Don't cherry-pick transit plan, task force says
Success depends on adopting key parts: chairman Collenette
Mohammed Adam, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Friday, June 22, 2007
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=b5fb2ea0-c34...

The mayor's transportation task force said yesterday its transit vision
for the city is an integrated plan that could fall apart if parts are
cherry-picked and implemented.

Appearing before the Citizen editorial board a day after two city
committees directed staff to begin work on a feasibility of a downtown
tunnel, three task force members said the report comes as a package of
four key components that should be adopted. Cherry-picking from the plan
could be its undoing, they said.

Task force chairman David Collenette acknowledged that at the moment,
the plan doesn't have a "champion" at City Hall, but he hopes Mayor
Larry O'Brien will fill that role.

But in a sign of the coming battle over the report, some, such as rail
expert Tim Lane, say the task force cannot insist its key
recommendations be adopted because residents may not totally share its
vision.

"I just don't agree that we have to have all," said Mr. Lane, a member
of Transport 2000 and Friends of the O-Train.

Three of the task force members appeared before the editorial board to
explain what they say are some misconceptions about the plan.

Mr. Collenette, a former federal transportation minister, told the board
that while the plan can be implemented incrementally, its success
depends on adopting four key components: the downtown tunnel, use of the
existing rail corridors for a new commuter rail system, revamping the OC
Transpo management structure and adopting a diesel/electric technology.

"The tunnel is No. 1. Absolutely that's got to be addressed. No. 2,
using the existing rail right-of-way. What we are trying to do is
recreate that link with the core with the existing right-of-way. That is
fundamental to our plan. Also fundamental is the OC Transpo management
structure," Mr. Collenette said. "We don't know what they (councillors)
are going to do. ... We are saying we recommend as much as possible
adopting the overall, comprehensive, integrated plan we are putting
forward."

On Wednesday, the transit and transportation committees chose to take
immediate action on only the tunnel. Other proposals were deferred to be
studied as part of the city's long-term transit plan.

Task force member Hanif Patni said he is happy with the approach taken
by the two city committees, which essentially, want to examine all the
elements of the plan before deciding how to integrate it into the city's
own. But Mr. Patni said he is "worried parts of it will be taken and
other parts not and then the whole thing is not an elegant solution."

Mr. Lane however, said the mayor's task force may be asking too much
because governments are not always bound to adopt everything a panel
recommends. He noted in particular, that the transit and transportation
committees appear already to be picking and choosing from the report. By
singling out the tunnel for further study, they are signalling that the
rest of the recommendations can wait. Even so, there are many residents
who think a tunnel is not necessarily the answer to downtown traffic woes.

"People automatically think a tunnel is the answer to our prayers, but a
tunnel is not a panacea. And I don't agree changing OC Transpo into an
independent commission will make it more accountable or provide better
service to the public," Mr. Lane said.

"I don't believe we can't have a tunnel unless we have an independent OC
Transpo commission. I don't believe we can't have an independent OC
Transpo commission unless we have a tunnel -- and not that I want a
tunnel or OC Transpo commission."

But task force member Hume Rogers said the panel is not saying changes
cannot be made. He said there are pieces that "if you didn't adopt would
mean the whole plan fell apart."

"We think there's a core thinking in our plan that should be adopted,"
Mr. Collenette agreed.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2007