transit committee Report 41A

Comité du transport en commun - rapport 41A

 

 

To the council of the City of Ottawa

Au conseil de la Ville d’Ottawa

 

25 AUGUST 2010

le 25 AOÛT 2010

 

 

The TRANSIT Committee met on 12 JULY 2010 and submits the items contained in this Report for the information and/or approval of Council at its meeting of 25 AUGUST 2010.

 

 

Le Comité DU TRANSPORT EN COMMUN s’est réuni le 12 JUILLET 2010 et soumet les articles du présent rapport au Conseil pour information et/ou approbation lors de sa réunion du 25 AOÛT 2010.

 

 

 

Present / Présences :

 

Chair / Président :                               A.  Cullen

Vice Chair / Vice-présidente :             M.  Wilkinson

 

Members / Membres :                          G.  Bédard

                                                            R.  Bloess

                                                            C.  Doucet

D.  Thompson

 

 

SUBJECT:            PUBLIC DELEGATIONS – AUDIT OF THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS FOR THE SMARTBUS NEXT STOP ANNOUNCEMENT SYSTEM AND THE SMARTCARD SYSTEM

ACS2010-CMR-TTC-0011

 

objet:                 DÉLÉGATIONS PUBLIQUES – VÉRIFICATION DU PROCESSUS D’ACQUISITION DU SYSTÈME D’ANNONCE DES ARRÊTS DANS LES AUTOBUS INTELLIGENTS ET DU SYSTÈME DE CARTES À PUCE


 

 

1.                   PUBLIC DELEGATIONS – AUDIT OF THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS FOR THE SMARTBUS NEXT STOP ANNOUNCEMENT SYSTEM AND THE SMARTCARD SYSTEM

 

DÉLÉGATIONS PUBLIQUES – VÉRIFICATION DU PROCESSUS D’ACQUISITION DU SYSTÈME D’ANNONCE DES ARRÊTS DANS LES AUTOBUS INTELLIGENTS ET DU SYSTÈME DE CARTES À PUCE

 

 

 

Committee Recommendation

 

That Council receive this report for information.

 

 

Recommandation DU Comité

 

Que le Conseil prenne connaissance de ce rapport.

 

 

 

Documentation

 

1.      Committee Co-ordinator's report, City Clerk’s Branch dated 5 July 2010 (ACS2010-CMR-TTC-0011).

 

2.            Extract of Draft Minutes 47, Transit Committee meeting of 12 July 2010.


Report to / Rapport au:

 

Transit Committee

Comité du transport en commun

 

and Council / et au Conseil

 

5 July 2010 / le 5 juillet 2010

 

Submitted by / Soumis par: City Council / Conseil municipal

 

Contact / Personne-ressource : Diane Blais, Committee Coordinator /

Coordonnatrice de comité,

City Clerk’s Branch / Direction du greffe

580-2424, Ext. / poste : 28091, Diane.Blais@ottawa.ca

 

City Wide / À l'échelle de la Ville

Ref N°:  ACS2010-CMR-TTC-0011

 

SUBJECT:    PUBLIC DELEGATIONS – AUDIT OF THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS FOR THE SMARTBUS NEXT STOP ANNOUNCEMENT SYSTEM AND THE SMARTCARD SYSTEM

 

OBJET:          DÉLÉGATIONS PUBLIQUES – VÉRIFICATION DU PROCESSUS D’ACQUISITION DU SYSTÈME D’ANNONCE DES ARRÊTS DANS LES AUTOBUS INTELLIGENTS ET DU SYSTÈME DE CARTES À PUCE

 

 

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

 

That the Transit Committee receive public comments with respect to the Auditor General’s report (Audit of the Procurement Process for the SmartBus Next Stop Announcement System and the SmartCard System), as referred by Council at its meeting of 23 June 2010.

 

 

RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT

 

Que le Comité du transport en commun reçoive les commentaires publics en ce qui concerne le rapport du vérificateur général (Vérification du processus d’acquisition du système d’annonce des arrêts dans les autobus intelligents et du système de cartes à puce), tel que référé par le Conseil à sa réunion du 23 juin 2010.

 

 

BACKGROUND

 

At the 23 June 2010 meeting of Ottawa City Council, the Auditor General tabled his report titled “Audit of the Procurement Process for the SmartBus Next Stop Announcement System and the SmartCard System”.  In tabling this report, Council approved the following referral motion:

 

 

That Council refer the Audit of the Procurement Process for the SmartBus Next Stop Announcement System and the SmartCard System to the Transit Committee for the purpose of receiving public delegations and for subsequent consideration and approval of the audit recommendations by Council at its meeting of August 25, 2010.

 

 

In accordance with the reporting protocol approved by Council for the Office of the Auditor General, the authority to “discuss and approve” the Auditor General’s reports rests with City Council.  Therefore, the sole purpose of the referral to the Standing Committee is to provide an opportunity for public delegations to comment on the referred report. 

 

 

CONSULTATION

 

This item will be advertised in the local dailies as part of the Public Meeting Advertisement on Friday preceding the Transit Committee Meeting.

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

There are no financial implications since this is to receive public comments.

 

 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

 

Document 1 - Audit of the Procurement Process for the SmartBus Next Stop Announcement System and the SmartCard System (previously issued to all members of Council and held on file) / Vérification du processus d’acquisition du système d’annonce des arrêts dans les autobus intelligents et du système de cartes à puce (distribué antérieurement aux membres du Conseil municipal et retenue en dossier)

 

 

DISPOSITION

 

Council to consider and approve the audit recommendations at its meeting of August 25, 2010.

 


PUBLIC DELEGATIONS – AUDIT OF THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS FOR THE SMARTBUS NEXT STOP ANNOUNCEMENT SYSTEM AND THE SMARTCARD SYSTEM

DÉLÉGATIONS PUBLIQUES – VÉRIFICATION DU PROCESSUS D’ACQUISITION DU SYSTÈME D’ANNONCE DES ARRÊTS DANS LES AUTOBUS INTELLIGENTS ET DU SYSTÈME DE CARTES À PUCE

(Referred from City Council meeting of 23 June 2010/ Reporté de la réunion du Conseil municipal du 23 juin 2010)

ACS2010-CMR-TTC-0011                         city-wide / À l’Échelle de la ville

 

Chair Cullen introduced this item by noting that the purpose of having it on the agenda was to receive public delegations and that the Audit, Budget and Finance Committee would deal with any aspects on which management and the Auditor General disagreed.  He then referenced a request from the Chair of the Accessibility Advisory Committee regarding the Smartcard. In its request, the advisory committee asked that the Transit Committee defer any decision until after a presentation could be made to the Accessibility Advisory Committee.  Further to his introductory comments, he reminded Committee that no decisions would be made today, noting that the Audit in question was not dealing with the Smartcard system but rather with the procurement process. Therefore, he submitted that if the Accessibility Advisory Committee had an issue with the Smartcard process, the current meeting would not be the venue at which to discuss it.

 

Charles Matthews remarked that the objective was to hear public delegations on the Audit of the procurement process for the Smartbus next stop announcement system and the smartcard system. He maintained part of the requirements for this was to make it public information and for advertisements to be placed on the Friday prior to the meeting.  He submitted that very few people were aware of this opportunity because all the major organizations were not sent the information nor was it sent out as a news release.  He referenced the Accessibility Advisory Committee’s request to defer the item and expressed his belief that they wanted to give people a chance to see the report and take a look at the procedures that were used during the procurement process. Therefore, on behalf of Access Now, he asked that this be delayed until the next meeting and that proper procedures be put in place so people could present on this. 

 

Chair Cullen indicated he was in the hands of Committee in terms of any motions to delay.  However, he pointed out that the Audit was tabled at Council on June 23rd and had been in the public domain since that date.  He re-iterated that this Committee was mandated to receive public delegations and that any issues that required further discussion between management and the Auditor General would be dealt with at Audit, Budget and Finance Committee.  With respect to the matter following proper procedures, he maintained that it had followed the standard process; the Auditor General’s report was tabled and made public at the June 23 Council meeting, at which time Council considered and approved a motion to defer this Audit report to Transit Committee for the purpose of receiving public delegations.  He again referenced the request from the Accessibility Advisory Committee and indicated his understanding was that the AAC had larger, more generic issues relating to the Smartcard. 

 

Charles Matthews re-iterated that the community only became aware of this item on Friday and would have liked more time to review the report and make recommendations on it.  He submitted that this was a very important step in terms of accessibility in Ottawa and the City was getting to a point where money was being spent on something that should never have happened in the first place.  He maintained the issue at hand was the calling out of stops, not to get an automated system.  He made one last request to defer the item. 

 

Responding to questions from Councillor Wilkinson, Chair Cullen stated that he had two problems with this: first, he maintained that this had followed proper process; secondly, he believed the concerns being raised were not germane to Audit report itself but had more to do with next stop announcement system and the smartcard system.  He acknowledged that these were legitimate issues and that the Accessibility Advisory Committee could discuss them and make recommendations, but he re-iterated that it was not germane to the Audit report.   .

 

Charles Matthews felt he was being misunderstood.  Yes, he submitted the underlying principle was that the system was not needed.  However, with regards to the Audit and the procurement process, he believed that in many instances, Council had not used the procurement procedure properly.  He submitted that this was just the most recent example.  He referenced the O-Train and the tunnel and maintained that this needed to be discussed before the City got to an EA. 

 

Speaking to the procurement process, Councillor Wilkinson explained that the Auditor General had conducted this audit some time ago and she advised the delegation that Council had since approved changes to the Procurement Policy to deal with this particular issue.  With respect to concerns related to the next stop announcement system and the smartcard system, she suggested that Mr. Matthews work with the Accessibility Advisory Committee, which she presumed would be bringing forward recommendations for the Transit Committee’s and Council’s consideration. 

 

In conclusion, Mr. Matthews stated he did not like the way Committee and Council passed things through and put things in such a way that it did not give a fair bidding process to the people who were putting in the bids.  Secondly, he referenced the people being affected and questioned whether this was the system they were looking for or whether this was the City spending unnecessary money in areas where it should not be doing so. 

 

That the Transit Committee receive public comments with respect to the Auditor General’s report (Audit of the Procurement Process for the SmartBus Next Stop Announcement System and the SmartCard System), as referred by Council at its meeting of 23 June 2010.

 

                                                                                                RECEIVED