Endless problems with the Confederation Line

Left, John Manconi, head of OCTranspo; right, Jim Watson, Ottawa's Mayor

I haven't written about Ottawa's new light rail system in quite a long time. Not that there hasn't been anything to write about; on the contrary, there's been an unending flow of incidents with day-to-day operations that likely make the Confederation Line one of the worst LRT systems currently in operation. The local news outlets have been doing a good job of reporting on all the problems, so I didn't have anything to add other than sympathy for all the riders who are bearing the brunt of this bad system, and the citizens who've paid for it. If you're interested, here's a summary of some of the problems posted today at the CBC: Notes from the underground: lessons from Ottawa's LRT flop. Taken as a whole, the system seems like one where cheapness and expediency ruled, and properly satisfying requirements and testing took a backseat. I hope things can be righted, but I'm not confident.