1. NEW TRANSIT GARAGE AT 735 INDUSTRIAL AVENUE

NOUVEAU GARAGE DE TRANSPORT EN COMMUN AU 735, AVENUE INDUSTRIAL

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

That Council receive this report for information.

Recommandation du comité

Que le Conseil municipal prennent connaissance du présent rapport.

Documentation

1. Deputy City Manager, Public Works and Services report dated 5 September 2006 (ACS2006-PWS-FLT-0001).

Report to/Rapport au:

Transportation Committee

Comité des transports

and Council / et au Conseil

5 September 2006 / le 5 septembre 2006

Submitted by/Soumis par : R.G. Hewitt,

Deputy City Manager/Directeur municipal adjoint,

Public Works and Services/Services et Travaux publics

Contact Person/Personne ressource : Ron Gillespie, Director/directeur

Fleet Services/ Service du parc automobile

(613)842-3636 x 2201, ron.gillespie@ottawa.ca

Ward 18 (Alta Vista)

Ref N°: ACS2006-PWS-FLT-0001

SUBJECT:	NEW TRANSIT GARAGE AT 735 INDUSTRIAL AVENUE
OBJET :	NOUVEAU GARAGE DE TRANSPORT EN COMMUN AU 735, AVENUE INDUSTRIAL

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

That the Transportation Committee and Council receive this report for information.

RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT

Que le Comité des transports et le Conseil municipal prennent connaissance du présent rapport.

DISCUSSION

In 2000, OC Transpo provided a report to Regional Council detailing the 10-year growth forecast for the municipal bus fleet and identified the requirement for a new bus storage and maintenance facility to be constructed in 2002. Over the next three years, the following strategies were implemented to extend the life of the then current facilities as the City’s ability to maintain the buses reached its practical limit.

· Temporary hoists were installed at the St. Laurent site to manage increased maintenance pressures.

· With the institution of the Light Rail Pilot Project in the fall of 2002, the number of growth buses was reduced.

· Outdoor storage of buses increased.

Although successful, these temporary measures would have reached their limit in providing bus storage space and hoist/service bays by the end of 2004.

In 2003, Fleet Services identified an opportunity to use space at one of its Municipal Fleet Maintenance facilities to support transit requirements and received approval to undertake the Fleet Capacity Optimization project at a cost of $7M. Completion is scheduled for 2006 and further postponed the requirement for the New Transit Garage until 2007 by providing additional hoist and bus storage space. Additionally the concept of serviced outdoor bus storage proved successful in trials and consequently 101 additional bus storage spaces were created at the St. Laurent facility. In 2004 UPR reduced both the size of the bus fleet as well as growth projections, a move that resulted in a further extension of this project until 2009.

The original scope of this project was to construct a transit garage with traditional indoor storage for a project cost of $80 million in 2002 dollars. Based on the positive results of an outdoor bus storage trial at the St. Laurent garage, the project was changed in scope to incorporate outdoor storage for a revised project cost of $60 million in 2006 dollars.

Given the requirement to construct a new “Fleet Services Maintenance and Storage Facility” within the specified timelines, Transit Services re-engaged the RPAM design team which had previously assisted with site selection and the initial program development process two years earlier. In 2003, the team had determined that the optimum location for the new facility would be the City owned site at 735 Industrial Avenue, co-locating the new facility with an existing City structure at the west end of the property. Further, the 735 Industrial Avenue site offered the opportunity to secure purchase of the adjacent railway corridor, providing additional functional capability for the site in terms of both the intended program of requirements and future strategic value.

In August, 2005, representatives of Transit Services reviewed their projected operational and route deployment scenarios and re-confirmed to the RPAM project team that the proposed development site remains the preferred location.

As part of the updated planning process, representatives of Transit Services and Fleet Services further reviewed their operational and fleet deployment strategies in relation to the projected Bus Fleet complement. It has been confirmed that, on the basis of the current fleet make-up and the new vehicles projected to enter service in the near to mid-term, sixty-foot (60’) articulated vehicles powered by diesel fuel will be the primary vehicle type serviced at the new location.

During the program development phase of the project Transit Services and Fleet Services were also required to reassess and confirm their operational and facility needs in relation to the general Program of Requirements for the new facility. The key stakeholders determined that the program of requirements will include such elements as;

· Outdoor storage for 132, sixty-foot articulated buses

· Indoor storage for 30, sixty-foot articulated buses in a staging area and repair bays

· Fleet service and maintenance support areas

· Countdown and dispatch areas

· Key material storage areas

· Administration and transit operation elements, including meeting rooms

· A reasonable suite of employee services and amenities with 260 additional employee parking spaces

This represents a total building program of approximately 128,000 Sq. Ft., excluding renovations to the existing structure at the 735 Industrial Avenue site, which are also part of, and will be funded by, this project.

During the initial planning stages of the project, the RPAM design team advised stakeholders that the preliminary project schedule respected the September 2009 delivery deadline, but cautioned that delays in achieving project funding and approval could compromise the ability to deliver the project by that date. In the case of this project, it should be noted that the identified commencement date of late summer 2007 (funding approval pending) and the estimated construction timeframe of 22 months already present challenges towards achievement of the identified completion date in September 2009.

Recent plan changes related to the LRT project and reduction in bus traffic in the downtown core area have added 24 more standard equivalent buses to this in 2007, 13 more in 2008 and 38 more in 2009 than foreseen in 2004, when this construction plan was developed. This will result in severe overcrowding in 2008.

The following table illustrates the pressure that Fleet Services will face, beginning in late 2007, in providing serviced storage space.

NOTE FOR TABLE:

Indoor Storage is the number of standard equivalent buses that can be parked inside each facility.

Outdoor Serviced Parking is the total number of outdoor parking spots with electrical plug ins, that can be serviced by existing facilities.

Surge Capacity is the number of buses that a facility can park on its grounds and still operate. This is in excess of the Outdoor Serviced Parking.

DEAD Storage is the number of buses that a facility can store on its grounds by utilizing real estate that is less favourable or that may be difficult to access.

In addition, the potential acquisition of Double Decker buses for 2009 further complicates the project. RPAM’s Design and Construction Division has estimated that the introduction of Double Decker buses as part of the proposed 2009 bus garage would result in a 1 year delay (2010) in the delivery of the project. Furthermore, the premium capital costs of additional height requirements and specialty equipment would result in a budget requirement of $ 70M - $ 72M (high order of magnitude estimate) as compared to the planned $ 60M budget.

Fleet Services have confirmed that the September, 2009 delivery of the new bus garage is critical to their operation. Should a decision be made to purchase Double Decker buses, extraordinary measures will have to be taken to accommodate growth in 2009. These will be developed as part of the winter trial for Double Decker buses.

CONSULTATION/PUBLIC NOTIFICATION

RPAM have been consulted and support the following aspects of this project;

1. Project Cost Estimate

2. Project Delivery Methodology

3. Project Schedule

4. Project Site Selection

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

For 2006, a budget of $6,730,000 has been approved to fund this initiative with an additional $53,270,000 forecast for 2007 and is sufficient for the project as outlined. The tax increase forecast for 2007 as presented in the 2006 Draft Budget Summary document was projected to be 8.1%, which included this proposal. Therefore, no additional tax increases will be necessitated by this project.