An upcoming LRT anniversary scarred by a pandemic and operational failure

Non-mask wearing, non-social-distanced inaugural LRT ride on 14 Sept 2019

September 14th marks the first anniversary of the inaugural run of Ottawa's LRT Confederation Line. At this time last year I was happily looking forward to that event. One year later things look very different. 

Almost from the time the system entered regular service it has been plagued by constant malfunctions and extensive service disruptions. As time has gone on, the list of problems has included: train doors that keep getting jammed, failures of onboard and system control computers, frozen switches, brake problems, wheel flat spots, track cracks, pantographs snagging overhead wires, track that won't withstand summer heat, and parts falling off trains. And as of this July, cracks in the wheels has been added to the list; a problem so serious that the federal government's Transportation Safety Board has had to be called in to investigate. In their latest story on the LRT the CBC reports that the promised complement of 15 trains still isn't reliably available during peak periods, and it's not clear when it will be. On top of these technical woes, the pandemic has caused a 70 to 90% reduction in ridership across the entire OCTranspo system, so revenue projections are seriously off, and it's not clear when ridership will again rise to pre-pandemic projection levels. 

Non-mask wearing, non-social-distanced station stop at end of inaugural LRT ride.

As a streetcar aficionado, and with the LRT's Alstom Citadis Spirit being essentially a new streetcar repurposed for LRT use, this has been an eye-opener, and a disappointment. Of course, nowhere near the same level of 'disappointment' experienced by the rider who has to rely on the system to get around the city. I was told there's a study out there somewhere that showed how a bus transitway that used all electric buses was far less economical than an electric LRT. I'll bet that study assumed both systems actually functioned as they should, which is not the case here. The double-whammy of a pandemic and a litany of technical failures have likely wiped out any economic benefits the LRT has over other means of transit for many years to come. Still, I hope the LRT's issues are merely teething pains - albeit ones that might last well into its adolescence :-) - but right now I'm not seeing signs that they are. We'll see what the fall has in store as the schools reopen.