Transit Commission

Minutes

Meeting #:

1

Date:

Friday, January 27, 2023

Time:

9:30 A.m. - 10:30 A.m.

Location:

Champlain Room, 110 Laurier Avenue West, and by electronic participation

Present:

• Chair Glen Gower, 
• Vice-Chair Cathy Curry, 
• Councillor Marty Carr, 
• Councillor David Hill, 
• Councillor Jeff Leiper, 
• Councillor Wilson Lo, 
• Councillor Shawn Menard, 
• and Councillor Tim Tierney 

Absent:

• Councillor Riley Brockington 

---

1.

Notices and meeting information for meeting participants and the public

Notices and meeting information are attached to the agenda and minutes, including: availability of simultaneous interpretation and accessibility accommodations; in camera meeting procedures; information items not subject to discussion; personal information disclaimer for correspondents and public speakers; notices regarding minutes; and remote participation details.

Accessible formats and communication supports are available, upon request.

Except where otherwise indicated, reports requiring Council consideration will be presented to Council on February 1, 2023 in Transit Commission Report 1.

The deadline to register by phone to speak, or submit written comments or visual presentations is 4 pm on January 26, 2023, and the deadline to register to speak by email is 8:30 am on January 27, 2023.

This meeting was called as a special meeting pursuant to Section 87 of the Procedure By-law (No. 2022-410).

2.

Declarations of Interest

No Declarations of Interest were filed.

3.

Council Referral

3.1

Financial Update for Zero-Emission Bus Program Funding

ACS2023-FSD-FIN-0001 - Citywide

Referred from the City Council meeting of January 25, 2023.

Renée Amilcar, General Manager, Transit Services Department, Isabelle Jasmin, Deputy City Treasurer, Corporate Finance, and Richard Holder, Director, Engineering Services, presented an overview of the report recommendations and answered questions from the Commission.  A copy of the slide presentation is filed with the Office of the City Clerk.

The following Transit Services Department staff also answered questions: Dan Villeneuve, Program Manager, Capital Projects and Engineering, James Greer, Director, Transit Bus Operations and Maintenance, Paul Treboutat, Chief Safety Officer, Pat Scrimgeour, Director, Transit Customer Systems and Planning.

The following members of the public spoke before the Commission and provided comments on the report recommendations:

• Joey Cyples (Enbridge Gas), slides on file
• John Reddins
• Dr. Kate Riccomini (CNIB Foundation)
• Raymond Leury and Mike Banks (Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa), slides on file
• Angela Keller-Herzog (Community Associations for Environmental Sustainability)

Following discussions, the Commission considered the report recommendations as presented.

• Report Recommendation(s)

  That Transit Commission recommend that Council approve:

  1. Additional budget authority for the Zero-Emission Bus (ZEB) Program in the amount of $425 million; $350 million from the Infrastructure Canada (INFC) grant and $75 million drawdown on the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) credit facility. 
  2. The budget adjustment of $55,015,000 transferring funding from the existing 2022 approved Bus Replacement budget to the ZEB Program Budget.
  3. That the General Manager, Transit Services, as part of the annual budget process, request the City’s share of the ZEB funding requirements and accompanying CIB financing amount for each subsequent tranche of the ZEB purchases required from 2024 to 2025.
  4. That the Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer be authorized to establish a ZEB Program Reserve, as described in this report, to facilitate the repayment of the CIB loan and replacement batteries from accrued savings, as required by the CIB loan agreement.

  For (7)	G. Gower, T. Tierney, J. Leiper, S. Menard, C. Curry, D. Hill, and M. Carr
  Against (1)	W. Lo

  Carried (7 to 1)

4.

Adjournment

Next Meeting

Thursday, February 9, 2023.

The meeting adjourned at 12:10 pm.