City reveals details of $5.1M RTG payment

The City of Ottawa has paid the Rideau Transit Group (RTG) a little more than $5.1 million for maintenance since last August, officials said Friday.

Transportation general manager John Manconi sent a memo to council and transit commissioners clarifying the payment and the reason for it.

RTG received $5,155,164.33 on Nov. 15 for maintenance service. That amount includes HST.

The breakdown is $165,661.65 for a single day in August, since revenue service availability happened on Aug. 30, and $4,989,502.68 for September. The September payment included a $14,193.14 reduction related to maintenance performance in August, the city said.

There has been no other monthly maintenance payment as the city holds back money because of the unreliability of LRT service. RTG can dispute the withholding through arbitration or the courts.

There were as few as eight trains available for the afternoon commute Friday. There should be 13 trains providing service at those peak hours.

Mayor Jim Watson asked city management to provide details about the maintenance payments after councillors and transit commissioners were surprised to learn RTG had received a payment for September. The city had seemed steadfast that RTG wouldn’t be paid for maintenance while the LRT system wasn’t performing up to standards.

However, the city was contractually obligated to pay for September and that one day in August.

Manconi apologized to council last Wednesday for the confusion regarding the payments.