Transit boss pleads for patience with LRT
OC Transpo boss John Manconi appeared to lose his patience with members of Ottawa's transit commission Wednesday, urging them to take a deep breath before rushing out to investigate issues reported at key LRT stations.
"Let the system relax, let it find its equilibrium.... Let staff do their thing. I'm going to caution you, you're going to come back with a list a mile long. And then you're going to come to me and I'm going to go, 'No, no, no, no, no. Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea,' and you're going to set yourself up for failure."
Ottawa has pulled off something that people dream of. - John Manconi, GM, transportation service
Manconi was responding to a suggestion by Coun. Riley Brockington that commission members tour Blair and Tunney's Pasture stations to look into complaints of overcrowding ahead of Oct. 6, when bus passengers will no longer have a choice about transferring onto the Confederation Line.
"It would be beneficial to me, and I would suggest to the commission members, if, after the dust settled, we toured Tunney's and Blair station at afternoon rush hour to see how things are working, the flow, the transition — not to dissect and nitpick," Brockington said, noting he had concerns "with the layout" at Tunney's Pasture even before the Confederation Line opened on Saturday.
Complicated system
"I would caution you against going out early," Manconi replied. "Unless you're a transit operations planning expert, with all due respect, you will not understand the algorithm and the interlining you have now and what's coming Oct. 6."
Manconi urged the commission to trust the transportation experts who designed the transfer points.
"It is a complicated operation. It's taken me seven years to even understand a 10th of it. We have experts from around the world that have planned that bus loop. That bus loop was in design mode for years and it changed 20 to 30 times. I'm not pushing back, I'm just trying to save you some grief."
While he described the Confederation Line's first few days in operation as "seamless," Manconi did acknowledge some overcrowding at Blair and Tunney's Pasture stations.
'I'm happy for the city'
Coun. Allan Hubley, chair of the transit commission, also encouraged Brockington to wait before passing judgment.
Brockington said his primary concern is that passengers will be stuck on crowded platforms in cold weather.
"Mr. Chair, both you and Mr. Manconi have prejudged what my intent is," Brockington clarified. "I didn't say I'm going to have a list of 40 items and dissect every little design issue with these transition stations."
Following the meeting, Manconi denied feeling frustrated.
"I'm the happiest general manager in transit in North America. I truly am," Manconi said. "I'm happy for the city, the customers, the council and the commission. Think about how many people said that this team couldn't pull this off, that this city could not pull this off. Ottawa has pulled off something that people dream of."
