By CBC News Ottawa, March 10, 2017
Ottawa residents with low incomes can now apply for OC Transpo's affordable monthly transit pass, which comes into effect April 1.The EquiPass costs $57 per month, half the $113.75 cost of a regular adult monthly pass. The passes expire within one to two years, based on eligibility.
By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, March 10, 2017
The close working relationship between the mayors of Ottawa and Gatineau is setting the stage for a more integrated public transit system across the National Capital Region that could make commuting easier for residents of both cities, Gatineau’s mayor said Friday.
Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin says he and Jim Watson agree the creation of a single transit service would be fraught with legal and logistic complexities, but planning routes together, aligning fares and ensuring smart cards issued by either OC Transpo or Gatineau’s STO are accepted by the other service are good places to start.
By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, March 10, 2017
Four months after a flea market fire near Smiths Falls left contamination in its neighbours’ wells, tests have shown contamination is dropping significantly.
Residents of the neighbourhood in Drummond-North Elmsley can’t drink their water yet, but Reeve Aubrey Churchill is hoping they will soon.
Residents had a meeting Thursday evening with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change and the county health unit.
By Brier Dodge, Ottawa Community News, March 9, 2017
St. Joseph Boulevard will be spruced up this summer, with the addition of flower planters through the Heart of Orléans BIA’s beautification plans.
Businesses along St. Joseph Boulevard between Youville and Prestone drives will have the chance to buy at-cost planters. A meeting scheduled for March 11 was expected to give interested volunteers and businesses information about the program.
Julie Pangilinan, team lead of the streetscape and beautification team for the Heart of Orléans BIA, said the idea is to make St. Joseph Boulevard more inviting and walkable.
By CTV News Ottawa, March 9, 2017
Ottawa's O-Train remains out of service because vandals damaged cables which control track signals.
The City's Director of Rail Operations, Michael Morgan, says Ottawa Police is now investigating.
"The vandalism compromised our ability to provide service. While not only illegal, it also posed a serious risk to the people who removed the cables as the active railway corridor is dangerous. Personel that are allowed access on the tracks are both trained and equipped to safely do so', wrote Morgan in an email to Bellmedia.
By Doug Hempstead, CBC News Ottawa, March 9, 2017
Good morning commuters!It should be a straightforward, busy Thursday commute: the last ugly one of the week.
I believe March break is next week for many Ottawa families.This being the case, experience tells me many will decide to skip Friday as well.
It's much colder this morning than it was yesterday afternoon, so best to be on the lookout for black ice again. Yesterday morning was treacherous in that regard.
By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, March 9, 2017
Using the Prince of Wales bridge to integrate Ottawa and Gatineau’s rapid-transit systems may be the long-term goal, but a key first step toward a more seamless system could come next year when the Confederation LRT Line opens.
The $2.1-billion rail line is expected to alleviate the current bottleneck of buses on downtown streets.
Discussions between politicians and transit planners from both sides of the river have been underway for almost two years, and the plan they’ve hammered out, including details about the presence and volume of STO buses on downtown Ottawa streets, should be made public before summer.
By Glen Gower, StittsvilleCentral.ca, March 8, 2017
It was great to see City Council approve plans for Phase 2 of light rail transit (LRT) today. The $3-billion project includes an extension of the rail line west from Bayshore to Moodie Drive by 2023. That’s good for all west end commuters.
But there’s one thing that’s bugging me: I keep hearing councillors and other officials use the phase “bringing light rail closer to Kanata”.
We need to change that line and start saying “bringing light rail closer to Stittsville.”
By CTV News Ottawa, March 8, 2017
Early on in Ottawa the value of a property was at times based on its proximity to Parliament hill, but with new access provided by light rail transit (LRT) that could change.
On Wednesday, Stage 2 of LRT was passed by city council after just a few hours of debate.This includes construction of an additional storage facility near Moodie Drive, as well as the following extensions:
By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, March 8, 2017
Approving the Stage 2 LRT plan was the main entrée at Wednesday’s city council meeting, but there were several juicy appetizers.
ByWard, Parkdale markets to offer local coffee, cheese and jamLocal coffee roasters, cheese makers and jam producers can soon set up stands at the ByWard and Parkdale markets.
The city is expanding the criteria for its outdoor markets to include a new “microprocessor” category. Microprocessors are considered small-scale, local producers who are “actively and directly engaged in the transformation or processing of an agri-food product” intended for consumption.
By Solomon Israel, CBC News Ottawa, March 8, 2017
It's called Greyball: a secret method used by Uber to track and evade unfriendly authorities in cities around the world.
The ride-hailing service won't confirm whether it used that clandestine tool to deceive regulatory and law enforcement authorities in Canadian cities.Still, Uber has publicly acknowledged that it used Greyball in major cities across the world including Paris, Boston, and Las Vegas.
By CBC News Ottawa, March 8, 2017
Even as Ottawa city councillors voted Wednesday to approve a sweeping, expensive plan to extend light rail east, west and south by 2023, they were already contemplating the next stage and finally connecting the rail system to Gatineau in the north.
Councillors gave Mayor Jim Watson a mandate to start formal talks with his Gatineau counterpart in the hopes of speeding up plans to convert the old rail bridge over the Ottawa River to light rail.
"This is something that has been talked about for a couple of decades," said Watson.