Metrolinx: Other Items (catch all)

[hw621]

Metrolinx have already pledged otherwise. Many times...so has QP, many times.

There's hundreds of hits if you Google, I can only be bothered posting one:
Ontario Taking Major Step Forward to Electrify the GO Rail Network
Electrification Will Support Faster and More Frequent Service for Commuters and Families
June 15, 2017 11:00 A.M.
Ministry of Transportation
https://news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2017...forward-to-electrify-the-go-rail-network.html

QP has a new owner now...

 

[steveintoronto]

Just a reminder that there's a Metrolinx board meeting next Wednesday. I wonder if we'll get a comment on this topic.

Doubtful. They've clammed up the tin pretty tight already, even knowing full well that it is a "folly" (I suspect even more harsh words were used, but have been sanitized), and the announcement will come from where it began: In the political sphere.

Ford will delight in announcing this one himself, and also use the example of how Metrolinx is accountable to no-one but themselves (rightly or wrongly). Remember, the only reason we're hearing about this now is:

According to documents obtained by the Star through a freedom of information request, one day afterDel Duca’s announcement, Howard Shearer, a Metrolinx board member, sent agency chair Rob Prichard a blistering email warning that the hydrogen project “must be taken seriously for the folly it represents.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...described-hydrogen-train-plan-as-madness.html

And here's where it ends:

The incoming Ford administration orders freeze on hiring and discretionary spending

And also watch for an inquiry as to who was behind this push, who got paid, and their connections to the OntLibs/Il Duce.....Rightly or Wrongly.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

And also watch for an inquiry as to who was behind this push, who got paid, and their connections to the OntLibs/Il Duce.....Rightly or Wrongly.

The article is suggestive - and it hasn't said anything in that area that we haven't suspected in these threads before.

You're right and not, I think it was pretty clear from day 1 that this has never been the primary consideration rather just something the Government wanted to do, now if only Ford were to say "The PC's will only use proven technology and fully electrify with catenary" One can hope . . .

Proven technology like tunnelling?


AoD

 

[ssiguy2]

I read the article and if Hydrail is `madness` then of course they shouldn`t go thru with it.

What didn`t make sense to me was on one hand they were talking about RER and the other kept bringing up double level trains like the ones they have now. The big monsters they run now are not what RER would use so the fact that they couldn`t use Hydrail double deckers is irrelevant.

Of course this is all Wynne`s fault and Metrolinx which she controlled. Think about it...………...increased GO and a RER-type system has been planned for 10 years and Metrolinx still hasn`t even figured out what kind of vehicles they will run on it. Of course this would also not be an issue as electrification could have already been completed if Metrolinx had decided to put all the time and money they spent on parking garages towards electrification.

 

[steveintoronto]

The article is suggestive - and it hasn't said anything in that area that we haven't suspected in these threads before.

What we find an overwhelming stench about, and what is actually referenced in the public realm are still gulfs apart. I suspect the Cons, not from any superior moral calling, but just to rub dirt in the wounds, will release damaging info on the OntLibs. The whole Hydrail thing is so bizarre. Il Duce makes the toy trains run on time.

What didn`t make sense to me was on one hand they were talking about RER and the other kept bringing up double level trains like the ones they have now. The big monsters they run now are not what RER would use so the fact that they couldn`t use Hydrail double deckers is irrelevant.

Yeah...groan...what a mess

Think about it...………...increased GO and a RER-type system has been planned for 10 years and Metrolinx still hasn`t even figured out what kind of vehicles they will run on it. Of course this would also not be an issue as electrification could have already been completed if Metrolinx had decided to put all the time and money they spent on parking garages towards electrification.

It was all bluster, and no muscle. Metrolinx, if nothing else, is one of the world's largest collections of "what we might do" files.

It's obviously beyond Ford's ability to deal with, but hopefully someone in his 'help' group...lol...has the smarts to pull this all apart and put it back together in a basic, meaningful form.

I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more on this in the next while.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

What we find an overwhelming stench about, and what is actually referenced in the public realm are still gulfs apart. I suspect the Cons, not from any superior moral calling, but just to rub dirt in the wounds, will release damaging info on the OntLibs. The whole Hydrail thing is so bizarre. Il Duce makes the toy trains run on time.

OR board members having no love of Il Duce wanting to remain in good graces of the new government and trying to appear to went down that road under duress that they probably were?

AoD

 

[steveintoronto]

OR board members having no love of Il Duce wanting to remain in good graces of the new government and trying to appear to went down that road under duress that they probably were?

AoD

Yeah....what was really troubling about the TorStar piece was not so much what we all sensed, and finally saw in print writ large, but how the ML Board knew what they did, and kept air-tight on it. Kirby was nothing compared to this...

If these folks are so morally baseless as to go along with something they know to be 'wrong', then they're also capable of doing what you suggest: Doing anything their political masters demand of them. This is going to get (edit: 'even more') interesting...

 

[Neutrino]

Of course this would also not be an issue as electrification could have already been completed if Metrolinx had decided to put all the time and money they spent on parking garages towards electrification.

And nobody will have been able to use the shiny new electric trains. I understand that station access and electrification are not mutually exclusive, but it's so frustrating seeing very little movement on station access improvements, especially via local bus.

 

[BurlOak]

If these folks are so morally baseless as to go along with something they know to be 'wrong', then they're also capable of doing what you suggest: Doing anything their political masters demand of them. This is going to get (edit: 'even more') interesting...

Or, they were just so partisan.

 

[yrt+viva=1system]

What I'm more interested in find out more about is who these board members are and what other boards or corporations they are also involved with. The fact that one was on Hitachi's payroll is raising my interest in what other companies could have or not been invested in future Metrolinx projects.

 

[steveintoronto]

Or, they were just so partisan.

I don't know if they're 'partisan' as much as 'yes-men' (yes-people). It remains to be seen if Doug's "drain the swamp" is applied to an org that needs it, or if Doug just paints them blue and things continue on as they always have.

I note that Il Duce is pining for his throne again:

QUEEN'S PARK
Former Liberal cabinet minister Del Duca to run for chair of York Region

And what's he after? More preferential treatment for York Region transit on Toronto's dime via subways. He sure knows how to talk dirty to Doug. Subways to Sudbury wouldn't be too much for Dougie. Hopefully the nice men surrounding Dougie will explain the facts of life to him. Maybe not...

 

[steveintoronto]

What I'm more interested in find out more about is who these board members are and what other boards or corporations they are also involved with. The fact that one was on Hitachi's payroll is raising my interest in what other companies could have or not been invested in future Metrolinx projects.

Even though almost all of us suspected what is now in the public domain (just as Kirby et al were), that Ben Spurr has cracked the facade to allow some light to shine in opens up the possibility of all sorts of nefarious goings-on and all it will take is more FOI requests to reveal them. Remember though that the Kirby ones were redacted.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/tr...stations-that-were-rejected-by-metrolinx.html

Looking at Spurr's latest article, one wonders was this just serendipity of timing of the release of info from the latest FOI, or was a door cracked open to prime an action forthcoming by Ford's administration? Ford barely has the smarts to scratch his own ass, but some of those surrounding him are adept at playing this game. After all, they got a moron elected premier. And most of those who voted for him knew he's a dimwit.

The term 'bastion' comes to mind for Metrolinx. And the cracks are starting to show as the rumbles increase.

Addendum: I was just doing a cursory check of the published bios for the ML Board of Governors. I'll have more comment later when I've had a chance to dig deeper, often it's unfair and unproductive to just 'judge a book by it's glossy cover'. That being said, Janet Ecker is a member, and she's been a real point-person for Ford's campaign, if not Ford himself. (All of the Con establishment know he's a puppet. They put him there). Possibly more on that later.

But I will post the aforementioned Shearer's bio as mentioned by yrt+viva, and of course, central to Spurr's latest excellent article:

Howard Shearer

Howard Lincoln Shearer is the Chief Executive of Hitachi Canada, with corporate responsibilities for supporting Hitachi’s business development across all business units in Canada, implementing the company’s growth strategies, and government relations.

Mr. Shearer previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of GE-Hitachi Canada Ltd., Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), Ontario Responsible Gambling Council and the McMaster University Board of Governors. He now serves on the boards of the following non-profit and public sector organizations: the Canadian Nurses Foundation, University of Toronto Governing Council and The Japan Society.

Mr. Shearer is also a member of other professional organizations including the Energy Council of Canada, Canadian Nuclear Association and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and serves on the Special Advisory Council to the League for Human Rights, B’nai Brith Canada and is a member of North York’s Investigative Services Community Advisory Council.

Mr. Shearer holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from McMaster University.

He is a recipient of McMaster University’s L.W. Shemilt Distinguished Engineering Alumni award (2016) and University of Toronto’s Arbor Award (2003).

http://www.metrolinx.com/en/aboutus/board/board_of_directors_bios.aspx

I'm short on time here, but have to point this out:
"Mr. Shearer is also a member of other professional organizations including the Energy Council of Canada, Canadian Nuclear Association and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories "

The very same clique that Shearer alluded to as (gist) "satisfying my concerns on Hydrogen safety". I'll dig and quote his exact wording as stated in Spurr's article later.

For anyone who's studied the nuclear industry in Canada (and as much as I've been personally affected, long story, I do favour some aspects of the industry) it's a pretty-much self-serving closed shop.

Quick reference:
Governance | Canadian Nuclear Laboratories
www.cnl.ca/en/home/about/governance.aspx
CNL maintains and operates the site under a Government-Owned Contractor-Operated model under agreement with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)
------

There's a lot more to this story to come out yet, even Federal v Provincial aspects at some level, the Feds effectively leasing out their ownership some years back. That in itself is a convoluted story.

Addendum: I've vacillated on posting this muse: Ummm...'was there a leak from within the Board as to Shearer's email records?'

 

[steveintoronto]

Just had a few minutes to do a quick dig as per prior post. Still short on time, but some things to consider:

Former Metrolinx director Paul Bedford has choice words for board that let him go
With the province’s haphazard approach to building mass transit descending into chaos, it is small wonder the Liberal government seeks to hush a fiery critic. But Paul Bedford is in no mood to shut up

Peter Kuitenbrouwer
March 10, 2012
4:54 PM EST

In January Bob Chiarelli, Ontario’s Transportation Minister, called Paul Bedford to thank him for six years of service on the board of Metrolinx, the agency set up to plan, build and run new transit lines in greater Toronto. Mr. Chiarelli said Cabinet had decided Metrolinx no longer required Mr. Bedford’s services.

With the province’s haphazard approach to building mass transit descending into chaos of late, it is small wonder the Liberal government seeks to hush a fiery critic who loves light rail.

But Mr. Bedford is in no mood to shut up.

This week Mr. Bedford walked from his Rosedale home to Caffe Doria, on the corner of Roxborough and Yonge streets, to expand on his blistering, half-hour speech to the Feb. 16 meeting of the Metrolinx board, his last.

“I care deeply about this,” Mr. Bedford added, after ordering a hot chocolate and a blueberry muffin. “I am a lifelong transit guy. I haven’t had a car in 20 years. I use transit every single day.”

Paul Bedford joined the City of Toronto as a planner in 1973 and served as Toronto’s chief planner from 1996 until 2004. Please don’t say he retired. His business card reads “urban mentor,” and Mr. Bedford, 65, is busier than ever; he serves on the board of the National Capital Commission and the design review panel at Waterfront Toronto, and teaches planning at Ryerson University and the University of Toronto.

Mr. Bedford joined Metrolinx in 2006, and helped write its plan, The Big Move. When Mayor Rob Ford sought to tear up that plan for a network of light rail lines in favour of one line — a tunnel under Eglinton Avenue — Mr. Bedford says he insisted such changes needed city council approval. Thus we can thank (or blame) Mr. Bedford for council’s muscle-flexing of late that has revived light rail.

I ask him why the Transportation Minister turned down his request for another term on the Metrolinx board.
[...]

http://nationalpost.com/posted-toro...rd-has-choice-words-for-board-that-let-him-go

Note date and source for the above. I highly recommend reading it all, as he's not 'Dougie's kind of dog'. More on Bedford later, you can bet your stale tokens he's already talking again to some in the press.

Governance: The third rail that powers integrated regional transit
Why governance matters to the success of the Toronto region’s transportation system: Lessons from London, Vancouver and elsewhere

Author(s): Neptis Foundation
June 2014
[1] Many of those who attended his talk were inspired by Quarmby's account of how Greater London has successfully integrated its regional transit system. They appreciated his insight that "high-value, low-cost" initiatives, centred on traveller satisfaction and convenience, could transform the way people use and view public transit.

Thirteen years after the formation of TfL in 2000, Greater London has seen a spectacular transformation in how people move around the region - growth of 75 percent in bus use and of 35-40 percent in commuter rail travel and underground travel, and a decline of 10 percent in auto use - not to mention record high levels of traveller satisfaction.

During his visit, Quarmby was keen to dispel any idea there was only one correct way to build an integrated transit network. Toronto isn't London, he repeated, but he felt there were transferable ideas that might resonate or be worth exploring in our region. At the heart of it all, Quarmby said, is getting the governance right and using it well. [...]

http://www.neptis.org/publications/governance-third-rail-powers-integrated-regional-transit

Above is an analysis as much as a news story. It's dated, and yet still highly pertinent.

And Deja-Vu All Over Again:

Province could step in over Metrolinx CEO's massive pay raise
Shawn Jeffords (TorSun)
Published:February 1, 2017
Updated:February 1, 2017 8:18 PM EDT

Ontario’s Transportation Minister isn’t ruling out intervening in a process that could see troubled transit agency Metrolinx’ CEO get a six-figure pay hike.

Steven Del Duca stressed Wednesday morning that nothing has been finalized when it comes to Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig’s proposed raise, which could see him receive $118,000 more in salary a year. If approved at the maximum level in a draft report, McCuaig’s pay would jump anywhere from $375,000 to $479,500. He currently makes $361,000 a year.

The government has asked all public-sector agencies to review executive compensation packages after lifting a five-year wage freeze. The report prepared for Metrolinx provides a range in which the CEO, and other executives at the agency, could see their pay hiked. Del Duca said the decision is up to the Metrolinx board, but he’ll be watching.

“They also know that we need to maintain credibility with the people that we represent,” Del Duca said. “I’m going to leave it to them, for the time being, to navigate the process and make decisions and recommendations accordingly.”

Last week, Deputy Premier Deb Matthews intervened when some Ontario colleges were preparing to give their presidents raises of up to 50% of their salaries. Del Duca wouldn’t say if raises were justified at Metrolinx after a difficult 2016. The agency was plagued by a series of high-profile screw-ups which resulted in a sweeping review that brought it under greater government control. It was also on the receiving end of a scathing Auditor General’s report which slagged the agency for rewarding contractors who repeatedly botched jobs that wasted taxpayers’ money.
[...]

http://torontosun.com/2017/02/01/pr...aise/wcm/33fdb69f-d4ae-4a89-9f76-149d3f2a0324

In all fairness to above, often you get what you pay for. If Metrolinx wants the best on the world scene to run the show, they're going to have to offer top dollar to get it.

Not to mention the Law of (un)Intended Consequences:
Ford's anger at CEO pay sparks talk of selling off Hydro One | The Star

 

[raptor]

Look, I think we can all agree Metrolinx is a rotten apple. However, I fear that any drastic changes to this organization will put projects such as RER, Relief Line in jeopardy, and will set us back at least 5 years.

 

[steveintoronto]

Look, I think we can all agree Metrolinx is a rotten apple. However, I fear that any drastic changes to this organization will put projects such as RER, Relief Line in jeopardy, and will set us back at least 5 years.

Perhaps you miss the gist of what I'm outlining? A Big Change is coming. And precedents for it are already extant. Ford is going to have to make big savings to keep his outlandish promises.

Aren't you just a little intrigued as to why Metrolinx redacts and hides Board Meeting minutes? I'm being the Devil's Advocate here, but what possible harm could come from being accountable?

No wonder the likes of Ford get elected...