40 buses returning to service as mayor ‘furious’ with poor LRT performance
The city will put 40 buses back on the road and has freed up an additional $3.5 million as a “short-term fix” for its beleaguered O-Train after Mayor Jim Watson apologized to commuters Friday for the system’s poor performance.
“To say I am furious with the poor performance of our LRT system is an understatement,” Watson tweeted during Friday’s morning commute when delays again plagued commuters. “Both RTG and RTM will be held to account for the problems that have frustrated our very patient transit users.”
Rideau Transit Group is the consortium that built the Confederation Line, while Rideau Transit Maintenance holds the 30-year contract to maintain the system.
Watson went on to “apologize for the awful experience so many residents have experienced over the last few weeks.”
The city is withholding $2.8 million from its October payment to RTG as a penalty for the poor performance.
“The first thing I heard when I woke up was that there were two problems with the LRT,” Watson said in an interview Friday afternoon.
“Quite frankly, I was frustrated like I’ve never been before in this job. I wanted an action plan that was going to see some tangible results starting next week. I wanted to make sure that RTG and RTM got hit in the pocketbook for their lack of performance. We’re not a satisfied customer.”
The 40 buses were among those taken off the road last month during OC Transpo’s “really big service change” when it cancelled bus routes paralleling the Confederation Line train service. The city said they will be back in service next week.
The city has also reached an agreement with the Amalgamated Transit Union to extend the schedule of bus drivers past Dec. 31. In addition, 19 newly purchased buses will be ready for service as of Jan. 1.
The additional buses will be put into service on several routes that have had chronic issues, either from overcrowding or cancellations, Watson said. Those include Route 39 in the east, Route 257 in the west and Route 75 in the south.
“Those are examples of where we have to step up our game, the frequency and the capacity,” he said.
Some travellers have been left on the curbside as the buses roar through stops because they “are full to the brim,” Watson said.
Buses that are late by just a few minutes can overload a train platform with new passengers. If that coincides with a train delay — even just a short one — the stations get overwhelmed.
“The platforms are designed to hold 600 people at a time so if you miss even one four-minute train cycle, you have another 600 people arriving. That’s when you see the pictures of crowds backing up the steps,” Watson said.
Supervisors have also been given authority to have buses bypass the train altogether if there’s a service disruption, Watson said.
“We’ve given direction to supervisors they can go to the bus and say, ‘Those of you who work at Tunney’s get off, but the rest of you can stay on and the bus will go to the downtown’.”
Watson’s frustration boiled over after another chaotic commute Friday that began before 6 a.m. with a report of a “switch” problem, then a “door fault” at Lees Station. The door fault was caused by a computer glitch and not by someone trying to hold open the door. The wild weather also played havoc with a downed tree branch temporarily shutting down service on Line 2.
On top of this, at some stations the fare gates were jammed open, allowing passengers into the station without paying.
Friday’s disruption was the 12th day with delays of a half-hour or more on the $2.1-billion Confederation Line.
The $3.5 million Watson committed Wednesday was taken from the city’s transit reserve fund and will be used mostly to pay drivers’ salaries, Watson said. More funding measures will be announced next week when the city’s draft 2020 budget is introduced.
At a meeting earlier this week, RTG told the city it’s bringing in experts from Toronto and Europe “to provide the technical knowledge
Both RTG and RTM will be held to account for the problems that have frustrated our very patient transit users.
required to find the root causes of these ongoing issues.” The consortium has also struck a task force that will review every incident along the LRT system that has caused a delay and to search for a solution.
Watson’s Twitter criticism came just days after citizen transit commissioner Sarah Wright-Gilbert was chastised for “destroying confidence” in LRT through her criticisms on social media.
Asked if he was further undermining confidence in the O -Train, Watson said he’s been criticized for not being vocal enough about the
LRT system.
“The reality is that the system is going through some pretty challenging growing pains. And the public is only going to be patient for so long. I don’t blame them. If I was stuck on the platform every second day, I’d be ticked off as well. We have to do better.”
Watson promised to provide more information at next Wednesday’s meeting of the Transit Committee. bcrawford@postmedia.com Twitter.com/getBAC