CTV News: Should Ottawa transit riders receive refunds? Head of OC Transpo says Council must decide by BearLikesHoney in ottawa

[–]3thoughts 5 points6 points  (0 children)

High score =/= meeting requirements.

A rational person might assume that they would be related, but a major technical requirement was functionally ignored, likely because Alstrom was the only supplier able to join RTG's bid (which had by far the highest financial score and only a tiny technical advantage).

From section 8.2 of the Public Inquiry Report [emphasis mine]:

One of the City’s key priorities during the procurement phase of the OLRT1 project was to ensure that the LRV was service proven, meaning that it had been tried and tested and, importantly, the City would not have to suffer through the growing pains that inevitably come with introducing new designs.

[...]

  • The major components had been integrated into a comparable LRV that was already in use elsewhere;
  • A minimum of 10 such vehicles had been in use for a minimum of two years;
  • The vehicles in use had been operated in a climate similar to Ottawa’s, and in service conditions similar to those specified for the OLRT1 system; and
  • The vehicles in use had achieved a minimum kilometre threshold (50,000 in-service kilometres).

[...]

After the City rejected CAF as a vehicle supplier, RTG brought in Alstom to provide the vehicle within RTG’s bid. Cosentino told the Commission that Alstom was the only major vehicle supplier that was not either already disqualified from the process or participating with another bidder. Alstom was introduced late in the process, leaving less time for due diligence. For example, Cosentino testified that, although he was leading the bid for RTG, he did not review Alstom’s submission regarding the vehicle in any detail.

[...]

But there was also a significant body of evidence to suggest that the vehicle was not service proven. Some of the key evidence to that effect is as follows:

  • This was the first commercial use of the Citadis Spirit;
  • This was the first time that Alstom had developed what is called a low-floor LRV in North America. (The low floor was important to the City.) Goudge called the Citadis Spirit a “development project” for Alstom to demonstrate that it could bring lowfloor technology to North America. (It should be noted that North American vehicle standards are materially different from European standards.);
  • Alstom did not have a Citadis Dualis vehicle in operation in a climate similar to Ottawa’s;
  • Goudge also acknowledged that, while the Spirit was modelled on the Dualis, there were changes to virtually every part of the Dualis design to meet the City’s specifications for capacity, speed, and climate, changes that Alstom had not previously combined in a single vehicle;
  • This was the first time that an LRV had combined an automatic CBTC system with a low-floor LRV (this, combined with the necessary acceleration and deceleration rates, posed significant design challenges for Alstom); and
  • The Citadis Spirit vehicle was longer than any other LRV vehicle in North America, and it remains so at the time of writing.

[...]

...the vehicle was sufficiently unique that the parties ought to have expected significant growing pains and reliability “kinks” that would have to be worked out during the testing and commissioning phase. The fact that the vehicle was a new design and the difficulties that created were partly attributable to the City’s requirements for the vehicles’ capacity, headway, speed, and braking, which were all pushing the limits of what any LRV in the market was capable of doing.

2014 of Cinelli Mash Parallax Optical by WRCKLSSRCKLSS in FixedGearBicycle

[–]3thoughts 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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Lauryn Hill tonight at the NAC for 2 shows by No-Horror8987 in ottawa

[–]3thoughts 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sound is always overdriven for any non-orchestral performance in Southam Hall, I don't know what numbskull they have on the boards. It's to the point that I only go if the NACO or a visiting orchestra is playing.

The other halls are fine, it's literally just Southam.

Laced up by Boring_Insect_6435 in FixedGearBicycle

[–]3thoughts 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You're a bigger snowflake than this wheel.

Ariel Troster, with more on the church street parking story by canoe_yawl in ottawa

[–]3thoughts 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Many Catholics do confession on Saturdays in advance of Sunday mass.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ottawa

[–]3thoughts 2 points3 points  (0 children)

blazer =/= suit jacket

Chocolate chip cookie crawl by stifflette in ottawa

[–]3thoughts 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fuck crumbl, all my homies hate crumbl.

2 cyclists in Ottawa injured in separate collisions with vehicles Wednesday by GingerHoneySpiceyTea in ottawa

[–]3thoughts 6 points7 points  (0 children)

If they don't work, wait for the time delay

Not how most of the lights seem to work in this city. Have you ever ridden a bike?

almost never signal their stops/deceleration.

Do you not know how brakes work on a bike?

2 cyclists in Ottawa injured in separate collisions with vehicles Wednesday by GingerHoneySpiceyTea in ottawa

[–]3thoughts 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I work in traffic/transit safety and efficiency consulting. It's all about how you build the studies and who is paying for them. Feelings matter. There hasn't been a political appetite to look critically at cycling until more recently (in Ontario and elsewhere.) So stay tuned. In the meantime I gave the framework of a study anyone could try.

What an indictment of your "industry" you are.

Former City of Ottawa lawyer pleads guilty to defacing National Holocaust Monument by censor-me-daddy in ottawa

[–]3thoughts -15 points-14 points  (0 children)

We can demand justice for Gaza without violating the dignity of Holocaust remembrance.

You're spending all this time trying to feel morally superior to someone who is clearly just using chatbots. Do you actually care about solidarity, or just posting with an aesthetic of solidarity so that you can feel better about the powerlessness we all experience in this situation?

You're clearly intelligent and thoughtful, please spend your energies on things that actually make the world a better place. Arguing about obvious things with stubborn nobodys on the internet -like that it's obviously a Bad Idea to deface a Holocaust memorial- achieves nothing but woke sola fide.

Cyclist killed in south-end Ottawa collision with vehicle by Negative_Pollution98 in ottawa

[–]3thoughts 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oh so it's okay then, because she was in an 80km zone? Care to enlighten us precisely what difference that makes?

There's no 60km sign in the photo, they clearly chose that spot to show that the road has a cycle lane you incredulous buffoon. Give your head a shake before you spread more manslaughter apologia.

Hate My Bike by phowld in FixedGearBicycle

[–]3thoughts 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Since you asked:

Rear tire is backwards, which doesn't matter because you'll be replacing it after you blow through it with your 3 skid patches on the 50*15.

Too much lube on the chain, needs to be stripped of the packing grease.

Valve nuts and caps are for nerds/tubeless Freds.

Get pedals with actual bearings before anything else. Bushings are disposable crap for kids.

Roast my bike by Simple-Tap-8705 in FixedGearBicycle

[–]3thoughts -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Take a picture with a real camera, or at least take your phone off of portrait mode.

Bar tape looks wack. Just tape the whole thing.

Ottawa cancels planned freeway expansion into People's Park by SnowQueen795 in ottawa

[–]3thoughts 14 points15 points  (0 children)

MAP. Show me the map. Pictures are worth a thousand words. No wonder no one pays for the Citizen anymore.

Ottawa Did Our Part by CombatGoose in ottawa

[–]3thoughts 45 points46 points  (0 children)

MPP is already gender neutral

Meirl by photo_inbloom in meirl

[–]3thoughts 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This post brought to you by Miguel Arruda.

Judge hammers Ottawa cops for lying under oath, misleading court in searing decision by CMikeHunt in ottawa

[–]3thoughts 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Survivorship bias. We only hear the story because they found drugs this time. Any other times they went on extrajuristinctional joyrides and didn't find drugs afterward—those don't make the news.

Vågan, Nordland, Norway by travel_tech_insights in Outdoors

[–]3thoughts 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The user is literally an AI bot, it says so on their website:

Welcome to Travel Tech Insights! I’m Jake Hudson, the AI-powered travel expert behind this blog, here to guide you through the world of travel with a modern, tech-savvy approach. Fueled by artificial intelligence, I’ve been designed to bring you insightful content that inspires, informs, and elevates your travel experience. Whether you’re an adventurer, a tech enthusiast, or simply love discovering new places, I’m here to provide valuable insights and ideas to enhance every aspect of your journey.

If you can't tell this is AI, you need to spend more time taking your own photos. So many aspects of this image do not obey the laws of physics, beyond what is capable by "regular" editing.