Ottawa Public Transit

It is high time for improved public transit in our nation's capital. Travel to any other city, in any other G-8 nation, and you will find a transportation system that puts ours to shame.

I'm so used to hearing complaints about OCTranspo - and complaining and having people agree with me - that I was surprised yesterday to have a co-worker disagree, and actually stand up for OCTranspo. He mentioned the TransitWay - the special network of roads reserved solely for city buses - and I had to agree with him. However, when winter comes, winter comes. We have snow, ice, sleet, and slush. The transit way is not underground. Nor is it on a track which can better deal with adverse weather conditions than a road.

We do have the O-Train, but it is a dismally short track that only covers a few kilometres. Let's get some more track layed please! A light rail system to rival that of Calgary's or Edmonton's or Portland's. Make Ottawa world-class destination. An efficient and extensive public transit system is the sign of a successful city (and on the larger scale, a successful country). We need a station that runs out to Scotiabank Place (where the Sens play and where the traffic, on game nights, resembles the traffic on an LA expressway). We need a line from Orleans to Kanata. A line from Richmond to Hull.

We must establish an aggressive two-tier plan:

-between 2009 and 2020 laying of inner-city light rail track;
-between 2020 and 2030 laying of inter-urban track - we need a track running out to the Ottawa valley so that workers there can easily commute to Ottawa - tourism would also get a major boost from day shoppers;

Related links:
http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/beyond_2020/tmp/transit/index_en.html

UPDATE:

On CTV News tonight, a test run was done with a commuter train in the Ottawa Valley. An estimated ridership of 13,000. A smooth ride. Existing track to use. The roadway is longer. News host: Is this going to be too costly for us to be worth it?
Reporter: All the other cities do it. It uses existing track. It even links up with the Ottawa transit system in several places. This could be done in a couple of years. Montreal did this in 6 months.