes and non-essential travel outside the home. At the same time, OPH acknowledges that there are essential services – including public transit – that must continue to allow the city to function.

OC Transpo is implementing a number of steps to help protect the health and safety of staff, customers and residents.

Our customers

OC Transpo is asking all transit customers to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in Ottawa.

• Do not use public transit if:
  • You have a fever and/or new onset of cough or difficulty breathing; or
  • You have been in close contact with a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19.
• While you are in stations or riding buses or trains:
  • Cover your cough and sneeze with a tissue or into your arm, not your hand;
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth; and,
• When possible, consider social distancing (ideally 2 metres).
• Rear-door boarding: For the health and safety of our operators, and to keep our service running, customers are asked to board and exit using the back doors only.
  
• • Customers with accessibility and Cooperative Seating requirements can still board at the front;
  • Please do not approach operators;
  • We will not be accepting cash fares or paper transfers from customers boarding at the rear of the bus; and,
  • Due to the configuration of some of the buses in our fleet, some customers will not be able to tap their Presto cards when they board.
• Practice social distancing (2 metres, when possible) in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
• Stagger your commute times, if possible, to help lessen the volume of passengers during morning and afternoon peak periods.

OC Transpo's enhanced cleaning efforts

Conventional Bus Operations

• Bus operator cabs are being wiped down daily with anti-viral disinfectant. OC Transpo is also providing this disinfectant for users of non-revenue vehicles (Special Constables, OC supervisors, etc.) for start-of-shift wipe downs.
• Cleaning schedules for our conventional bus fleet will include utilizing disinfecting/sanitizing products for operator areas and all common touchpoints within our customer areas.
• Customer areas will receive sanitizing on handrails, stanchion posts including stairwells as per established cleaning schedules.

Rail Operations

• Our contractors for both Line 1 and 2 have brought on additional cleaning staff and are committed to enhanced cleaning of both stations and rail vehicles.
• Every rail vehicle going into service will have had every surface from floor to ceiling cleaned and disinfected, including operator cabs.
• These enhanced teams will be disinfecting every surface nightly. As more resources become available, we will move to performing targeted cleaning of rail vehicles while in service. This will include wipe downs of surfaces that experience regular touching such as stanchions, hand straps and hand holds.
• Cleaning of rail stations on Line 1 will also be enhanced with additional staff both day and night.
• Overnight deep cleaning will focus on disinfecting all touched surfaces, including vending machines, handrails, doorknobs/handles, elevators, escalators, washrooms, glass and floors.
• Additional resources are also being brought in to do daytime cleaning in stations with the target of cleaning high traffic areas in each station every eight hours.

Para Transpo Operations

• For the safety of our customers and our operators, the scheduled cleaning of Para Transpo vehicles will be enhanced to include daily sanitizing of the Operator area and the cleaning of common touch points such as handrails, windowsills, floors and ceilings within our passenger areas.
• OC Transpo has been in contact with Ottawa taxi providers, who have advised that they are taking steps to increase cleaning and sanitizing of their vehicles, including those used to transport Para Transpo customers.

Customer Service Staff

• OC Transpo's Customer Service Centres are being temporarily closed. Customers can use these alternatives:
  • prestocard.ca
  • Ticket machines at O-Train stations
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaws and Real Canadian Superstore locations (depending on store hours)
  More information about Customer Service Centres closures
• Contact points with customers such as fare vending machines will receive enhanced cleaning with appropriate sanitizer products.

As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, OC Transpo will continue working closely with Ottawa Public Health to ensure we are taking the appropriate steps to protect the health and safety of our staff and the public. As information changes, we will keep our customers apprised.

Source : City of Ottawa

Please find attached a memo and attachment regarding a Notice of Default and Rectification Notice, sent to the Mayor, Members of Council and released to the media.

​Source : City of Ottawa

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The full notices are found below, but here are some quoted sections that provide very clear examples of work needing to be done, defaults that are taking place, and so forth.

Remedy / Rectification Requirements

a) Vehicles

T​he City requires a fully compliant System that includes the requisite number of Vehicles to provide the necessary Service Levels under the PA. RTG committed to providing 15 double Vehicle consists ("Trains") and the City requires a plan and schedule for the provision of 15 operational Trains.

The City has been patient and reasonable in waiting for the full contingent of Vehicles required under the PA. In this regard, the City worked closely with RTG's team to establish a reasonable deadline of December 31, 2019 by which RTG was required to provide additional Vehicles in service, yet this deadline was missed or ignored by RTG with no reasonable plan or schedule brought forward to achieve the PA requirements. The availability of four (4) additional spare Vehicles from the Stage 2 fleet should reasonably allow RTG to meet its obligation for 15 Trains in service. RTG continues to fall short in this regard.

b) Other Requirements

The City requires that RTG take the necessary steps outlined below and that its plan and schedule include measures to address the following items (which list is not exhaustive), of the issues that require RTG's action in order to remedy the Defaults:

1 Vehicle Power Systems — Power Systems: ongoing inductor failures due to an identified defect in the manufactured units appears to be partly mitigated with an insulating cover and modified cover for the inductor units. The City requires that RTG provide full technical details including drawings of the implemented changes to the Vehicle, schedule for replacement of the inductors, and signoff by the Engineer of Record on all completed and planned Vehicle configuration changes.

1. Overhead Catenary System (OCS) — Wire Failures: Immediate technical modifications are required to be undertaken to increase the reliability of the OCS The failure mode wherein "Parafil" support members are causing the catenary wire to drop is a known issue that was encountered during testing and commissioning. As this is a known issue, the City's expectation is that this issue be resolved and actioned quickly. The City requires that RTG provide full technical details on the plan for rectification, schedule dates for installation, and signoff by the Engineer of Record on the modified configuration.
2. Overhead Catenary System (OCS) — Rigid Rail Failures: Immediate technical modifications are required to be undertaken to increase the reliability of the rigid rail system. The recent failure where the catenary wire was ripped out of the rigid rail needs a modification so as to prevent a repeat of this occurrence. As this is a known issue, the City expects that this issue be actioned and resolved quickly. The City requires that RTG provide full technical details on the resolution, plan for installation of the modification, and signoff by the Engineer of Record on this issue.
3. Overhead Catenary System (OCS) — Pantograph Integration: The carbon strips on the Vehicle pantograph have significant groove patterns indicating that the overall design and installation of the OCS including the stagger has not been designed correctly and/or installed correctly and/or maintained correctly. A full survey of the existing system needs to be undertaken to validate that the current configuration of the system meets the design specifications. In addition to the verification of the general arrangements, the City needs confirmation that OCS wire transition sections, section insulators, and transitions from wire to rigid rail are working correctly and not causing undue arcing. The City requires that RTG provide full technical details on the outcomes of this review including results of the survey, details and installation dates for corrections or repairs, and signoff by the Engineer of Record that current condition of the system meets the design criteria. 
4. Traction Power System Integration: Additional onboard unit issues related to power systems including line contactors, auxiliary power units (CVS), and high speed circuit breakers (HSCB) require detailed assessments related to recent failures. For each of these items, the City requires that RTG itemize the failure modes, identify the means to test and repair these units, detail any unintended TOMS or control logic issues related to operation of this equipment, e.g. TCMS prevents a train from moving when one Vehicle has an activated HSCB, confirm that appropriate spares are on site, and confirm any technical changes that are required to improve the reliability of equipment. The City requires that RTG provide full technical assessments on the failure modes, schedule for corrections or repairs, and signoff by the Engineer of Record on the configuration changes.
5. Switch Heater Rectification Plan: The switch heaters on the system appear to have a maximum output of 45kW. By comparison, the switch heaters on the City's existing Trillium Line have a maximum output of close to 120kW. The heating capacity of the existing switch heaters needs to be significantly increased in order to have any opportunity to work correctly in winter. At a minimum, hot air blowers with significantly higher output capacity need to be installed to replace the existing units, heat tracing cables need to be added to the stock rails, and consideration for installation of crib heaters should be undertaken. An integrated solution needs to be implemented in order to bring the solution into compliance with the PSOS, The City requires full technical details on the plan for upgrade, schedule dates for installation, and signoff by the Engineer of Record on this issue.
6. Vehicle HVAC: Despite assurances that the heating on the system works correctly, supplementary heating had to be added to the vehicles to improve the interior driver cab temperatures this past winter. Similarly, the cooling system needs to be corrected to ensure that Vehicle and Vehicle driver cabs are cooled correctly during hot summer temperatures. As this is a known issue, our expectations are that this issue is actioned and resolved quickly. The City requires that RTG provide full technical details on the upgrade to bring the HVAC and supporting systems into compliance with the PSOS, schedule dates for the upgrade, and signoff by the Engineer of Record on the planned changes.
7. Vehicle Braking Systems — Integration Issues: A series of different scenarios appear to be contributing to a high incidence of wheel flats on the fleet. The braking system appears to be suffering from a series of specific issues and contributing factors which are leading to wheel flats on the trailing and other bogies. The City requires that RTG provide a root cause analysis of the cause of the failure modes, action plan and schedule for rectification, and signoff by the Engineer of Record. As the City understands this issue, based on information provided by RTG, a partial list of causes for these wheel flats is as follows: 

1. Faulty valve(s) in the braking units;
2. Overly aggressive emergency brake rate for the vehicle;
3. Overspeed conditions triggered vehicle-signal integration issues;
4. Sanding systems not working correctly due moisture and icing conditions;
5. False positive activations of the guideway intrusion detection system (GI DS);
6. Incorrectly configured and calibrated brake - load weight management system;
7. Overly aggressive emergency brake rate application for the trailing bogie;
8. Operation of the vehicle in ATPM triggering overspeed conditions; and
9. Limited effectiveness of the of the slip-slide control system.

8. Vehicle Door Performance: Based on the performance of the doors in the first four months of service, it was evident that the design of the doors did not meet the requirements of the Project Agreement. The City requires confirmation that the planned software to correct the motor overcurrent failure mode "H-bridge" solution has been safety certified and installed on the fleet of vehicles. Further, the City requires that RTG provide a root cause analysis and action plan to eliminate the incidents where the doors on a trailing vehicle do not open automatically. The mechanical isolation process of faulted doors needs to be evaluated and revised as it has proven to be undependable. The City requires confirmation that the door mechanisms that are currently preventing front-line staff from successfully isolating a door in fault has been rectified and modified door mechanisms are installed on the fleet. Lastly, the City requires that RTG provide an updated door isolation procedure to be in place that allows an ERO to quickly and easily isolate the doors and remove a Vehicle from service without cutting out the VOBC.

9. RTG/RTM Performance Reporting — IMIRS: The process for recording, capturing, and reporting on quality failures and other required reporting elements including importantly Schedule 20 performance adjustments remains flawed and requires significant manual intervention. On January 8, 2020, the City provided a full detailed assessment of its observations to date on the shortcomings of this system (OTT-RTG­LET-0296). It is untenable to rely on the current IMIRS solution for the remaining 28.5 years of the Maintenance Term. The City requires that RTG provide a full technical details on the plan for upgrade, schedule dates for installation, and plan to test and commission the new system. Additionally, there are numerous required reports that RTG is to submit to the City that remain outstanding as outlined in Schedule 15-3, including but not limited to custodial maintenance plans, preventative maintenance, corrective maintenance, and monthly reliability and maintainability reports, etc.

10. ​​Guideway Intrusion Detection System (GIDS): The City continue to experience emergency brake activations on trains due to GIDS intrusions where there is no observable cause or intrusion, i.e. false positives. These scenarios were occurring prior to the winter season and have continued to occur after weather events even when there is no snow accumulation and/or blowing snow. The reliability of this system is so poor that this equipment is routinely disabled at the request of RTG as a preventive measure against false EB's. The City requires that RTG provide a root cause analysis of the failure modes, action plan and schedule for rectification of the issues, and signoff by the Engineer of Record.

11. Additional Vehicle Issues: A series of additional incomplete or required modifications program have been noted by our operations team which required resolution in order to ensure the success of RTG's maintenance team moving forward. The City requires corrective action plans to bring them to resolution:

1. VOBC Reliability: The operation of double car Trains has the benefit of having redundant VOBCs which has masked reliability issues with the performance of the individual units. Additional analysis and demonstration of the reliability of these units is required in order to demonstrate the capability to provide weekend service using single car operations.
2. Sanding Systems: Open questions remain about the performance of the sanding units on the Train, selection of the appropriate sand type, and the maintenance practices around servicing the Vehicles. Details of the issues noted to date are required along with a plan for any retrofits or modifications to this subsystem.
3. Compressor Performance: Recent concerns regarding level boarding at the platforms and general reliability issues with the compressor issues need to be addressed. Details of any planned improvements to the compressor system are required. RTG's previous proposal to remove every other compressor shall not be progressed until the reliability of the compressors improves. This issue is particularly concerning as it is our understanding that the Stage 2 fleet Vehicles have been modified in that there is no longer a redundant compressor in each Vehicle, and as such any compressor failures on the Stage 2 fleet will directly result in an immediate service impact.
4. Bogie System — Retrofit: The City understands that a retrofit program is underway to add a greasing point on the bogie and that this work is required across the fleet. Details of the modification are required along with a schedule to complete the fleet.
5. Driver Cab — Door Program: The City previously agreed to a temporary replacement for the driver cab door until such time that a permanent fix could be implemented. Details of the planned modification are required along with a schedule to complete the fleet must be provided as the interim Acrylic Doors are not an acceptable long term fix.
6. Spare Part Stocking Levels: Based on recent experience, due to reliability issues or other reasons, we have witnessed a number of Vehicles being cannibalized for spare parts. To the extent that there are material shortages, the City requires that RTG provide a plan and schedule to restore the full fleet to service and to understand what additional investment will be made to ensure stocking levels are appropriate.

12. Staffing Levels: Based on recent experience, due to reliability or other reasons, we understand that a shortage of qualified technical staff is hampering RTG's ability to deliver the required number of vehicles to service. The City requires a plan and schedule to level set the staffing to properly accommodate the ongoing inspection requirements and backlog of deficiencies, modifications, and repair work to the vehicle fleet.

13. Additional System Issues: A series of additional incomplete technical issues related to systems have been noted by our operations and planning teams which require resolution in order to ensure the success of the maintenance team moving forward. The City requires that RTG provide corrective action plans and schedules to bring them to resolution:

1. Signal Systems: A series of technical issues exist which require an update to the Thales software systems. A detailed rollout plan is required in order to advance the implementation of the updated software.
2. CCTV Wayside-Onboard Vehicle: The current system that provides the operator with a view of the platform edge remains unreliable and unproven. The centralized software systems that manage the distribution of video to the vehicles is still not working and it is unclear that the current architecture will ever work. It may be required to implement a localized, station-based control system in order to simplify the solution and make it more robust.
3. Public Address and Passenger Information System: There is an outstanding task to test and demonstrate that the onboard public address and passenger information systems work reliably in normal service operations and in diversion scenarios.
4. Next Train Arrival Messages: The reliability of the countdown messages on the platforms is still unreliable and the related provision of this same information through a real-time data feed to the City appears incomplete.
5. Passenger Counting: RTG has not provided the required daily summary reports of passenger counts through a real-time data feed to the City.

14. Additional Infrastructure Issues: A series of additional technical and organizational issues related to infrastructure and infrastructure maintenance have been noted by our operations team which require resolution in order to ensure the success of the maintenance team moving forward. The City requires that RTG provide an action plan and schedule to bring these issues to resolution:

1. Maintenance Facility — LMB: For a low floor Vehicle with the majority of critical equipment located on the roof of the Vehicle, it is imperative that maintenance staff have simple and safe access to the roof of the Vehicles. This access requires the appropriate safety controls in place for electrical lockouts in order to undertake appropriate maintenance. Despite having been in service for over six months, we understand that there are ongoing technical issues and operating procedure issues in order to deal with electrical safety. A plan to repair the existing electrical controls is required and updates to the procedures are required.
2. Maintenance Facility — Yard: There has been a number of TSB reportable rail occurrences in the yard which is concerning and needs to be addressed in a permanent fashion. A plan for UTO operations in the yard may help to reduce these occurrences.
3. Track Maintenance — Noise & Vibration: The level of noise and vibration that is felt by Trains traveling through the Hurdman S-curves appears to have been left unchecked by maintenance staff. The noise and vibration in this area need to be assessed by RTG in order to reasonably confirm compliance with the Project noise and vibration limits.
4. Track Maintenance — Neutral Temperature: RTG's long term plan for management of the rail neutral temperature needs to be revisited. We have encountered rail breaks and an ongoing need to adjust the neutral temperature of the rail. An update on the long-term strategy in this area is required.
5. Winter Operations — Staffing: Despite countless meetings and workshops on this issue, there is still an ongoing concern that RTG is not staffing appropriately to deal with winter events and simply reallocates staff within the organization to meet expectations. The strategy to reallocate staff rather than increase staffing levels for major events has not been effective.
6. Stations — Cleanliness: It is unclear that appropriate cleaning and janitorial plans are in place to keep the stations in a state of cleanliness. The lack of janitorial maintenance is apparent and has been noted by many of our visitors from other systems.
7. Tunnel and Underground Stations — Leaking: A series of tunnel locations
   continue to have water infiltration and there has already been one interruption to service this year due to ice buildup on the catenary rail. These areas need to be reviewed and modifications undertaken.
8. Above Ground Stations — Roof Design: Many instances of snow and ice falling
   from rooflines onto public areas is non-compliant with Project Agreement requirements and is a major safety concern for our customers. These areas need to be reviewed and modifications undertaken.
9. Above Ground Stations — Platform Heat Trace: Heated areas are continually tripping out due to fault and the final implementation of heat trace locations does not match the design in many places. These areas need to be reviewed and modifications completed.

As noted above, the aforementioned list of issues is not exhaustive. Rather, the list is intended to illustrate examples of significant issues impacting its ability to provide the contracted for level of service to the City's customers and to ensure the availability of the System to System Users. The City requires that RIG comply with the PA in preparing its remedial plan and schedule to remedy RTG's Defaults pursuant to s.45 of the PA.

For clarity, this list does not capture all the items in the remaining Minor Deficiency List items, Non-Conformance Reports, vehicle modification programs, Vehicle deficiency lists, warranty items, and other issues that were noted at the time of Revenue Service Availability that have caused or contributed to issues with RTG's ability to perform its obligations under the PA. The City expects that RTG, in its delivery of its remedial plan and schedule, will identify and disclose any other known issues that it is actively working on to improve the performance of the System and to remedy the Defaults.

The list of issues itemized herein is lengthy, however, none of these issues should be a surprise to RTG and resolution on all of these items should be actively underway.

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​City Manager Memo

 Notice of Default

 Rectification Notice

The City of Ottawa today issued a Notice of Default to Rideau Transit Group, the partnership responsible for maintaining the Confederation Line.

"Members of Council are united in their resolve to compel RTG to deliver the improved LRT service our transit passengers expect, and that the City has paid for," said Mayor Jim Watson. "Through this unanimous decision, we are sending a clear message to RTG."

Rideau Transit Group is a general partnership formed by ACS RTG Partner Inc., SNC RTG Partner Inc. and Ellis Don RTG Partner Inc. Under the Project Agreement, Rideau Transit Group is responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of the Confederation Line, including the vehicles and stations, and the performance of its sub-contractors. The City is also asking Rideau Transit Group to take a much more active role in compelling its key sub-contractors – including Alstom – to improve their performance on an urgent basis.

"We need RTG to step up their efforts to improve LRT service for our transit customers," said Councillor Allan Hubley, Chair of the Transit Commission. "Taking this unprecedented step is part of our commitment to make sure residents are getting the level of service they deserve and that we expect from a world-class consortium."

The Notice of Default is a contractual notice advising Rideau Transit Group that it is not fulfilling its obligations under its contract with the City. This escalation of the City's legal rights is in response to Rideau Transit Group's failure to provide reliable service with the vehicles, stations and across the system since service started last September. Rideau Transit Group will now have a duty to produce a plan and schedule to remedy these failures. There will be no interruption to rail service.

"We are not receiving the service that we contracted. This is an escalation in the Project Agreement and the first step to terminate the contract should RTG not remedy the issues," said City Manager Steve Kanellakos. "We will bring their plan to Council with our assessment on how they intend to fix the ongoing problems and ensure they meet their obligations under the contract in a timely manner."

On Monday, March 9,Council directed staff to prepare and deliver a Notice of Default to Rideau Transit Group, requiring Rideau Transit Group to provide a plan and schedule by Tuesday, March 31, 2020, for how it intends to fix these ongoing issues. Council also delegated authority to the City Manager to take any other actions required under the Project Agreement to give effect to Council's decision. Staff will report back to Council at its meeting on Wednesday, April 8.

​Source : City of Ottawa 

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For more information and audio recording of these debates, please follow the link below and see the first portion of the post.

The City Council and the Finance and Economic Development Committee (FEDCO) received a status update on the O-Train Confederation Line project as well as Stage 2 LRT.

--Press Release--

Council takes unprecedented action to address LRT issues

The City of Ottawa will issue, within 24 hours, a Notice of Default to Rideau Transit Group, the company responsible for maintaining the Confederation Line, following direction from City Council. This escalation of the City's legal rights is in response to Rideau Transit Group's failure to address significant issues with train and station availability, and the multiple failures that have continued across the light-rail transit system since the start of the service. There will be no interruption to rail service, and the City and municipal taxpayers are protected under the Project Agreement.

A Notice of Default is a contractual notice advising Rideau Transit Group that it is in default of its obligations under the contract. Rideau Transit Group then has an opportunity to remedy those defaults. This is a strong tool in the contract available to the City.

"This is a strong escalation of the City's legal rights under the Project Agreement," said Mayor Jim Watson. "We signed a contract for a reliable system to support our City's high transit ridership of 10,000 people per hour per direction – and to support our future ridership growth. The acceptable levels of service and reliability are detailed in our contract with RTG, but they are not being met."

Rideau Transit Group is a general partnership formed by ACS RTG Partner Inc., SNC RTG Partner Inc. and Ellis Don RTG Partner Inc. Under the Project Agreement, Rideau Transit Group is responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of the Confederation Line, including the vehicles and stations.

The City is also asking RTG to take a much more active role in compelling its key sub-contractors – including Alstom – to improve their performance on an urgent basis.

"I firmly support the City's decision to use every tool available in a very solid Project Agreement to secure better LRT service for our transit customers," said Councillor Allan Hubley, Chair of the Transit Commission.

Since the system was launched in September 2019, there have been considerable failures on the Confederation Line. In response, the City has taken numerous actions to push Rideau Transit Group to address the issues that lead to these continued failures:

• The City has not paid the monthly service payment since October 2019.
• The City brought in British rail consulting firm JBA Corporation to increase monitoring given Rideau Transit Group's poor performance and the need for a higher level of technical expertise. Rideau Transit Group then retained JBA Corporation directly.
• The City and the City's consultants have been actively participating in the technical reviews with RTG in order to provide them with operational support and feedback to resolve their issues.
• The City has placed RTG on notice regarding exercising remedial rights due to persistent performance failures on the system.
• A working group has had several meetings and discussions about the problems with Rideau Transit Group's system for tracking performance metrics.
• The City has delivered contractual notices in relation to these performance metrics, the lack of availability of the system, and the compromise to the reputation of the City and the project.

"We have been taking actions against RTG for months in an effort to have them resolve the issues on the Confederation Line," said City Manager Steve Kanellakos. "We are not seeing the improvements that we expect to see six months after the launch of this system. Through Council's direction, we will use this Notice of Default to ensure they resolve the issues that have significantly affected residents."

Council directed staff to prepare and deliver a Notice of Default to Rideau Transit Group that will require Rideau Transit Group to provide a plan and schedule by March 31, 2020 that will set out how Rideau Transit Group intends to fix these ongoing issues. Council also delegated authority to the City Manager to take any other actions required under the Project Agreement to give effect to Council's decision. Staff will report back to Council at its meeting on Wednesday, April 8.

Source : City of Ottawa

Audio Recording of City Council introducing and voting on a motion to issue a Notice of Default to RTG.

WHEREAS, having been briefed by external legal counsel on a privileged and confidential basis, Members of Council in attendance believe that it is in the City of Ottawa's best interest to issue a formal Notice of Default to RTG under the Project Agreement, and asking RTG to provide a remedial plan and schedule for remediation of its defaults and rectification to the City by March 31, 2020;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that City Council direct the Director, Rail Construction Program, to issue a Notice of Default to Rideau Transit Group in accordance with the Project Agreement, and to ask Rideau Transit Group to provide to the Director, Rail Construction Program, a remedial plan and schedule for remediation of its defaults and rectifications by March 31, 2020, and delegate the authority to the City Manager to take any other actions required under the Project Agreement to give effect to Council's decision, and report back to City Council on the results of these actions at its meeting of April 8, 2020.

The presentation slideshow and audio of the Stage 2 LRT update and Trillium Line Procurement.

Presentations on Stage 2 Trillium Line Procurement.

​Stage 2 Light Rail Transit - Trillium Line Project - Procurement Documents.

P3 Advisors - Trillium Line Extension Project - Fairness Commissioner - March 9th, 2020

(2:51pm) 12 trains are currently on the line.

After the end of peak service this morning, at approximately 10 am, Electric Rail Operators reported issues with the Closed-Circuit Television Camera (CCTV) system. The CCTV cameras allow Operators to view the platform when departing from a station and is part of a multi-layered safety process to protect platform operations.

OC Transpo has established protocols to ensure safe operations if cameras are not operational. When an operator does not have access to CCTV cameras, a qualified spotter on the platform can signal to the operator that the platform is clear and that the train can safely depart. These spotters have been in place since the launch of the system as an additional layer of protection. If no spotter is available, the operator contacts the Transit Operations Control Centre, who can use their cameras to provide an all clear. Under no circumstances do trains depart without a clearance signal.

Today, RTM did not have the required spotters on the platforms at all locations, as they are required to be. I immediately contacted Peter Lauch, the CEO of RTG, and ordered that all resources be redeployed immediately. I have ordered RTG to have spotters present on all platforms until further notice.

Operators followed all established protocolsduring this loss of CCTV service. OC Transpo staff were deployed to act as spotters, to augment platform monitoring and support safe operations. RTG continues to work to restore CCTV functionality and they have redeployed spotters to platforms shortly before 2 pm.

Service continues to run with no delays to customers. 

​Source : City of Ottawa

Addressed to Mayor and Members of Council by the city manager and released to the media:

On February 12, 2020, City Council directed me to release the Stage 2 Light Rail Transit Trillium Line Project Procurement documents, including the technical compliance scores, the technical evaluations and the specific bid amendments made to the contract to ensure that Council's criteria for the project are going to be met, to City Council and the public as soon as possible and in advance of the March Finance and Economic Development Committee meeting.

The documents are now ready and have been uploaded to two shared drives – one for Members of Council and one for public access. The suite of documents released covers the full spectrum of the Stage 2 Trillium Line Procurement, from the Request for Qualification phase to the completion of the Project Agreement.

These documents, when reviewed in their entirety, show that the complex, lengthy and fully documented procurement process was conducted in the fair, open and transparent manner confirmed by both the Fairness Commissioner and the City's independent Auditor General. They will show that TransitNEXT was the only bid that met the City's affordability threshold – on a net present value basis, the other two bids were approximately $100 million and several hundred million dollars more – money that would have had to come exclusively from the City of Ottawa taxpayer.

The documents will also confirm answers previously provided to some of the most common questions raised about the procurement related to the Technical Evaluation scores and how they relate both to the bid process, and then to the final, negotiated Project Agreement. Specifically, they demonstrate to Council and the public that:

• The Technical Conformance Review established that the Technical Submissions by all three (3) Proponents, including TransitNext, contained no Material Deviations—meaning they all passed the 'go/no go' technical threshold for consideration that was expressly set out in the RFP;
• Any individual poor quality responses for specific elements of the Project Agreement from all of the Proponents in the Technical Evaluation phase do not reduce each of the Proponent's obligations to meet the project design, construction, maintenance, operations and financing of the Project Agreement should they be selected as the Preferred Proponent – as these are expressly addressed as part of the negotiations phase;
• The discretion exercised by the Executive Steering Committee with respect to the technical scoring was blind – no member of the Committee knew which firm had which score. The discretion used was based on advice from Legal Counsel and the Fairness Commissioner, and was exercised without any knowledge of the Financial Submission as well;
• Contract negotiations addressed all of the deficiencies in TransitNext's RFP Submission before they were recommended as the Preferred Proponent to City Council in the report that was considered and approved on March 6, 2019; and
• The executed Project Agreements require TransitNEXT to meet Council's criteria for the project design, construction, maintenance, operations and financing for the Stage 2 LRT Trillium Extension.

It should also be understood that the binding bid pricing from the other two proponents expired March 20, 2019 at the time Council considered the contract award to TransitNEXT, making it virtually impossible to successfully close with either of those proponents in that timeframe should Council have voted no to the contract award at its on March 6, 2019 meeting. This would have likely then resulted in a failed procurement with its resultant and unavoidable increased costs and possible jeopardy of the federal and provincial funding.

To help Members of Council and the public navigate all of the information in the shared drive, staff has prepared an index that shows where each document fits in the context of the overall procurement process, identifies the rationale for the required redactions in a few of the documents, and provides other information that staff believe will be helpful. The index and the related Information Previously Distributed report are attached to this email.

As well, my office has arranged for the City's experts on this file, specifically Michael Morgan, Isabelle Jasmin, Geoff Gilbert (Norton Rose Fulbright), Remo Bucci (Deloitte), and Louise Panneton (P3 Advisors) to be available to meet Members of Council in small groups at various points in time on Wednesday and Thursday to answer any preliminary technical questions you might have. My office will be calling each of your offices to schedule times, being mindful of the size of the groups and avoiding any potential quorum issues. They will also ask if you wish to receive a hard copy of the documents. There are at least a thousand pages, so we will only be printing them for Members (one per office) upon request.

All of these same experts will be appearing with me before you at the Special Meeting of the Finance and Economic Development Committee on March 9, 2020. At that time, you will be able to ask any questions of them related to the Stage 2 Procurement documents and the Responses to the Inquiries listed on the agenda.

Finally, in response to an information question by Councillor McKenney and as has been noted a number of times to Council, Norton Rose Fulbright was procured through a competitive process overseen by the City's Supply Services in early 2016. Throughout the Stage 2 procurement process, Norton Rose Fulbright, along with all other participants, were required to disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest; the relationship to bidders was disclosed by Norton Rose Fulbright; and all disclosures were reviewed and subsequently cleared by the Fairness Commissioner. All major law firms (as well as other experts, such as accounting firms) who advise on large infrastructure projects may advise a number of bidders or authorities on other unrelated matters/projects. This is known to the City, and it is understood in such procurements that, when a firm has previously done work for another client that is in some way later involved with the City, it does not generally give rise to a professional conflict.

In closing, please contact me directly should you have any additional questions about the above approach.

Steve Kanellakos

​Source : City of Ottawa

Memo 

Document release index 

(9:28pm Sunday) RTG has advised us that we will have 12 trains for Monday morning, with trains running every 4 to 5 minutes.

The R1 and S1 supplementary bus services will be in place for the Monday morning commute.

S1 supplemental bus service will run directly to downtown from Tunney's Pasture, Hurdman, and Blair stations until noon. At noon, S1 service will switch to run from Albert Street downtown to Tunney's Pasture, Hurdman, and Blair stations.

A small number of R1 buses will be running to augment rail service from Tunney's Pasture to Blair Station, serving all stations. Trains will be serving all stations along Line 1 and these buses will provide some additional capacity along the line.

We continue to press RTG to restore normal levels of service as quickly as possible and are monitoring the situation closely. On Monday, I will provide you with a further update on the situation and on our service plans going forward.

Customers should visit octranspo.com or follow @OC_Transpo on Twitter for service updates. 

(7:11am Monday) 12 trains out on the line.

(2:58pm) 12 trains out on the line.

​Source : City of Ottawa.

(8:45pm Thursday) RTG has advised that they plan to provide 8 trains for tomorrow's service. Accordingly, for Friday, we will continue the additional bus service that ran today:

Extended S1 Service

S1 supplemental bus service will run throughout Friday, matching the rail service hours. S1 supplemental bus service will run directly to downtown from Tunney's Pasture, Hurdman, and Blair stations until noon. At noon, S1 service will switch to run from downtown to Tunney's Pasture, Hurdman, and Blair stations.

Proactive R1 Service

We will continue to run a number of buses to augment, not replace, rail service from Tunney's Pasture to Blair Station, serving all stations. Although trains will be serving all stations along Line 1, these buses will provide additional capacity along the line throughout Friday during the day and evening, matching rail service hours.

We continue to work with RTG to restore normal levels of service as quickly as possible.

​(6:54am Friday) ​8 trains launched and supplemental bus service is in place.

(7:22am) 9 trains launched. RTG has provided an additional vehicle. Some of you have asked about the air fresheners at Parliament Station. I have ordered that they be removed immediately. RTG will remove them. (John Manconi)

(3:14pm) This morning, service ran with 9 trains on the line. There were no delays or incidents affecting rail service during the morning peak. Trains, along with the augmented S1/R1 bus service, were able to accommodate customer volumes as Friday volumes are lower than other weekdays.

Friday

Service is currently running with 9 trains, arriving approximately every 6 minutes.

S1 supplemental bus service will continue to run directly to downtown from Tunney's Pasture, Hurdman, and Blair stations until noon. At noon, S1 service will switch to run from Albert Street downtown to Tunney's Pasture, Hurdman, and Blair stations.

We will also continue to run a number of buses to augment, not replace, rail service from Tunney's Pasture to Blair Station, serving all stations. Although trains will be serving all stations along Line 1, these buses will provide some additional capacity along the line

Both the S1 and R1 supplementary bus services will run from 5:00 a.m. until 2:00 a.m., to match the hours of service on Line 1.

This weekend

This weekend we anticipate that RTG will provide 9 trains for service. That will mean that trains will be arriving approximately every 7 minutes, as opposed to the regular weekend schedule of every 5 minutes.

This number of trains will be sufficient to carry the normal volume of weekend customers. As a result, the supplementary R1/S1 service that is running today will not be required over the weekend. We will respond as necessary to deploy R1 service if there is a service interruption on the line.

Monday

We continue to press RTG to restore normal levels of service as quickly as possible. At this point, we are anticipating that Monday's commute will run with a reduced number of trains. The R1 and S1 supplementary bus services will be in place for the Monday morning commute.

We are monitoring the situation very closely, including the weather, available numbers of buses, trains and operators and RTM's progress to restore vehicles to service. We will continue to assess the need for the augmented bus service and will respond as required to provide the best possible service to our customers. On Monday, I will provide you with an update on the situation and on our service plans going forward.

Customers should visit octranspo.com or follow @OC_Transpo on Twitter for service updates.

​Source : City of Ottawa

The Chair of the Finance and Economic Development Committee (FEDC) has called a Special Meeting of FEDC one hour following the regularly scheduled FEDC meeting, already scheduled to start ​at 9 ​am on Monday, March 9, 2020.

The purpose of the special meeting is to consider matters related to the following items:

• Stage 2 LRT quarterly update presentation
• Information Previously Distributed - Memorandum from the City Manager with respect to the release of the Stage 2 Light Rail Transit Trillium Line Project Procurement documents, as directed by City Council Motion 27/6 of February 12, 2020
• Responses to the following City Council Inquiries:
  • Response to City Council Inquiry OCC 20-02 (Councillor Menard, January 29, 2020) re: LRT Stage 1 Project Agreement Termination
  • Response to City Council Inquiry OCC 20-03 (Councillor Menard, January 29, 2020) re: LRT Stage 2 Public Review
  • Response to City Council Inquiry OCC 20-04 (Councillor Fleury, January 29, 2020) re: LRT Stage 2 LRT RFP
  • Response to City Council Inquiry OCC 20-08 (Councillor Meehan, February 12, 2020) re: LRT Stage 2 Transparency
• The Stage 2 Procurement Lessons Learned Scope of Work, as directed by City Council Motion 27/6 of February 12, 2020

The Special meeting will convene in Andrew S. Haydon Hall and will commence one hour after adjournment of the regularly scheduled FEDC meeting.

​Source : City of Ottawa

(6:27am) RTM launched 7 trains - train immobilized at Rideau 

(6:56am) We have another immobilized train at Tremblay.

(7:20am) There are two immobilized trains, one at Rideau Station and an additional one at Tremblay Station due to vehicle power issues. They are being removed from the line. There are currently 7 trains operating on the system, with headways of approximately 8 minutes. Service is continuing around the immobilized trains.

(8:05am) Immobilized trains are off the line. Full service end to end with varying headways as the system recovers. 7 trains in service.

(11:15am) Recognising the impacts to O-Train service yesterday and the current weather event, here is an update on service today and our plan to support service to our customers today and tomorrow.

Update on O-Train Line 1 service

Repairs to the overhead catenary system were completed by 12:30 am this morning. At approximately 2 am, we experienced power outages in the maintenance yard. Power was restored within 30 minutes and did not delay the launch of service. RTG was able to provide 9 trains for service launch this morning. Between 6 am and 8 am, we experienced two immobilized trains at Rideau and at Tremblay Station, reducing the number in service to 7. Both trains were stopped due to vehicle power issues. The train at Rideau Station stopped just east of the platform, and passengers were escorted back to the station. Technicians were dispatched and both trains have been removed from the line. Service was restored by 8 am.

We are currently providing service approximately every 8 minutes to all stations on the line with 7 trains. RTG is anticipating that we will have 8 trains available for afternoon peak service. Given the weather and the issues we have been experiencing, and to ensure continuity of service for our customers, we are introducing two additional measures today:

Extended S1 Service

Today, we will be running our S1 supplemental bus service throughout the day and evening matching the rail service hours. To date, S1 supplemental service has only run during peak periods. S1 supplemental bus service will run directly to downtown from Tunney's Pasture, Hurdman, and Blair stations until noon. At noon, S1 service will switch to run from downtown to Tunney's Pasture, Hurdman, and Blair stations.

Proactive R1 Service

In addition to the S1 supplemental service, we will be running a number of buses to augment, not replace, rail service from Tunney's Pasture to Blair Station, serving all stations. We are implementing R1 service proactively, to provide additional capacity along the line throughout the day and evening again matching rail service hours.

With the lower number of people travelling today, it appears that the reduced capacity of the train service plus the augmented bus services will be enough to carry everyone home this afternoon. If there are short delays there may be cases where some customers will have to wait for the next train or bus. We continue to work with RTG to restore full levels of service. We are planning to continue to provide the extended S1 service and proactive R1 service to support service on Friday.

Customers should visit octranspo.com or follow @OC_Transpo on Twitter for service updates.

(3:03pm) The S1 bus service and R1 bus service announced today is in place and operating. Currently 6 trains on the line. RTG is attempting to launch a 7th train. 

(3:18pm) 7th train has been launched.

(8:45pm) Afternoon service ran with 7 trains and the S1 supplemental and augmented R1 bus service. We were able to manage customer volumes.

RTG has advised that they plan to provide 8 trains for tomorrow's service. Accordingly, for Friday, we will continue the additional bus service that ran today:

Extended S1 Service

S1 supplemental bus service will run throughout Friday, matching the rail service hours. S1 supplemental bus service will run directly to downtown from Tunney's Pasture, Hurdman, and Blair stations until noon. At noon, S1 service will switch to run from downtown to Tunney's Pasture, Hurdman, and Blair stations.

Proactive R1 Service

We will continue to run a number of buses to augment, not replace, rail service from Tunney's Pasture to Blair Station, serving all stations. Although trains will be serving all stations along Line 1, these buses will provide additional capacity along the line throughout Friday during the day and evening, matching rail service hours.

We continue to work with RTG to restore normal levels of service as quickly as possible.

​Source : City of Ottawa

In preparation for the winter storm forecasted by Environment Canada, OC Transpo has initiated our Severe Weather Plan which includes:

• Activation of our Service Command Centre;
• Enhanced communications to customers;
• Increased staffing levels;
• Implementing various mitigation measures on Line 1 such as brake rate adjustments, which results in more gradual braking and acceleration when entering or leaving stations;
• Should it be required to operate trains overnight, RTM will do so in conjunction with their snow clearing operations. If warranted, we have staff available to run trains overnight; and,
• Bringing in third party resources to supplement City equipment or operations as required.

RTM and their contractors will be clearing snow throughout the weather event. They have provided us with a detailed plan outlining their preparations to ensure the winter readiness of the train fleet, snow clearing and salting in stations and along the line and maintenance of all rail infrastructure. That plan includes:

• Specialized snow clearing equipment will be deployed throughout Line 1;
• Proactive clearing and testing of track switches;
• Specialized technical staff who will be deployed throughout to monitor stations, vehicles and rail infrastructure; and,
• Dedicated snow clearing staff at all above-ground stations and additional staff to maintain stairs in the underground stations.

Service is being actively monitored, and adjustments will be made, when and if required.

S1 bus service will continue to operate from downtown to Hurdman, Blair and Tunney's Pasture stations as planned this afternoon. In the event that we need to implement R1 service, for example, due to a stopped train on the line, S1 service would be cancelled and those buses would be redeployed to provide R1 service.

In the event of service delays due to uncontrollable factors, we will communicate the impacts to our customers as they happen through various communications channels, including: octranspo.com; on Twitter (@OC_Transpo and @OCTranspoLive), the OC Transpo iPhone app, subscription-based alert notifications (both SMS and e-mail formats) and on transit screens at stations.

As with any significant storm event, we anticipate longer travel times for road users throughout the entire transportation network.

We thank our customers for their patience and encourage all Ottawa residents to plan ahead and give themselves extra time to get to their destinations tomorrow.

​Source : City of Ottawa

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**FURTHER UPDATES WILL BE POSTED BELOW**

(4:36pm) One of the components on the overhead catenary system has become loose east of St. Laurent Station. As a result, trains are unable to proceed. One train is being held to asses if we can move passengers to station or evacuate. Crews have been dispatched to investigate and assess the work required to make repairs. Trains are running in from St. Laurent to Tunney's Pasture Station. R1 bus service is running from St. Laurent to Blair. We are providing information to customers on all channels, as well as making announcements in stations and on trains. We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.

​(4:45pm) Passengers are being evacuated from the train to the buses that are there to accommodate them.

(5:26pm) Related to the ongoing situation, another vehicle has been stopped east of Tremblay Station. Customers will exit the stopped vehicle, and be transported on another train to the next station. This operation will take place in a few moments. One of the customers onboard is requesting medical assistance, not related to the incident. Paramedics are responding. Trains continue to run between Tunney's Pasture and Hurdman Station. Bus service is running from Hurdman to Blair.

RTM has confirmed that they have the parts to make repairs, and will begin work shortly after rush hour. Subject to those repairs being completed satisfactorily, service in the affected area will recommence.

(5:48pm) Second train evacuated medical situation dealt with.

(6:53pm) Repairs are about to begin on the overhead catenary system. Train service continues to run from Tunney's to Hurdman Station. Bus service continues to run between Hurdman and Blair Station.

As soon as repairs and testing is complete, train service will resume along the full length of the line.

(9:20pm) Repairs are continuing to the overhead catenary system, and as soon as service is restored, we will advise.

There is a stalled train at uOttawa due to an arcing issue.

Service continues to operate with trains running between Tunney's Pasture and Hurdman Station and bus service provided from Hurdman to Blair Station.

We will advise when train service has resumed across the system.

(10:40pm) Repairs to the overhead catenary system are being finalized and testing will occur shortly. Once complete, service across the full line will resume.

We are working with RTM to prepare trains for tomorrow morning's service.

(5:31am Thursday) Full service was restored at 12:20 am.

The City of Ottawa has released a memo detailing the next steps for the O-Train Line 1 Station Busking Program.

​Source : City of Ottawa

The Transit Commission received an update on the O-Train Line 1: Confederation Line, Para Transpo, Bus Service and other related items today. 

OC Transpo and Rideau Transit Group (RTG) provided updates on key technical issues affecting Line 1 service reliability:

• Vehicle on-board Controller (VOBC);
• Train Control Monitoring System (TCMS);
• Door Operations;
• Rail Switches;
• Emergency braking and wheel flats; and,
• Power systems and Inductors.

An update was also provided on work to improve the accuracy of Passenger Information Display Systems in stations and the work to manage odours in Rideau and Parliament Stations.

Press Release from the Transit Commission.

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OC Transpo identifies 12 priority projects in 2020 Business Plan

The City's Transit Commission today received a 2020 Business Plan report that identifies 12 priority projects and initiatives that OC Transpo will focus on for the remainder of the year.

The 12 projects align with Council's priorities, the 2020 budget, customer feedback and directions received through the Transit Commission. They include:

• Customer Service Improvement – All Channels
• Para Transpo Online Services
• Presto Enhancements for Customers
• First Regulatory Monitor and Compliance Officer Report – Line 1
• New OC Transpo Performance Measurement and Reporting System
• Marketing and Advertising to Build Ridership
• Roll-out of Retail
• Alternative Fuels Program for OC Transpo Fleet
• Review of Advertising – Line 1
• Interprovincial Transit Service
• Promoting Respect and Inclusivity in the Workplace
• Stage 2 Preparations

An update regarding Para Transpo online services and Presto capabilities was provided at today's meeting. The Para Transpo interim trip reservation and cancellation web forms will be made available on octranspo.com for all customers to test starting on Friday, February 21, and the full suite of online services will be rolled out by the end of 2020. Staff are working on an interim process that will streamline the use of Presto monthly passes on Para Transpo, and shorten the boarding times for customers. Staff are also working with Metrolinx to assess a solution that will enable customers to tap their Presto card when boarding Para Transpo vehicles. Further details, including timelines, will be provided to Transit Commission and Council once confirmed.

In 2018, the City appointed a Regulatory Monitor and Compliance Officer (RMCO) to perform regulatory compliance monitoring for the Confederation Line following revenue service launch. Today's meeting saw the first RMCO Report presented, which focused on the initial regulatory area: training and certification of employees involved in the movement of trains and light rail vehicles for OC Transpo, as well as Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM) and its contractors. The overall results were positive, with OC Transpo demonstrating full compliance in all nine areas that were monitored. The RMCO noted one area that could be improved by RTM, which was to further strengthen their already established process for ensuring employees absent for an extended period obtain required training upon returning to work. The RMCO identified two areas that Alstom could improve, which, similar to RTM's feedback, included developing a process to ensure employees absent for an extended timeframe are trained upon returning to work, and also setting up a monitoring process to ensure the process is consistently followed.

Transit Commission members also received an update on O-Train Line 1 and bus service. Peter Lauch, CEO of Rideau Transit Group (RTG), provided information on recent O-Train Line 1 issues that have impacted transit service. OC Transpo and RTG continue to work together to address issues as they arise, and to work collaboratively on long-term solutions.

​Source : City of Ottawa

Audio Recording of Meeting.

Below is the meeting starting from the Confederation Line and Bus Service update to the end.

The presentation slideshows that were shown at the meeting.

Para Transpo Service Update

Confederation Line - RMCO Annual Compliance Report - Summary

Transit Services 2020 Business Plan

Please find attached a Memo to Council regarding the Project Agreement Provisions for payments to Rideau Transit Group.

​Source : City of Ottawa

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​MEMO : Project Agreement Provisions for Payments to Rideau Transit Group

Further to the February 8, 2020 memo ("Payment Memo"), the following memo provides the Mayor and Members of Council and Transit Commission with the specific provisions of the Project Agreement ("PA") that require the City to make payments to Rideau Transit Group (RTG) in accordance with its contractual obligations, and the City's rationale for providing payments to RTG in both August and September of 2019.

As described previously, the City is bound by the terms of the PA for all contractual matters with RTG. As such, for each contract month during the maintenance term, the City is obligated under the PA to to pay a Monthly Service Payment to RTG. Schedule 20, Part B, Section 1.1 of the PA provides that "the Monthly Service Payment shall be payable in respect of each Contract Month during the Maintenance Term". Under Schedule 20, Part A, Section 1.8 of the PA a "Contract Month" is defined as a calendar month. For each Contract Month, RTG issues an invoice for the Monthly Service Payment to the City.

When RTG experiences issues that give rise to various operational failures, under the PA the City is entitled to deductions for those failures. The payment deductions are recorded in a Payment Adjustment Report based on the performance of the system during the Contract Month period. A Payment Adjustment Report is defined under Section 34.6(i) of the PA as a report setting out "any adjustments required between the actual Monthly Service Payments determined by [RTG] to be owing by the City to [RTG] in respect of the Contract Month just ended and the amount that was paid by the City during such Contract Month". As noted in the Payment Memo, these deductions are designed to be applied one month in arrears.

As per the PA, the maintenance term starts the day after Revenue Service Availability is achieved, which was August 30, 2019. Therefore, the first Contract Month with RTG was August 2019. Under Schedule 20, Part A, Section 1.8 of PA, the first Contract Month is defined as follows:

"The first Contract Month of the Maintenance Term, which runs from the Revenue Service Commencement Date until the end of the calendar month in which such day falls; (and for the avoidance of doubt this shall be Contract Month 1, and all other Contract Months shall be numbered sequentially from this)."

Therefore, the first contract month consisted of one day, August 31, 2019. As there was no previous Contract Month, the first invoice could not include a Payment Adjustment Report. As noted above, the City's entitlement to make deductions is tied to a Payment Adjustment Report. As August was the first Contract Month, RTG was not required to deliver a Payment Adjustment Report with its first invoice. Therefore, the City had no entitlement to make deductions from the invoice under the PA. As a result, the City was required to make a full monthly service payment for August 2019.

When the City received an invoice for the second Contract Month (i.e. September 2019), it received the first Payment Adjustment Report which addressed adjustments and deductions to be made for the previous Contract Month (i.e. August 2019). As the System had only been in operation for a single day in August, there were limited deductions to be made.

As a result, in order to ensure that the City complied with its obligations under the PA, the City made a single payment of $5,155,164.33 for Maintenance Services to RTG on November 15, 2019 for the following:

1. Monthly Service Payment for August 2019 (based on RTG's pro-rated entitlement for a single day of service because Revenue Service Availability was achieved on August 30, 2019, i.e. August 31, 2019) in the amount of $165,661.65 inclusive of HST; and,
2. Monthly Service Payment for September 2019 of $5,003,695.82 less deductions in the amount of $14,193.14 on the basis of the Maintenance Services performed in August 2019. The total amount paid for September was $4,989,502.68 inclusive of HST.

If the City does not make payments that it is obligated to make under the PA, RTG may allege that there is a payment default by the City which can lead to serious consequences, including suspension of the performance of the Maintenance Services by RTG. As the City is requiring RTG to comply with its obligations under the PA, the City in turn must also comply with its obligations including the payment provisions.

Outside of the monthly service payments, the City also makes maintenance term payments to RTG for costs unrelated to the maintenance services that cannot be offset by the performance adjustments or deductions mentioned above. These contractual expenditures assumed by the City include the following, for example:

• Operation and Maintenance Insurance Premiums;
• Graffiti Removal Costs; and,
• Station Hydro Costs for the period following Revenue Service Availability.

The City has only made those maintenance payments that it was obligated to do and as noted in the Payment Memo, the City will continue to exercise its rights under the PA to make payment deductions to the fullest extent. The City will continue to hold RTG accountable for its performance failures, in accordance with the PA. Going forward, the City will provide status updates on the maintenance service payments made to RTG as part of the quarterly updates.

Outside of the monthly maintenance service payments, the City has been making payments to RTG for various outstanding capital and cash allowance works, Stage 2 vehicle costs and interface management services, and other costs that are unrelated to the monthly maintenance services. Reporting on these costs is already included in the quarterly updates.

This morning during peak period service, as a result of debris on the track between Tunney's Pasture and Bayview Stations, damage was caused to 4 transponders. As trains pass over the transponders, the location of the trains is communicated to the control centre. When a loss of communication occurs, trains stop and must be given authorization from the control centre to proceed. The safety systems functioned as designed and as trains experienced this loss of communication (train position location not communicated to the control centre), the trains came to a stop. Furthermore, flats spots on the wheels of 4 trains which experienced the loss of communication and braking had to be removed from service. Service was able to continue along the entire line however at a reduced speed between Tunney's Pasture and Bayview Stations.

RTG is undertaking immediate repairs to correct this issue prior to the PM peak period and a modified service plan has been temporarily implemented. During this time service will continue over the entire line, and customers travelling between Tunney's Pasture and Lyon Stations may experience longer wait times and an additional train transfer.

As a result, RTG has advised that this afternoon there will be 10 trains available for peak period service. Further updates will be provided.

Regards,

John Manconi

General Manager, Transportation Services Department

​Source : City of Ottawa

(2:16pm) Here is the update for this afternoon's service:

• Repairs to the transponders have been completed and full Service on both trains has been restored Tunney's to Blair
• RTM has confirmed they will be providing 10 trains for this afternoon`s commute
• To supplement the reduced Rail Fleet we will be deploying our 20 R1 buses running the supplemental service and adding 10 additional buses which will be pulled from high frequency routes.
• The bus plan is based on lower usual Friday ridership, a PD day for students and a Friday before the long weekend
• The transponder damage was on the west-bound track
• The debris issue and the cause of the damage to the transponders is being investigated
• Messaging on all channels is going out to our customers

(4:15pm) We have 8 trains in operation one train had to be pulled no ETA yet on when we get to 9 or 10 trains.

RTG has confirmed that they will be providing 12 trains for rail service Monday morning.

S1 service will be provided from Tunney's Pasture, Blair and Hurdman Stations to downtown.

General Manager, Transportation Services Department

​Source : City of Ottawa

(7:46am) Twelfth vehicle being launched. One vehicle needs to be swapped out. 5 min headways.

(2:41pm) RTG has advised they will be launching 11 vehicles. No ETA on when and if 2 remaining vehicles will be available for PM rush hour. 

(4:18pm) 12 trains on the line.

Mr. Kanellakos,

As you know, there has been some confusion recently around payments made and owing to RTG by the City of Ottawa.

To ensure that all Members of Council and the Transit Commission are updated on this issue on a timely basis, I would ask that you provide an update on payments made to RTG on a quarterly basis as part of the Quarterly Confederation Line update.

Also, I would ask that you provide Members of Council and the Transit Commission with a comprehensive overview of the City's rationale for providing payments to RTG in both August and September of 2019. It would be beneficial for Members and Commissioners to have a clear understanding of what in the Project Agreement made these payments necessary. This comprehensive update should be provided to Members of Council and of the Transit Commission before the end of the week.

Sincerely,

Jim Watson
Mayor
City of Ottawa

​​Source : City of Ottawa

The purpose of this memo is to provide you with information pertaining to the monthly service payments to Rideau Transit Group (RTG) that have not been made by the City of Ottawa, as you may be asked for clarification from your residents.

The City of Ottawa has applied all performance adjustments to RTG payments that are permitted under the Project Agreement. Using the Project Agreement, the City was able to start significant deductions in October 2019. As a result of the deductions, these monthly payments, which equate to approximately $4-5 million per month, have not been made by the City of Ottawa.

In the past, members of the news media have asked for clarification on this. Following the December 3 FEDCO meeting, John Manconi stated that RTG has received some payments during a media scrum with municipal beat reporters.

Reporter: How many times have you withheld the payment to RTG...?

GM, John Manconi: So the concession just started. They're not going to get October. They're not going to get November. And now we're into December. They had a payment for I believe for the tail-end of September, which that's the way the payment mechanism works and then you adjust from that point on.

As noted publicly on numerous occasions, for all contractual matters with RTG, the City is following the Project Agreement requirements to ensure that the City's rights and interests are preserved. The Project Agreement is highly prescriptive in terms of the application of performance adjustments made against RTG for maintenance services provided during the maintenance period.

Per the Project Agreement, a monthly service payment is payable for each contract month during the maintenance period. If at any time during the maintenance period a performance failure occurs, the City shall be entitled to make a deduction or deductions from the relevant monthly service payment for the performance failure(s). Following the end of the month, an invoice for the monthly service payment is made with adjustments for performance failures that occurred in the previous month [emphasis added]. As required by the Project Agreement, a monthly service payment is made with adjustments for the previous month, e.g. the October invoice includes the September performance deductions.

RTG achieved Revenue Service Availability on August 30, 2019 and was eligible for a pro-rated monthly service payment for a single day of service on August 31, 2019. The performance deductions that accumulated for this single day of service were applied to the September payment. The administrative processes detailed in the Project Agreement effectively required the City to pay the full amount for the first contract month of service irrespective of the contractor's performance during that month.

To meet the City's obligations for RTG's September invoice, a payment was made in November 2019. The amount was effectively for the full monthly service payment for September 2019, as was required by the Project Agreement. Service payments are not made during the month of service. They are made after the City receives the invoice and after the invoice is appropriately reviewed.

Subsequent to the September invoice, the October invoice included performance deductions that accumulated during the month of September and the November invoice included performance deductions that accumulated during the month of October. To date, the October and November invoices have not been paid due to the accumulation of performance deductions in September and October. The performance deductions for November (affecting December's invoice) and December (affecting January's invoice) are still under review.

As the performance deductions lag the invoice period by a month, RTG is effectively a month behind in its eligible payments and will be required to sustain a high level of performance for at least a month to eliminate this backlog of accumulated deductions.

Therefore, the City is maintaining its position that it will continue to enforce the provisions of the contract and that RTG is required to meet the service requirements outlined in the Project Agreement. In every opportunity that the City has had under the Project Agreement to not pay RTG to date, the City has used its authority to not provide payment.