Reducing Risk in Transit Projects

By Transport Action Ontario | Latest News , Urban Transit

There is a massive amount of transit investment underway in Canada.  Greater Toronto alone has about $80B of projects underway; while Ottawa has three LRT projects ongoing and another one on the drawing board.  However, as described in our post of January 12, 2024 “Capital Cost Escalation of Canadian Transit Projects”, costs are skyrocketing and solutions need to be found.

There is also concern that, despite generous contract prices, many Canadian projects are still going over budget/over time.  This is despite many of them using P3 contracts (public-private-partnership), allegedly created to reduce likelihood of over budget/over time.  Fiasco projects like Eglinton Crosstown LRT and Ottawa Confederation Line inspire little confidence.

Industry leaders are starting to react to this over budget/over time problem.  A group of leading Canadian transit industry leaders has formed a group called “Future of Infrastructure Group” (FIG) and produced a report called “Reducing Risk in Transit Projects”.  Ontario and federal contributors to the report included City of Toronto, TTC, University of Toronto, Infrastructure Ontario, Metrolinx, Infrastructure Canada, Transport Canada, Canada Infrastructure Bank and of course dozens of Ontario-based private companies.

The report focusses on allocating and mitigating risk in projects, which should lead to reduced costs, better timelines, less disputes/claims and better quality of contractors.  The report discusses different contracting models that appear to show promise, including:

• Eglinton Crosstown West – smart incentive mechanisms and took a diligent approach to proactively addressing risk
• Union Station Enhancement Project – a very complex project.  Uses an alliance contracting model that has lead to zero litigation to date

The report can be viewed here. 

Photo: Construction work continues at South Keys, two years after the expected reopening date of the Trillium Line.

Challenges with State of Good Repair at TTC – Rick Leary reports

By Transport Action Ontario | Latest News , Urban Transit

In what was likely his last interview before his surprise resignation 2 days later, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) CEO Rick Leary was interviewed on June 18 at TRACCS  (Transit Rail Association for Canadian Contractors, Maintainers, Operators and Standards)  Rail Day 2024.  He focused mostly on State of Good Repair (SOGR) and gave a very sobering summary of SOGR at the TTC.

The TTC 15-year capital plan now stands at about $38B, only one-third of which is funded.  This leads to continual deferral of necessary SOGR items.  Leary noted that the derailment of the Scarborough RT in 2023 was due to the rolling stock being 13-years beyond lifetime, and noted that “airlines don’t brag about having the oldest fleet in the country”.

Top priority SOGR items include:

• Money from the federal government to match provincial and municipal funds for new subway cars on Line 2.  The federal permanent Public Transit Fund starts in 2026 and TTC is hoping to get preauthorization this summer for the federal funds, so that procurement can start
• Maintenance/upgrades of track, power, tunnels and signals on Line 2
• Streetcar maintenance
• Bus fleet maintenance/electrification

Leary indicated that various academic studies have shown that every dollar invested into transit yields seven dollars in economic uplift, not including health benefits and opportunity for affordable housing.

Waterloo ION LRT Marks 5 Successful Years

By Transport Action Ontario | Latest News , Urban Transit

The Waterloo ION LRT is Ontario’s first modern urban LRT line, and has just marked 5 years of successful operation.  At our recent Annual General Meeting, Transport Action Ontario members and supporters were given an update from Doug Spooner, Acting Commissioner, Transportation Services, Region of Waterloo. The following is from Doug’s talk plus a review of historical ION files.

Waterloo Regional Council approved the Phase 1 ION LRT project, from Conestoga Mall to Fairview Mall (19 km) in 2011.  A 30-year DBFOM procurement model was selected.  In March, 2014, a consortium called GrandLinq, with members Plenary, Meridian, Aecom, Kiewit and Keolis was selected as the winning bidder. Council also approved an interim BRT service from Fairview to Cambridge (Galt).

A staff report from March 4, 2014 provided a uniquely transparent amount of detail on the final costs and structure of the GrandLinq project agreement.  Capital costs for the Design-Build portion were $532M (independent of inflation), with the consortium paying $131M of initial capital costs, to be repaid later.  This total does not include non-DBFOM items like vehicles, land, project office, some early works and interim BRT.  The total capital costs of the project was $818M.

The 30-year financing, operating, maintenance and lifecycle costs were $901M, to be adjusted for inflation, actual service levels, deductions for non-performance. 

The report cited a savings of $400M -500M in avoided road widenings through mature neighbourhoods, and the improved quality of life in much of the community.

Funding sources for the project were $300M from the province and $265M from the federal government, with the balance to be sourced from the Region.

The Phase I project has proven a great success. The asset is owned by the Region which sets schedules and collects fares.  Keolis is the operator.   The right-of-way is a mix of dedicated transit lanes and separated rail corridor.  The service runs a 10-minute headway in peak times and 15-minute off-peak, with full transit signal priority. With fare and service integration with the balance of Grand River Transit, ridership is up and growing.  The LRT stations were designed for coupled cars, so adding capacity is straightforward.  Over $3 Billion of development has occurred along the corridor. 

Business Case development has commenced on the Phase 2 LRT project from Fairview to Cambridge (Galt).  Three terminus sites in Galt are being compared, with capital costs, including cost escalation to 2033 and contingency, ranging from $2.9B – $4.5B.  The Business Case is also looking at technology options (eg BRT in lieu of LRT) and level of priority (exclusive lanes vs. mixed traffic).

The Region has acknowledged the much higher unit cost for Phase 2, citing reasons including a need for 6 bridges (versus zero in Phase 1), grade separations and general construction cost escalation in the past 10 years.

The Region is also partnering with Metrolinx on a new $130M multimodal transit hub in Kitchener, connecting VIA Rail. GO Transit, ION, Grand River Transit and local trail systems in one location.

Connected Intercity Bus Network still Needed

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Northern Ontario , Southwestern Ontario

At the public portion of the Transport Action Ontario Annual General Meeting, May 25, 2024, John Stepovy, Director of Partnerships, Busbud.com, summarized the status of the intercity bus network in Canada. 

Busbud is a Canadian company that provides bus and rail trip searching, planning, scheduling, booking and payment services for clients in 80 countries.  Key partners in Canada include VIA Rail, Union Pearson Express, Flixbus, Rider Express, Ontario Northland, Ebus, Maritime Bus and many more.

There continue to be issues in establishing a coordinated bus network in Canada:

• Different carriers have different concession definitions and different baggage policies.
• Different carriers often use different terminals in the same part of a city, meaning connections are challenging, especially with baggage.  For example, most bus carriers use the Union Station Bus Terminal in Toronto, while others use a drop point on York St. or on Queen’s Quay Blvd.
• Lack of federal interest in developing a cross-Canada connected network. The federal government could fill a real gap by funding a central platform that houses all carriers’ schedules, maps, route information and fares.  While parliamentarians are supportive of this, Transport Canada has largely deflected this need to the Provinces.
• Lack of federal interest in supporting private carriers to fill out the rural bus network.  For example, private carriers are not eligible for the Rural Transit Solutions Fund.

Transport Action will continue to work with Busbud and with bus carriers to advocate for improvements to the cross-Canada bus network.

Advocacy Summary April, 2023 – May, 2024

By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges , Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Northern Ontario , Southwestern Ontario , Urban Transit

Transport Action Ontario’s annual general meeting (AGM) was held in Toronto on May 25, 2024 in a hybrid format. The meeting followed a pro-forma agenda, including Treasurer’s report and election of officers and directors for the upcoming year.

The major part of the meeting was devoted to the President’s Report, which summarized the extensive advocacy work undertaken by the organization all across the Province over the past 12 months. In total, work was conducted on about 30 items, with some successes and good progress on others.

For members and subscribers who were unable to attend the AGM, the President’s Report is attached as a FYI.