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Moose Rail (National Capital Region)

The Ottawa Liberal candidates had a press conference this morning to talk about the Prince of Wales bridge and making it into a transit connection.

Video here: https://twitter.com/Yasir_Naqvi/status/999282324842803200

Good. We can finally start talking about how to employ public assets for the public's best interest as opposed to those of sprawl-promoting developers.
It seems that not all hope is lost to reverse the de-facto abandonment of the legally protected ROW...
 
It seems that not all hope is lost to reverse the de-facto abandonment of the legally protected ROW...

With Gatineau moving towards LRT, we finally have an opportunity to work together on a real strategy for cross-river transit. With Queen's Park finally paying attention, and with a little push from the feds, hopefully, they can get Quebec and Gatineau to come to the table and plan a crossing with the bridge. I believe some of their present proposals suggest other routes.

And with that we can be done with Moose and their distracting nonsense.
 
With Gatineau moving towards LRT, we finally have an opportunity to work together on a real strategy for cross-river transit. With Queen's Park finally paying attention, and with a little push from the feds, hopefully, they can get Quebec and Gatineau to come to the table and plan a crossing with the bridge. I believe some of their present proposals suggest other routes.

And with that we can be done with Moose and their distracting nonsense.

I've been casually following this thread for the past year and I'm a little unclear as to why you have so much disdain for Moose. What's the catch with what they are proposing?
 
I've been casually following this thread for the past year and I'm a little unclear as to why you have so much disdain for Moose. What's the catch with what they are proposing?

1) Sprawl. And tons of it.

For Moose to succeed, their model requires a massive amount of growth in outlying towns. Some of these towns that Moose wants to serve can't fill a coach with commuters today. And Moose thinks they could run double decker trains to them. So if we give Moose the benefit of doubt, then that requires massive growth in those exurbs to generate the ridership to fill those trains.

2) Disadvantages to existing riders.

Moose only wants to build stations where it suits their business model, while having the ultimate goal of taking over a major line in Ottawa. This would eventually lead to loss of service for current riders. And stations placed exclusively to favour their developments, rather than where most existing Ottawa residents live. Why should Ottawa residents support, the transfer of a public asset to the control and benefit of a private corporation, whose primary customers are nonresidents?

3) Their immaturity and abuse of process.

This is not Japan Rail or MTR coming over proposing this. It's a guy doing this on his kitchen table. Mr. Potvin has been doing this dog and pony show for nearly a decade. And has no investors to show for it. And yet, he feels compelled to use every regulatory process to try and stall the city's investment in transit development. He's abusing the regulatory process to keep the hope of his failed business idea alive.

We should consider Mr. Potvin in the same league as this:

https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2009/11/04/better_barrier_for_subways_an_obsession.html
 
With Gatineau moving towards LRT, we finally have an opportunity to work together on a real strategy for cross-river transit. With Queen's Park finally paying attention, and with a little push from the feds, hopefully, they can get Quebec and Gatineau to come to the table and plan a crossing with the bridge. I believe some of their present proposals suggest other routes.

And with that we can be done with Moose and their distracting nonsense.

Maybe that bridge gets used for both.
 
I've been casually following this thread for the past year and I'm a little unclear as to why you have so much disdain for Moose. What's the catch with what they are proposing?

A private sector entity that's been cagey responding to questions on how they want to use a public asset. The plan hasn't been endorsed or voted on by any level of government. The municipality has a funded, studied, shovel-ready transit network plan. Changing it now could delay it.
 
Ya know, some love to fool themselves as to what this is all about. It started off as a Moose v The World string, but it transcended that when the CTA consistently ruled against the City of Ottawa, offered many warnings, a number of notices, and now this.

What it's come down to is the City of Ottawa v. Various Rail Acts, including the Transportation Act and the Relocations and Crossings Act as regards the state of being of the Prince of Wales Bridge.

I'd suggest to the mods to change the title of this string to embrace the much wider issue: Maintaining it in usable repair and any and all *still assumed* rail rights of ways until such time as the CTA or the Cabinet (or Crown for that matter) have deemed them abandoned, or assumed by the Crown or the title transferred to some other department or entity.

Once some start spitting vile, they keep doing so even when the object of the scorn has left the scene.

All most of us wish for it for the City of Ottawa to live up to its obligations. If it can't, then allow some department or operator to do it for them. As required by Law.

And btw: All the talk of an "LRT" is misusing the term as that is defined and practised in the Transportation and Relocations Acts. To do so *still requires an abandonment process*!

It is and must remain a *heavy rail RoW* until further defined under Law. As such "Capital Railways" is already waivered to operate it as the Trillium Line, but only because Capital Railways is granted a certificate by Transport Canada. (CTA to be more precise as per certificate of operation)
 
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A private sector entity that's been cagey responding to questions on how they want to use a public asset. The plan hasn't been endorsed or voted on by any level of government. The municipality has a funded, studied, shovel-ready transit network plan. Changing it now could delay it.

Remember when he teased us about the Chinese throwing billions at him? Remember how some gullible souls bought his codswallop? (nb. Interesting how that member is now claiming they were only ever concerned about the corridor and the law and not cheering on this tosh.)

I gotta give him his due though. He has successfully rebranded sprawl to make it sound responsible. It's all transit friendly now with "property powered rail". That acre lot ranch home near Arnprior isn't sprawl. Because of MOOSE, it'd be rail powered property!

The only good to come of all this, is that municipal authorities learn they can't just abuse public goods (like rail lines) as they wish. And that they have to administer them responsibly. Just wish that ruling didn't have to come because of initiatives from a regulatory troll.
 
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Maybe that bridge gets used for both.

Moose will be taken seriously, when Mr. Potvin gets actual investors, not just guys who talk about investing while meeting for beers in his den. Till then, all involved can and should ignore him.

Ottawa and Gatineau will work out something with that bridge in due course. And it will be a solution that actually benefits residents who ride transit and pay taxes in Ottawa, not some property developer and his investors.
 
Looks like Gatineau wants to use the Prince of Wales Bridge for LRT. Sorry Moose. Image from this tweet (the reporter has sent out a few more since this image).

2M8gpPz
 
Looks like Gatineau wants to use the Prince of Wales Bridge for LRT. Sorry Moose. Image from this tweet (the reporter has sent out a few more since this image).

2M8gpPz
Let’s see first if they can overcome the apparent shortage of municipal staff in the Ottawa CMA which knows how to file an application for discontinuance of a ROW with the CTA...^^
 
^ Is that your personal view that the reason Ottawa didn't follow the proper discontinuance process or has there been any media report that points to that as a factor? I didn't see it referenced in the Ottawa City Legal's submission to the CTA on the rationale for their actions and defense. (Also, not sure why the CMA would be relevant if one of the main issues was at Bayview in the City of Ottawa, outside of Gatineau.)
 

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