Dear Larry O'Brien;
Congratulations on your victory. You were my second choice for Mayor. You won't have to try very hard to figure out who my first choice was, but that doesn't matter. You won.
Now that the election is over and the writing is on the wall I suggest that you seriously consider the proposal put out by Friends Of The O-train. The current Barrhaven electric plan is a piece of social engineering, not traffic engineering, and it is going to die. Time to do better, much better.
The 85% of people who voted against the one mayoralty candidate that supported the existing plan have it right, and the city staff experts in house have it wrong: this is a wisdom of crowds effect that should not be ignored.
The FOTOT plan is clearly a better solution: With Diesel trains along Via track to Barrhaven station it solves a real need in a practical manner. Add a link to Gatineau and the Airport and two other dire urban issues are solved.
Existing track can be used westwards towards the Kanata business park, through Carp, all the way to Arnprior. People who live downtown and work in Kanata could finally get off the roads and take the train. The bus doesn't cut it. I've tried. This does.
New track would only need to be laid for the link from Hurdman to Rockland along the 174 corridor, and the core infrastructure is done. Existing track would bring service as far east as Cassleman. Those spurs could be done using low-cost diesel trains in the same mold as GO transit in the Toronto corridor.
The new deluxe trains are nice, but for the more rural extensions a less expensive GO train may be enough. Commuters already come in via converted school bus. Believe me; they will consider this an improvement.
The existing Carp line goes as far west as Arnprior, and joins with track that goes south through to Almonte, Carleton Place, and as far south as Smiths Falls before looping back towards Barrhaven in a great circle that needs no turnarounds. Existing track solves the problem of cars on our roads for the next century.
If Ottawa was serious about getting cars off the road this is it, it would eliminate the need for long distance commuting from locations as far as Smiths Falls, Merrickville, and Richmond.
All communities benefit, not just one.
A GO-Transit style Diesel train solution would solve traffic problems for the foreseeable future. People in Almonte could take the rail to their jobs in Kanata, and comfortably travel downtown. Living in Almonte and working in downtown Ottawa becomes a viable option, without a car. People living in the downtown core would take two trains, one electric and one diesel, to their jobs in Kanata.
This solves problems for the greater area, not just for one neighbourhood. It is practical and it is smart. Even if it takes as long or longer you are no longer driving, you can do other tasks.
VIA rail already has wireless Internet in its trains. For a fee you can take your office with you onto the train. Why not offer the same service for commuters from the far west to downtown? Why not offer this as a premium service that makes the train better than the car, no matter what, for the person that wouldn't be caught dead in a bus? Why not make transit the excellent choice, the professional's choice?
Mr. O'Brien, I'll put this in personal terms: You are a millionaire who lives in the most expensive condominium building in the city core. If the light rail system can't be made attractive enough for you to take to Calian headquarters for a board meeting, it's broken. It's not good enough. If instead you could step outside your building, be whisked to the western terminal in minutes, grab yourself a coffee from your choice of vendors, and on the next train catch up on board minutes and the last minute flurry of emails, why would you drive? I bet you wouldn't, because it would be a waste of your time, and that would be dumb. That last five minute walk, even in -30 weather, won't matter, and the walk will do you good, it braces you up for the day ahead. The airport? Piece of cake. Add a little walk or bike ride and the same story works from Ottawa South to New Edinburgh.
It works in Hunt Club. It works in Bell's Corners. And yes, it works in Barrhaven. It works if your coffee is a Bridgehead Organic. It works if your coffee is a Tim Horton's Double Double.
The amazing thing: The millionaire's choice costs less than the electric white elephant.
A little secret: This option isn't limited to millionaires and corporate CEO's. But it won't work unless white collar professionals like it too. Stop thinking of public transit as a public necessity for the poor and start thinking of it as a real viable competitor to the single-occupant car.
Think as an intelligent winner, not as an anti-car whiner.
I am not sure why electric cars are a requirement. They are impractical in the outer suburbs due to low density and high implementation cost. If GO works for TO why not here?
Why wasn't this considered from the get-go? Is it because it is not expensive enough? Why?
It is your duty to find out why, Larry. It is also your duty to do much, much better.
Make this a very personal responsibility: if you can't see yourself using the light rail system, you've failed. If despite your personal wealth, access, and stature, it's the better choice, the smarter choice, you've succeeded beyond all expectations.
So, which is it going to be?
Regards
Michael Slavitch
Ottawa Ontario