On Thursday, I had the opportunity to speak to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC; formerly the Transportation Committee) about the final draft of Ottawa’s Transportation Master Plan. When you do this (which I had never done before), you get 5 minutes to speak on the item, and councillors can then ask you questions about what you’ve said. This was a great experience, and though prep was quite a bit of work, I think it was worth it.
I was glad to get some good feedback from councillors, and I hope this opens/continues a dialogue on reducing car dependency in the suburbs as this plan and our zoning by-law reviews are completed for the city. Below, I’ve embedded the City Council video, timestamped to the start of my comments, along with the full text of my comments below.
Good morning,
Thanks for giving me the time to speak with you today, this is my first time delegating.
My name is Rob Attrell, and I am a resident of Convent Glen North in Ward 2 in Orleans. I’m also a Board Director and volunteer with the Convent Glen-Orléans Wood Community Association. I live in the suburbs, I have three young kids, and along with our minivan, my family’s second vehicle is a cargo bike. I’d really like to spend less of my time and money on driving, and research consistently shows the only way to reliably reduce car dependency and traffic congestion in the long term is to enable and prioritize viable alternatives to driving.
First, I’d like to acknowledge all the work that city staff and my councillor has put into the Transportation Master Plan, and I want to say that I strongly support the vision this plan puts forward. The policies in our Official Plan and in Part 1 of the TMP correctly identify what’s needed: a sustainable transportation network that supports more efficient land use, more housing, and mixed-use, walkable neighbourhoods. The problem is that the investments laid out in the Capital Infrastructure Plan for Orleans in particular, and for the suburbs in general do not come anywhere close to funding that vision. And as the inimitable city planner Brent Toderian says, “The truth about a city’s aspirations isn’t found in its vision. It’s found in its budget.” There is a profound disconnect here between the city’s stated goals and its planned investments.
This is especially critical now, during the once-in-a-generation review of our Zoning By-laws. A great transportation plan is meaningless if it isn’t funded, and a great zoning plan is impossible if it isn’t supported by a robust multi-modal transportation network. On the zoning side, this means legalizing corner stores in addition to a larger mix of housing types and densities within our neighbourhoods. On the transportation size, a variety of nearby destinations give people more reasons to skip the car trip. Without these places integrated into local communities, even the most reliable LRT or safest bike lane is just a path to another overbuilt parking lot. We cannot achieve our housing and climate goals without a transportation system that gives people real alternatives to driving to most destinations.
The arrival of the LRT in Orleans is another generational opportunity. But its success hinges on residents getting to stations without a car. Part 1 of the TMP imagines our major arterial roads—like Orleans Boulevard, Innes Road, Tenth Line, and St. Joseph—as true multi-modal corridors. But Part 2 only funds a few disconnected pieces. This isn’t building a network; it’s a one-off gesture.
If we approve this plan without the funding to match its ambition, we are paving the way for densification in the suburbs without the multi-modal transportation choices needed to sustain it. This risks creating vertical sprawl—densely populated neighbourhoods that are still wholly car-dependent. Neighbourhoods built like this will suffer from even worse congestion than suburban residents complain about now. The current plan builds infrastructure for a city we say we don’t want.
So, my ask of the committee is this: Direct staff to level up the capital plan so that it actually funds the vision already laid out in the Official Plan and the TMP. We need a network that centres transportation on walking, biking, and transit, where cars are just one tool among strong alternatives. And finally, our plan must be flexible. The city needs the ability to massively accelerate our sustainable transportation plans as the environmental and political climates continue to change. We must be able to adapt quickly, and with the urgency we’ve seen in cities like Montreal and Paris. Let’s not just approve a vision; let’s commit to building it.
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There is a fundamental connection between transportation and land use which means that a transportation plan alone can only move the needle so much on the choices people make in how they move around the city. We cannot build a sustainable transportation system on a foundation of unsustainable land use.
Thank you.