German streetcar bid scores a 'nein'
Headshot of John Barber
JOHN BARBER
With a report from Jeff Gray
November 15, 2007
Three city councillors led by Norm Kelly, chairman of the planning committee, made an extraordinary appeal yesterday on behalf of German manufacturer Vossloh Kiepe GmbH to include the company in the bidding for a billion-dollar contract to replace the Toronto Transit Commission's streetcar fleet.
"In view of size and potential value of this contract, in our view the city should be trying to get as many options on the table as possible to be sure we have the best and most cost-effective vehicles for the next two or three decades," the councillors wrote in a letter to TTC chair Adam Giambrone.
The letter was also signed by Councillors Karen Stintz and Frank Di Giorgio, following revisions by Vossloh Kiepe lobbyist Arthur Potts.
The German company was hoping to persuade TTC engineers to alter the specifications for their preferred streetcar to accept a design that would include several internal staircases or ramps rather than flat floors. But after lengthy analysis of the performance of different designs, including those proposed by Vossloh Kiepe, TTC engineers decided to order streetcars with "100-per-cent low floor area throughout the vehicle."
"No internal steps will be permitted in the passenger compartment of the new vehicle," Stephen Lam, TTC superintendent of streetcar engineering, reported last month. The TTC is expected to issue the final Request for Proposals before the end of December.
The decision to exclude streetcars with internal staircases was made as a result of complicated technical requirements and public desire for more accessible streetcars, according to Mr. Giambrone.
Ms. Stintz, often cited as a potential mayoral candidate, said she signed the letter hoping to "broaden" the competition to include suppliers of equipment different from that preferred by TTC engineers.
"I'm not acting on behalf of a lobbyist," she said. "I think council should understand if there are trade-offs, and if there are, should know about it."
Mr. Lam, described by a colleague as "one of the best streetcar engineers in the world," set out the reasons for selecting low-floor streetcars in a detailed analysis published last month. Considering the advantages and disadvantages of both designs, it warned that vehicles of the design promoted by Vossloh Kiepe were more likely to derail than low-floor vehicles and would be insufficiently powerful to climb many hills on the Toronto system.
Extensive real-world experience with low-floor streetcars persuaded TTC engineers the design has "significant advantages and should be specified as the only acceptable vehicle configuration in the RFP," according to the report.
"I'm not questioning the engineers," said Ms. Stintz, adding that she had not read the engineering report before publicly demanding its expert authors reverse their position on the issue. "We need to understand what the trade-offs are."
Ms. Stintz said she did not meet with Mr. Potts, the Vossloh Kiepe lobbyist, before deciding to endorse the company's cause. For his part, Mr. Potts said he did not "directly" meet with Ms. Stintz. He did, however, work closely with Mr. Kelly and his staff to draft the letter and gain political support for it at city hall.
Councillor Joe Mihevc, a commission member, criticized Mr. Kelly for the initiative. The German company was just doing its job, he said. "But it's not Councillor Kelly's job to stump for them."
TTC chief general manager Gary Webster backed his engineers, saying partial low-floor streetcars capable of operating in Toronto would be unacceptably cluttered with internal stairways and ramps.
jbarber@globeandmail.com
