OC Transpo withholds $15 million in payments due to LRT disruptions in 2023, report shows
OC Transpo withheld $15.1 million in payments to Rideau Transit Maintenance in 2023 due to maintenance issues and extended shutdowns on the Confederation Line.
A new report for the Finance and Corporate Services Committee on the city of Ottawa's 2023 budget spending shows the multi-million dollar "performance deductions" OC Transpo claimed when the light-rail transit system was out of service last year.
The O-Train line was shut down for 28 days last July and August after an issue was discovered with one bearing on an LRT vehicle during routine inspection. When service resumed, RTM was running single-car service along the line between Blair and Tunney's Pasture stations.
- Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
LRT service was also disrupted twice in the winter and spring of 2023 due to freezing rain.
Staff say O-Train Line 1 performance reductions were $15.1 million in 2023. The report does not provide a breakdown on the performance deductions.
The $15.1 million in savings during LRT shutdowns was offset by $3.1 million in costs for R1 and R2 replacement bus service, according to the city.
Under the project agreement between the city and Rideau Transit Group, the city can withhold payments for service not provided along the Confederation Line.
"Normally, with the (project agreement) that we have we don't pay RTG when they don't deliver the service," Transit Services general manager Renee Amilcar told reporters during a media briefing on July 24, when the LRT was out of service.
"I want to assure the customers that we don't pay RTG when RTG doesn't deliver the service."
OC Transpo pays Rideau Transit Group/Rideau Transit Maintenance approximately $5 million a month to operate the Confederation Line.
OC Transpo reported a $29 million operating budget deficit in 2023, mainly due to a drop in ridership.
The report shows the operating shortfall was offset by $27.79 million in "normal operational savings."
"The normal operation surplus was mainly attributable to reduced compensation expenditures from vacancies, lower O-Train Line 1 maintenance costs mainly due to the performance deductions per the project agreement with Rideau Transit Group, lower fuel costs and the delay of the opening of O-Train Lines 2 and 4 which were partially offset by higher Para Transpo service and fleet maintenance costs," the report says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Community mourns victims of fatal boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
The three people killed in last weekend's tragic collision between a speedboat and a fishing boat north of Kingston are being remembered Friday.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
American Airlines drops law firm that said a 9-year-old girl should have seen camera on toilet seat
American Airlines has replaced the law firm that told a judge a nine-year-old girl was negligent in not noticing there was a camera phone taped to the seat in an airplane lavatory.
Nicki Minaj's England concert postponed after rapper was detained by Dutch authorities over pot
Nicki Minaj's concert in Manchester scheduled for Saturday night was postponed after police in the Netherlands discovered marijuana in her bags as she was preparing to leave the country.
1 dead, 3 in hospital after flying wheel crashes into bus windshield on QEW
A man is dead, and three others are in hospital after a flying wheel crashed into a coach bus on the QEW in St. Catharines.