LRT: TELL US MUCH MORE

Let’s start by giving John Manconi a little credit. On Thursday, the general manager of transportation for the City of Ottawa called a press conference to answer questions about why the western part of the new LRT shut down for 10 hours earlier in the week.

In a refreshing — and rare — example of city transparency, Manconi told reporters that three data transmitters had cut out early Wednesday. The reason was unknown. But because these communications devices — which tell the main computer system where trains are across the 12.5-kilometre line — weren’t functioning, three trains stopped in the LRT tunnel. It took several hours for staff to figure out why they weren’t moving between Tunney’s Pasture and Hurdman stations.

Manconi admitted that the city wasn’t sure what had caused the transmitters to cut out. (There’s speculation it was related to an overnight thunderstorm.) Still, the city assures Ottawans that the glitch won’t delay the opening of the Confederation Line next Saturday. That’s good. It’s also good that Manconi moved promptly to answer questions as best he could; openness has not been the pattern to-date with Ottawa’s light-rail project.

If the city wants people actually using light rail, press conferences or public question-and-answer sessions (imparting actual information, not vague talking points) must become the norm. Many residents were understandably alarmed about Wednesday’s 10-hour surprise shutdown during the line’s trial phase; few of us would feel at ease if the train we were riding in stopped in a tunnel for unknown reasons.

More broadly, people are generally unhappy with the “Father knows best” approach the mayor, bureaucrats and Rideau Transit Group adopted during the construction of Stage One. The Citizen’s Jon Willing, assisted by Ken Rubin, had to use freedom of information laws to obtain LRT inspection reports; the CBC needed unofficial sources to find out about winter and weather-related problems with the trains. News of minor derailments and other issues during testing came via leaks, not official updates. The 2016 Rideau tunnel “sinkhole” episode should have been the catalyst for Ottawa to introduce true openness about its ambitious, city-building project. Communications improved somewhat — but not enough.

Meanwhile, residents have already experienced a discouraging lack of openness around Stage Two, including the now-infamous incident of the city not initially admitting that SNC-Lavalin hadn’t met technical score requirements for its winning bid to build part of the north-south line.

Public trust, once squandered, is hard to regain. Yet the LRT’s success depends on customer trust. This week, Manconi took a stab at getting the relationship back on track. Much more effort will be needed.