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
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.