5 questions about uploading Ottawa's LRT network
PCs, Liberals have pledged to make system a provincial responsibility
On Tuesday, two of Ontario's provincial party leaders pledged to significantly reshape the future of transit in the nation's capital.
Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford and Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie both vowed that, if elected premier on Feb. 27, they would upload responsibility for Ottawa's light rail network to the province.
Ford said the provincial Metrolinx agency would take over. Doing so, he said, would "free up significant funds and capital."
The Liberals, meanwhile, said their plan would not involve Metrolinx as it currently operates, with Orléans candidate Stephen Blais citing that as a potential "recipe for disaster."
Here are five questions about what uploading LRT might mean for the city.
What would uploading mean for Ottawa's finances?
Ford suggested Tuesday that giving Metrolinx oversight of the LRT would free up roughly $4 billion over the next 30 years, money Ottawa could then "invest in other priorities."
For Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, Ford's promise would eliminate an "enormous amount of financial pressure and risk" that's been placed on the city's taxpayers.
"I've been saying for months that Ottawa's not treated the same as other cities in Ontario like Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga and Brampton," Sutcliffe told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.
"[Those cities] pay the operating cost for transit, but [not] the capital cost of building transit lines and the lifecycle maintenance cost of the infrastructure associated with light rail. In Ottawa, we pay all those costs."
Uploading the LRT, Sutcliffe said, would cut into the $120-million deficit that OC Transpo is saddled with, while also bringing the city much closer to hitting its long-range financial plan for transit.
Sutcliffe said while he'd been speaking "for months" with the Ford government on reshaping transit funding, he'd also be willing to work with the Liberals if they form the next government — or the Ontario NDP, who have their own plan in mind, one that doesn't involve uploading.
What is Metrolinx, and why is it controversial?
A provincial Crown agency, Metrolinx was created through legislation in 2006. Ottawa transit riders may be most familiar with Metrolinx as the agency that oversees the Presto fare collection system.
But it was created with the goal of integrating public transportation in Toronto, Hamilton and the surrounding area. It currently operates the regional GO Transit network and has been responsible for building several major Toronto transit projects, including the long-delayed Eglinton Crosstown line.
For Mike Colle, the setbacks and cost overruns associated with that project have made Metrolinx an "unmitigated disaster."
"They've been working on that for about 14 years now, and they can't get it operational," said Colle, a Toronto city councillor and one of the city's deputy mayors.
"We've gone through construction hell, congestion hell — and the worst thing of all is Metrolinx is totally unaccountable."
Work on Eglinton Crosstown began in 2011 with an estimated price tag of $9.1 billion to build and maintain the 19-kilometre line. In 2022, documents obtained by CBC Toronto showed costs had jumped to at least $12.8 billion.
The agency has also seen a big leadership shakeup in recent months, with two senior managers leaving last fall and then CEO Phil Verster resigning in December.
Colle said it's been difficult to get answers out of Metrolinx, adding that he longs for the days when the Toronto Transit Commission — which he once chaired — oversaw major capital projects.
"At least they were accountable to city council," Colle said. "Metrolinx is only accountable to themselves."
Sutcliffe acknowledged that both transparency and accountability would be important if the Crown agency became involved with Ottawa's transit network.
What could uploading mean for Stage 3 LRT?
For anyone needing a refresher, the Stage 3 plan involves extending LRT infrastructure into some of Ottawa's fastest growing communities: Kanata, Stittsville and Barrhaven.
The project is still a long way off, and staggering financial costs released in 2023 — $2.5 billion for the east-west portion, plus another $4 billion for the connection to Barrhaven — have cast doubt on whether it will ever become reality.
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City staff have always said Stage 3 must be completely financed by 50-50 contributions from the provincial and federal governments.
If the provincial government were to take ownership of the LRT network, it could expedite the future expansion, Sutcliffe said.
"With its resources, with its expertise, the likelihood of .... building out the light rail system to Kanata, Stittsvile and Barrhaven would increase dramatically," he said.
"The residents of those communities will finally see some light at the end of the tunnel."
Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo said he'd be happy for Stage 3 support from upper levels of government, as long as it comes with "requisite service improvements" to the existing rapid bus network that runs to the south Ottawa suburb.
How will transit riders be impacted?
That's the big question on Laura Shantz's mind.
"I want to know how an integration with OC Transpo would work. I want to know ... is the system still going to be able to function the way we need it to?" said Shantz, a member of advocacy group Ottawa Transit Riders.
Sutcliffe told Ottawa Morning that if uploading rolled out as it has elsewhere, OC Transpo would still play a vital role, from working with the province on how the system gets built to overseeing its day-to-day operation.
The system has been struggling with ridership levels that haven't rebounded to pre-pandemic numbers, with OC Transpo reducing off-peak LRT service and slashing nearly three dozen jobs last year.
The resulting revenue shortfall, Shantz said, has made it hard to run a "really solid LRT system for the long term" in Ottawa. It's left her cautiously optimistic that uploading could fix things.
"At the end of the day, riders just want to get from point A to point B without delays, without troubles, without worrying if a train or bus is going to show up or going to work," Shantz said.
Is uploading the only option?
According to the New Democrats, definitely not.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Tuesday her party is pitching a different idea: a cost-sharing plan where the province would fund transit agencies like OC Transpo at 50 per cent, while municipalities kick in the other half.
Uploading a single project like Ottawa's LRT network to the province isn't going to make buses come quicker or reverse service cuts, argued Catherine McKenney, the NDP's candidate for Ottawa Centre.
"The NDP's plan is to invest in operating funding, and that is where transit today is really suffering," said McKenney, a former downtown councillor who finished second to Sutcliffe in the 2022 mayoral election.
We just don't have the buses that we need. They don't show up on time. Our ridership is dropping as a result of it. We are seeing what is called a death spiral in Ottawa and in other municipalities."
As for the Greens, CBC has asked them about their plans for Ottawa's transit. As of late Wednesday afternoon, the party had not responded.
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With files from Robyn Miller, Sophie Panton, Elyse Skura and Emma Weller