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Mayor's Transit Task Force Gets Down to Work

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January 24, 2007 - 9:19am — fotoadmin

Josh Pringle, CFRA
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

A retired engineer, an O-Train Operator, a downtown hotel General Manager and the founder of Transport 2000 are among the seven members of the Mayor's Task Force on Transportation.

Former Transport Minister David Collenette is the chair of the new committee appointed by Mayor Larry O'Brien to review Ottawa's transportation future.

Transport 2000 founder Harry Gow, President of Coventry Connections Hanif Patni and a member of the Community Budget Advisory Team Susan Brownrigg-Smith are the most prominent members of the committee.

Chief of Staff Walter Robinson tells CFRA News all members of the task force were recommended by City Councillors.

Robinson adds the Task Force met for the first time last weekend.

A report will be delivered to the Mayor by June 1st.

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January 24, 2007 - 11:18am — fotoadmin

Media Release - Task Force

For Immediate Release
Friday, January 19, 2007

Task Force on Transportation gets rolling

* Former Federal Transport Minister selected as Chair
* Terms of Reference released; Members to be unveiled next week

Ottawa – Mayor Larry O’Brien announced today the Chair and mandate of his Task Force on Transportation which he promised during the 2006 municipal election campaign. Members of the Task Force will be announced next week.

“Today we start a process to develop and implement a long-term, sustainable vision for the key issue of transportation in Ottawa,” stated Mayor Larry O’Brien. “I am pleased that the Honourable David Collenette will lend his experience in transportation and government to this effort. He was instrumental in facilitating the original O-Train so his commitment to Ottawa is long-standing.”

During the 2006 municipal election campaign, Mayoral candidate Larry O’Brien campaigned on taking a step back from the city’s present transportation plans through the deployment of a “task force” to make recommendations on changes.

The Mayor’s Task Force on Transportation is an external advisory body that will report back to Mayor O’Brien on or before June 1, 2007. Its mandate is to:

* Examine the City of Ottawa’s current Transportation Master Plan and all current or proposed transportation infrastructure projects;
* Review available transportation options including Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT), heavy rail, High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, new transit corridors, bridges and facilities;
* Review proposed future residential and commercial development plans to assess their impact on existing transportation infrastructure and future needs;
* Solicit input from Ottawa city councillors, the City of Gatineau, the National Capital Commission (NCC) on their transportation objectives with a view to ensuring future City of Ottawa initiatives are aligned with an integrated approach to transportation planning within the National Capital Region (NCR);
* Provide a forum – to be defined – to receive public input and submissions.
* Make recommendations (short-, medium-, and long-term) for development of a integrated rapid transportation plan that alleviates existing East/West pressures, is scalable to account for immediate and growing pressures in the South end and provides options to reduce congestion through the downtown corridor.

Upon review, Mayor O’Brien will then submit the Task Force Report to the relevant committees of City Council for consideration.

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For more information
Contact Mike Patton
613-298-0625.