uOttawa Gazette - Keeping our campus community informed

A uOttawa graduate puts Ottawa on track

Johanne Adam — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:36:13 +0000

Rock Fortier studies one of the mock-ups showcasing the light rail transit project, also known as the Confederation Line. Photo: Kevin Benloss.

In 2011, Rock Fortier, a program manager for the City of Ottawa, joined the City’s light rapid transit (LRT) project team as the engineer in charge of relocating telecommunications and electrical systems to ensure that that they remain on line during LRT construction and are permanently installed once the LRT is ready to roll. He is also responsible for ensuring that work on the infrastructure needed for the LRT, including bridges and retaining walls, is performed properly.

During the selection process undertaken by one of the project bidders, Fortier set the performance standards required by the City, specifically in terms of reliability and energy efficiency, as well as for noise, vibration, and soil contamination. Now that the contract has been awarded to the Rideau Transit Group (RTG) consortium, he monitors the project to ensure continuous compliance with these standards.

“What really attracted me to this project, from the start, was the challenge of digging a tunnel large enough to allow a light train to travel under the downtown core and the Rideau Canal. It will be a first for Ottawa,” said the Class of 1987 uOttawa engineering graduate. “When the job was posted, I applied for it right away”.

Managing road traffic during construction will be a real headache for the contractors, especially since they will need to temporarily close a section of Highway 417. During rush hour, our current transit system moves some 20,000 commuters from one end of the city to the other. “That’s why the work to widen the 417 will proceed sooner than expected. RTG won that contract as well, so they will be in a better position to coordinate the projects and reduce the effects on traffic,” explained Fortier.

According to the engineer, RTG will try to minimize the impact on the public. Fortier believes that “over the longer term, the implementation of a LRT network should benefit the entire population. Our current transit system has reached its maximum capacity in the downtown core; we just can’t add any more buses.”

Fortier firmly believes that the engineering program at the University of Ottawa, combined with the co-op option, prepared him well to undertake a project of this size. “We worked on many group projects while I was in the Faculty of Engineering. We learned how to tackle challenges by finding solutions that also took costs into account,” he added.

“As an alumnus, I am proud and very excited to see what the proposal for the campus will be. The University will really benefit from it: in addition to being able to carry more riders, the new transit system will be quicker and more reliable. And since we will have fewer buses on the road, the environment will benefit as well. So we will have a first-class transit system for a first-class university!”

According to the engineer, the current transit system has reached capacity in the downtown core. Photo: Kevin Benloss

University of Ottawa CO-OP student part of history in the making

Sabrina Abraham — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:36:03 +0000

CO-OP student Bhavik Mistry is working with the City of Ottawa on the Light Rail Transit project. Photo: Kevin Benloss.

For the last two years, Faculty of Engineering student Bhavik Mistry has been directly involved in one of Ottawa’s biggest infrastructure projects—the construction of the Confederation Line. As part of his CO-OP placement, Mistry has been working closely with various project managers and the Rail Office’s preliminary engineering team to help track their progress and coordinate the successful delivery of the project.

“The material taught in third- and fourth-year classes in engineering has been applicable to activities that I’ve been experiencing in the workplace,” says Mistry. “Understanding basic concrete and steel design made looking at design drawings more rewarding, as certain annotations and methods presented could now be recognized. I also took part in the geotechnical investigation and soil experiments that were seen in school.”

The dynamic nature of the Light Rail Transit project has allowed Mistry to dabble in all areas of engineering. From collaborating with various teams on the creation of financial systems to identifying property interests with real estate advisers, Mistry has had the opportunity to witness firsthand what goes into transforming a city’s transportation system.

“This system is a major stepping stone for the City in terms of transportation. The success of this project has the power to set precedence and instill comfort and assurance in residents that the City is capable of implementing a superior level of transportation,” he explains.

As for the University of Ottawa, Mistry believes this will only help improve the student experience in the long run. “Having a light rail station on campus is a big achievement for the University. Light rail has become a world-class level of transportation, and having a station on campus will make uOttawa stand out that much more as a world-class institution,” he says.

More opportunities for CO-OP placements like Mistry’s are expected to open up as the construction of the light rail system progresses. Stay tuned for more exciting developments on this project and ways uOttawa students will get to benefit from them.

Sustainable transportation to help get you to and from campus

Sabrina Abraham — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:35:35 +0000

Campus Station. Photo: City of Ottawa

Stand on the Laurier Avenue bridge facing Elgin street and you will see several cranes and large trucks—signs of construction and new life in Ottawa’s downtown core. In the last decade, the city has seen an increase in condominium buildings and businesses, a result of higher population density moving to and circulating in the downtown area. With the University of Ottawa located in the heart of the city, it is not surprising that changes will be felt on campus.

As part of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, uOttawa will be one of the first locations to be affected by construction. An increase in population has required the city to re-evaluate its current transportation system as buses reach capacity and roads become more congested. To meet the demand and bring Ottawa up to speed with other large metropolitan cities in the world, the city will begin construction this summer on the LRT system that will run from Blair station to Tunney’s Pasture.

“This is taking the whole city by storm and everybody is in this together,” says Daniel Spence, Sustainable Transportation Manager, Protection Services. “We are among the best set-up institutions in town to deal with this right off the bat. We already have the programs in place.”

For the past several years, the University of Ottawa has been working hard at facilitating mobility to and from campus with the community and environment in mind. As the population on campus continues to increase, it is geographically impossible to expand parking spaces at the same rate. “Being a land-locked university with little room to expand, we need to proactively manage how people get here,” explains Spence.

How can I get to uOttawa?

The Parking and Sustainable Transportation division of Protection Services has developed initiatives to facilitate and encourage the use of sustainable transportation.

Carpool matching program: To assist in finding suitable carpool partners, the University of Ottawa subscribed to RideShark.com, a state-of-the-art carpool website designed by professionals in the field of sustainable transportation. Just fill out a simple questionnaire to quickly and securely find carpool partners. You will be shown potential matches based on close points of origin and destination, similar work/study schedules and compatible preferences.
Secure bike parking: Cycling is one of the best ways to commute to and from campus. The University provides several bicycle racks throughout the campus in addition to a secure bicycle enclosure available for all students, staff and faculty members. Check out the Green Map, designed by students, to help you locate bike racks and other resources on and around campus.
Shuttle services: Free shuttle service is available to help students and employees commute to and from the University of Ottawa’s downtown campus, Saint Paul University, Roger Guindon Hall and Carleton University. The shuttle service is intended to ease commutes, reduce parking demands and encourage sustainable methods of transportation.
Vrtucar: uOttawa has partnered with Vrtucar to make carsharing available right on campus. The service provides its members with access to a fleet of vehicles on an hourly basis. Members reserve a vehicle online or by phone, make their way to the nearest vehicle and drive off.

The University of Ottawa is one of three leading universities in Canada in sustainable transportation. The LRT construction is a great opportunity to help the community reduce its footprint and harmful gas emissions, and save some cash.

“This is the right time for everyone to start thinking about other commuting options,” says Jonathan Rausseo, Sustainable Development Manager. “If you’ve been thinking about biking to work, or carpooling, you should give it a try now and get into the habit.”

Photo: City of Ottawa

Horses, streetcars and light rail: A look at Ottawa’s transit systems

Eli Burghardt — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:34:47 +0000

Sparks Street in 1909. Photo: Library and Archives Canada

Now in its 165th year, the University of Ottawa has transformed from a small primary and secondary school to a major research institution. In the late 1800s, students attending the University, which was known as the College of Ottawa, had limited transportation to get around the city: they could walk, ride horse-drawn carriages or hop aboard horse-powered rail transportation.

The “animal railway,” operated by the Ottawa City Passenger Railway Company, was Ottawa’s first urban transit system, where a team of horses would pull cars along a railway set into the street. Transportation service began in the fall of 1870 with six horse cars running daily (except Sundays) every 15 to 20 minutes, with a 10-minute service at rush hour. It cost passengers six cents to ride. During the winter months, when the streets were covered in snow, the horses pulled passengers along in sleighs.

Snow Sweeper of the Ottawa Electric Railway Company. Photo: Library and Archives Canada.

By 1892, the College of Ottawa had grown to 389 students and begun conferring degrees, with the first Bachelor of Arts granted to Thomas Foran in 1872. A new transportation system, which provided more access to the city, was available to staff and students: the electric streetcar. The network of cables and rails crisscrossing Ottawa streets was developed by Thomas Ahearn and Warren Soper, founders of the Ottawa Electric Railway Company. Determined to continue running cars throughout the winter months, Ahearn and Soper started the city’s first snow removal service. They also purchased snow sweepers, rail cars with rotating brooms in front to brush the snow away from the tracks.

Streetcars ran in Ottawa for nearly 70 years, until 1959 when the system was converted over to buses along a transitway to better serve the needs of the growing city. The University of Ottawa was also growing, and student life changed as many lived off-campus and held jobs, requiring them to commute around the city. Between 1956 and 1970, the number of full-time and part-time students rose from 11,000 to 17,000.

Today, with the bus system nearly at capacity in the downtown core, Ottawa is ready for its next transformation, a return to trains and rails. With roughly 40,000 students and 7,000 employees, the University of Ottawa is a main hub for commuters. Renovation plans for the Campus station promise a modern structure that will enhance the look of the campus and a transportation system that is sustainable and accessible. Not only will the light rail be able to carry 10,700 passengers per hour in each direction (and more as the system grows), but it will also make travel faster and easier.

Lees Station in 2017-2018. Photo: City of Ottawa.

Interview with Mayor Jim Watson

Sabrina Abraham — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:32:26 +0000

Name: Jim Watson
Title: Mayor of Ottawa

With big changes coming to Ottawa’s transportation system, who better to give us the inside scoop than the city’s mayor? The Gazette asked Mayor Jim Watson why, when and what we can expect from this long-awaited Confederation Line project.

As the City of Ottawa begins its construction on the Light Rail Transit project, how do you see the city evolving?

The Confederation Line is Ottawa’s most significant infrastructure investment since the building of the Rideau Canal; it will improve our communities and our quality of life here in Ottawa. This world-class transit system will help make Ottawa an even better place to live, work and play; in the downtown core the transit system will move underground, allowing us to reclaim downtown spaces for pedestrians, cyclists and greener landscaping. I also see the reliability and efficiency of the system attracting new customers and making Ottawa even more transit-friendly.

Why are we changing Ottawa’s transportation system? What are some of the improvements we will see?

In the next 20 years, projections show that there will be a 30 percent increase in the City’s population and employment growth. By converting our current transit system to light rail technology, we will be constructing the necessary infrastructure to accommodate this growth.

Another current challenge for our city is that public transit is already at or near capacity in the downtown core. The Confederation Line includes a downtown tunnel that will be instrumental in addressing the downtown traffic bottleneck.

Transit users will also benefit from reduced travel times; the Confederation Line will save cross-town commuters up to 15 minutes per day, or 2.5 days each year. The system also observes accessibility standards in both station design and vehicles to ensure that those with mobility challenges are able to easily use the system.

When is the project’s anticipated completion date? What can people expect at the end of this project?

The Confederation Line will enter into full revenue service in the spring of 2018. Not only will the system provide rapid and high-quality transit service from Tunney’s Pasture to Blair (directly serving the University of Ottawa), but transit users will also benefit from a convenient, fully accessible system that is capable of growing with the city. Extensions to the light rail system are also recommended in the Transportation Master Plan, and future phases of our transit infrastructure and a western LRT extension are currently being explored by the City.

How will this enhance customer service and mobility for citizens, and more specifically, students and members of the uOttawa community who try to get to and from campus?

Transit users will benefit from end-to-end trip times from Tunney’s Pasture Station to Blair Station in less than 24 minutes, including stops at stations. The system and vehicles will also be fully accessible and will allow those with mobility issues to fully access stations and vehicles.

The Confederation Line project is particularly exciting for students and uOttawa community members as they will be able to access uOttawa facilities and buildings at two of the Confederation Line stations. Both Campus Station and Lees Station meet students and staff at the University of Ottawa right at the doorstep of their campus. Students and community members will also benefit from frequent reliable service every three minutes and fifteen seconds on opening day in peak hours.

What do you want the people affected by the disruptions to keep in mind during the construction phase?

This is short-term pain, for significant long-term gain. The Confederation Line is a worthwhile and necessary infrastructure project that will have many economic and environmental benefits. In order to convert our current transit system to light rail technology, there will inevitably be some disruption. We are focused on having the Confederation Line in operation as early as possible while minimizing mobility impacts during construction. Incentives have been built into the contract with the builder to ensure that disturbances to transit service levels and local traffic are minimized as much as possible. The City will also be employing the use of a number of tools, including social media, to keep the public informed of any potential impacts well in advance so that they may plan their trips accordingly.

All aboard the light rail train: Changes ahead

Genevieve Joly — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:57:20 +0000

The new Campus Station is located above ground at the University of Ottawa adjacent to the Rideau Canal. Photo: City of Ottawa

Things are about to change around our campus. We’re about to embark on the largest infrastructure project in our city’s history: Phase 1 of Ottawa’s Light Rail Transit (LRT) System. This infrastructure project (officially called the Confederation Line) is spread over five years and will require a great amount of construction, including a tunnel through the city centre. From Tunney’s Pasture in the West to Blair Station in the East, the Confederation Line will bring Ottawa together through faster and easier transportation to, from and across the city’s downtown core, including our campus. Overall, this is a great opportunity for uOttawa students, staff and visitors to access the campus quickly from all parts of the city.

So, you’re thinking, how will this impact me on my daily commute to uOttawa?How do we fast-forward five years to avoid all the chaos? Well, we don’t have all the answers, and we certainly can’t fast-forward time. A project of this size means a lot of work, and that means a lot of patience for travellers, whether on foot, bike, bus or car. The University of Ottawa is a key partner of the City of Ottawa and the consortium, and every effort will be made to minimize the impact of this work on campus. Not all details of the planned work are released at this stage of the project, but for the upcoming months we will see several projects begin.

Here’s an overview of what we can anticipate this summer and beyond:

Digging the East tunnel

The East tunnel, officially known as the Confederation Line East portal, is a key part of the project. Its entrance is right near the current Campus Station. The East portal will be located on Waller Street, just south of Laurier Avenue. This means that the construction work will have a direct impact on uOttawa, especially on transit users and drivers.

Mid-May to the end of June 2013: Construction work will be underway to prepare for the realignment of the Transitway onto Nicholas and Laurier.
Week of June 24, 2013:the Transitway realignment will be in effect and will have the following impacts:
- Vehicular traffic heading northbound on Nicholas will be prevented from turning right onto Laurier Avenue.
- Laurier westbound (between Waller and Nicholas) will be reduced to one general traffic lane, and parking will be prohibited at all times.
- Pedestrian movement north-south across Laurier will be prohibited at the following two locations:
  - The west side of the intersection with Waller.
  - The east side of the intersection with Nicholas.
  - Mid-July 2013: Construction on the portal itself begins.

Transit users will continue having access to Laurier Station as they do today throughout the construction of the project, until the Confederation Line begins operating in May 2018. Transit users will also continue having access to Campus Station as they do today, until work begins to convert that station into an LRT station, currently scheduled to commence in 2016. To get an idea of what the new stations will look like, click here.

Parking on campus

If you drive and park on campus, you may be relocated to another parking lot for the duration of the project. We have 3,100 parking spots at the University of Ottawa and we aren’t losing many during construction. Parking lot K, located across from the Library (some may know it as the parking lot near the French fries truck) was sub-divided in April. Part of it will remain parking and the rest will be a staging area for the City of Ottawa for the next five years. Some parking spots in lot K will be moved to lot X (formerly the staging area for the FSS construction) and others will move to garages nearby. A parking lot on Lees Avenue, near Lees Station, will also become a staging area for the project in 2016. In the meantime, parking lot G3 will be expanded. Work on the expansion of lot G3 will begin this summer and should be done by mid-September.

Highway 417 expansion project

Another construction project that will affect us as we commute to the uOttawa campus is the Highway 417 expansion project. The scope of work will include widening Highway 417 by one lane in each direction between the Nicholas Street on-ramp and Highway 174.

June 2013: Construction will commence in June and will conclude in 2015.
Highway lane reductions within the project limits will be required and traffic delays are expected.
End of May 2013: The highway project also includes work to fix the Split—for this work, Highway 174 westbound will be reduced to one lane between Blair and the Highway 417 off-ramp.
- The lane reduction on Highway 174 westbound will begin in late May and conclude in September.
- Increased bus service will be provided to offer motorists an alternative mode of transportation and mitigate traffic delays.

Although the work may inconvenience people who live, work or study in the area, the construction of the LRT (and the two stations to serve the uOttawa community) is essential to achieving a common vision: sustainability and accessibility, as well as being connected to the University community we serve.The University will continue to provide its community with updates on the development of the project. In the meantime, we invite you to visit the Confederation Line website for more information.

Ottawa’s LRT Plans and Sustainable Transport Tests

Barry Wellar — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:16:48 +0000

Dr. Barry Wellar, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Geography

Best practices in sustainable urban transport are activities undertaken by governments, corporations, businesses, and individuals which simultaneously serve two objectives. That is, they most effectively and efficiently increase the number and proportion of walking, cycling, and transit trips while also reducing trips by private motor vehicle. Some examples of best practices include: sustainable transport tests; integrated land use and transportation system planning and development; incorporation of the geo-factor in sustainable transport measures; use of indexes for decision support; and definition of road and highway improvements in sustainable transport terms.

In this commentary, I draw on the importance of tests in everyday life to suggest that sustainable transport tests should be a core feature of Ottawa’s Light Rail Transit (LRT) plans, and of any other transportation plans and policies regarding land use, intensification, finance, budgets, zoning, infrastructure, and so on.

Blood, eye, and stress tests are part of our everyday lives for good reason: they provide evidence to help identify, anticipate, embrace, avoid, or modify matters that affect our well-being. The principle behind sustainable transport tests as a best practice is similar. They are a means to provide evidence that helps deal with matters and forces which affect the achievement of the goal of sustainable transportation.

There are many kinds of sustainable transport tests, including those based on questions such as “Which LRT route serves the largest number of riders per day?” This question tests whether the route plan achieves the highest ridership level on a daily basis to meet operating costs (financial sustainability), and also whether land use planning and zoning decisions in Ottawa have due regard for LRT route plans (sustainable development).

It is my impression of Ottawa’s often confusing and much-revised LRT plans that there is an urgent need for sustainable transport tests as a core feature of LRT planning, implementation, and operations.

Further, it is my impression that the City of Ottawa would benefit greatly from grassroots guidance on what sustainable transport tests are needed, including explicit directions on how the tests should be designed to ensure that LRT plans immediately begin to serve the goal of achieving sustainable transportation.

The uOttawaExpert blog is a collection of posts by members of the University of Ottawa community with opinions, news and information to share on a wide variety of topics. The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Ottawa.

Posts are published in the language they are submitted and every effort is made to ensure a balance of English and French posts.

Change is sweeping through Access Service

Dominic Boutin — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:50:29 +0000

Within only a few months of Access Service’s move into the Desmarais Building, this sector of Student Academic Success Service (SASS) has launched Ventus, a new Web-based tool to help manage accessibility issues. The new application, which was tailor-made for the University of Ottawa, will not only simplify the duties of Access Service staff, it will also provide students and academic units with the tools they need to help manage accessibility issues and the adaptive measures required for exams.

This new tool will also facilitate more direct and efficient communication between teaching staff, students and Access Service. All students whose requests for adaptive measures have been vetted by Access Service will receive confirmation messages. Ventus will automatically email these messages to all those teaching students who are registered with Access Service (although exceptions apply to those studying in the faculties of law, medicine, and graduate studies). Each message will specify the adaptive measures that the student requires to gain access to classrooms, exams or course material, along with other useful information for teaching staff members.

Ventus is also an ideal tool for managing adaptive exams. As soon as their exam dates are set, teaching staff members can submit their Notice of Examination on line. If one of their students is registered with Access Service, Ventus will automatically match the exam to that student. Teaching staff members will receive a message within 10 days of the scheduled exam date, reminding them to send a copy of the exam to their academic unit, along with instructions for the Access Service supervisors.

Here are a few more Ventus features:

Send messages to professors at the beginning of each session to confirm which adaptive measures are required (except for the faculties of law, medicine and graduate studies)
Notify students when their accessibility documents are about to expire
Send reminders to students, academic units and teaching staff that deadlines that affect them are approaching
Allow teaching staff to send instructions to academic unit and Access Service supervisors simultaneously

Because Ventus gathers course information and professor email addresses from the Registrar’s office, teaching staff members are asked to confirm their email addresses with that office and to check their email accounts regularly to make sure that they do not miss important information that might be sent on behalf of one of their students.

In mid-April, we sent Ventus information brochures to the vice-deans and communications officers for distribution to teaching staff members, who are asked to contact their faculties if they have not yet received this brochure. Further information for teaching staff members will be posted on the Access Service website in the coming weeks.

Student makes top 10 as she competes for round-the-world trip

Eli Burghardt — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:26:51 +0000

Civil law student Véronique Morissette is one of ten finalists competing for a six-month travel adventure as part of MyDestination’s Biggest Baddest Bucket List competition. The final winner will get to customize an around-the-world trip to at least 25 destinations, crossing off items on their bucket list and posting their adventures online through blogs, photos and videos.

Landing a spot among the finalists took Morissette three months of hard work, just as she was finishing her degree. To enter the competition, contestants had to submit a three-minute video showcasing a tourist destination and write a blog post about a memorable travel experience. Then, they were given two months to gather the most online votes from the public by any means possible. The five contestants with the most votes were guaranteed a spot among the ten finalists. Morissette used Facebook, Twitter, Stumble, Google+ and Pinterest, as well as traditional media and interviews, to gain a large following. She even obtained the support of Véronique Cloutier and Saskia Thuot, two well-known Quebec TV personalities. At the end of the voting period, Morissette had earned a fourth-place finish with a total of almost 34,000 votes.

As a law student, Morissette found developing a marketing strategy to be the hardest part of the competition so far. “How do you approach people to grab their attention and gain their support? It isn’t obvious when you haven’t studied marketing,” she says. What’s more, Morissette was competing in English, which is her second language. “When English isn’t your first language, it’s particularly challenging because the contest expects you to be very spontaneous and to answer quickly, especially when you are being interviewed.”

Since she is interested in international law, Morissette sees the competition as a great opportunity, not only to enjoy a unique travel experience but also to gain important insight into international issues. In particular, she hopes to raise awareness about stateless people—individuals who have no citizenship or nationality. “As Canadian citizens, our fundamental rights, such as the right to life, the right to an education, the right to health care, are protected by Canada,” she explains. Because they have no state to protect these rights, many stateless people cannot get an education, access healthcare or own property. “There are even people whose names are not recorded anywhere on the planet: these people are literally living in the shadows.”

On May 18, Morissette will fly out to London where she will compete in the final round of the competition during a week full of challenging activities. If she wins, Morissette has some exciting plans for her trip, such as diving with great white sharks in South Africa and hunting for anaconda in the Amazon rainforest.

You can follow Morissette’s adventures through her blog and lend her your support through the competition website.

Tina Lamontagne teams up with students to improve the campus experience

Sabrina Abraham — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:25:30 +0000

You could say that Tina Lamontagne is more than familiar with the University of Ottawa: she has spent the past 10 years participating actively in university life. From 2003 to 2007, she studied in the Department of Communications and took part in the work-study program, only to transition into full-time employment at the University after graduating. Today, Lamontagne can be found working with students in her new role as coordinator of uOttawa’s transition program.

“My biggest project is the orientation program,” she says. “Summer orientation allows students and their parents to spend a day on campus in July or August so that we can show them around.” Lamontagne says that each half-day session provides future students and their parents with important information and advice about first-year university studies and an overview of the various student services available.

The summer of 2012 saw the orientation program’s inaugural test, and Lamontagne, along with eight students, worked tirelessly to prepare for it. “The team and I sat down together and I asked them ‘How was your first year? What did you like about it, what didn’t you like about it?’ From there, we worked together to design the presentations,” she said.

The result of last year’s orientation was a great success. Parents appreciated being invited and hearing directly from the student presenters what university life would be like for their children. Future students had an opportunity to meet other students from their faculties and become more familiar with everyday tasks while learning how to manage their time and improve their study habits. By involving students in planning the orientation program, Lamontagne was able to really personalize the presentations and offer future students the information they wanted, thus helping to create a better overall experience for students.