One-on-one with Ottawa's new transit boss
Renée Amilcar began her new job as general manager of transit services on Monday, nearly a full month after an LRT derailment crippled the transit system.
Amilcar comes to Ottawa from Montreal, where she was the executive director of bus services for the Société de Transports Montréal. She is an industrial engineer with a degree from École Polytechnique de Montréal and an MBA from Université de Sherbrooke.
In an interview with CTV Ottawa's Chief News Anchor Graham Richardson, Amilcar discussed the challenges ahead as Ottawa's transit system remains hamstrung by the woes on the Confederation Line.
"The first thing I want to do is listen to people, listen to my team, and understand the issues to find solutions and put back the service in place," Amilcar said.
"I just arrived, but I think that it's impossible to not say the LRT problem is an issue. It's a technical problem and technical problems will be resolved by technical solutions."
She asked riders to be patient as she begins her new role.
"For sure, we'll find solutions to resolve the technical problems," she said.
An LRT train derailed on Sept. 19 just west of Tremblay Station and the system has been offline ever since. On Monday, City Manager Steve Kanellakos said in a memo that the Rideau Transit Group—the consortium that built and now maintains the $2.1 billion line—is aiming for a partial resumption of service on Nov. 1, six weeks after the derailment.
Kanellakos said, however, that RTG's return-to-service plan requires vetting, testing and independent verification by a third party before the city can safely decide when trains can start accepting passengers again. He expects some level of service to resume "within the first two weeks of November", which could mean up to two full months without LRT.
Ottawa's transit commission will meet Wednesday for what is expected to be a lengthy discussion on the plan to get the trains running again. Representatives from RTG and from TRA—the Philadelphia-based firm hired to independently verify RTG's plan—will be in attendance.
Amilcar also comes to Ottawa amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has contributed to a significant decline in ridership across the transit system. A report prepared for the transit commission said nearly half of Ottawa's workforce transitioned to working from home during the pandemic and that meant a significant number of transit users were no longer riding on buses and trains. Transit ridership fell more severely in 2020 in Ottawa than it did in other major Canadian cities, including Montreal and Toronto, according to the report.
Amilcar says one of her goals is restoring the confidence of riders in the transit system.
"I'm very concerned about that because for me, to restore the confidence, we have to restore the service," she said. "But, to do so, I need to make sure that the service will be reliable and safe."
Amilcar said the system is safe, but she and her team are working to improve it.
"The system is very new; it's a new technology, so we are working very hard with the team to make sure the reliability will be improved again."
Amilcar replaces John Manconi, the longtime head of OC Transpo, who oversaw the launch of LRT and became a public face for the system throughout its tumultuous beginnings, from stuck doors to wheel flats to the two derailments in August and September.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.