Notice of Default
On March 9, 2020, city council directed staff to prepare and deliver a notice of default to Rideau Transit Group (RTG), requiring it to provide a plan and schedule by March 31, 2020, for how it intends to fix ongoing issues. The notice of default is a contractual notice advising RTG that it is not fulfilling its obligations under its contract with the City. This escalation of the City’s legal rights is in response to RTG’s failure to provide reliable service with the vehicles, stations, and across the system since service started last September. The City memo can be viewed here: City Manager Memo
Remedial Plan
The City received a plan from RTG on March 31, 2020. City staff undertook a careful review of the plan provided by RTG. An executive summary of the plans was then presented at council on April 8, 2020. Overall, the plan presented did not meet requirements in terms of issues fixes, resolution actions and was missing key timelines. As it was unacceptable, the City requested that RTG present a revised plan with a tight timeline on all required fixes to the City so that the Rail Implementation Team of the City can update City Council in May.
My Inquiry & Findings
On April 29th, I met with City Solicitor, David Wise to view the plan myself. The document consisted of 75 pages and was filled with very technical information.
The criteria to be improved on included 7 key areas. This included an increasing the vehicle roster such as by expediting the delivery of Stage 2 vehicles. It also asked for the rectification of all systems including software, vehicle traction power, overhead catenary, power doors, vehicle auxiliary power, and HVAC systems. It also suggested the implementation of a systems reliability growth forecast, stabilized resourcing and supply chain. Examples for these include implementing new methods with all stakeholders, parts inspections, and quality management reporting. They are also to institute a governance structure such as by appointing a project manager and develop a master schedule to provide rough timelines for all improvement activities.
An update on the rectification process was presented to council on May 13th.
The presentation provided by the city can be found here Stage 1 Update to Council.
More information can also be found on our previous post here: https://mathieufleury.ca/confederation-line-update-rideau-transit-group-performance-plan/
