Urban Transit Infrastructure Symposium, Eastern Canada

Registration, Refreshments and Pre-Conference Meet-n-Greet

Enjoy a face-to-face meet and greet with some of the speakers and attendees you’ll be networking with over the next few days. This is your chance to gain exclusive access to the expert faculty and get to know one another in a more casual format before the event gets underway!

Opening Remarks from the Co-Chairs

Edna Cuvin
Program Director, Stations & Strategic Initiatives, Transit Expansion Office
City of Toronto

Michael Roschlau
Strategic Adviser
Public Transit and Urban Mobility
Former President & CEO (retired)
Canadian Urban Transit Association

FOCUS GROUP ROUNDTABLE

Finding Creative Solutions for Rising out of a Pandemic and Transitioning to a ‘New Normal’ for Transit Planning and Delivery

Dave Reage
Executive Director
Halifax Transit

Michael Roschlau
Strategic Adviser
Public Transit and Urban Mobility
Former President & CEO (retired)
Canadian Urban Transit Association

Jonathan English
Director of Policy for Transportation, Infrastructure and Trade
Toronto Region Board of Trade

Nicole Ratti
Manager, Transit Policy & Planning
Durham Region Transit

• Assessing the impacts of COVID-19 from enhanced safety measures to reduced ridership, scheduling delays and cost overruns
• Urban Transit – routes to recovery
  • Customer demand – the return of ridership
    • What types of communications and marketing strategies are in place to get people back on public transit?
    • How will ridership now be shaped by the changing consumer behaviours? What are the potential shifts in mobility patterns in our city or region?
  • Operational resilience and agility; What are the operational implications and opportunities for rethinking how mobility services are designed and integrated?
  • Funding and investment in a post COVID-19 world
    • How will commuter demand affect funding?
    • How can current investment plans reflect current uncertainties while encouraging innovations?
    • What heightened level of collaboration is needed among public policymakers, public and private operators, and commuters to enable the recovery?

KEYNOTE

Jennifer O’Connell
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities
Member of Parliament

Morning Networking Break

Analyzing TOD and TOC Principles and Determining How Ontario is Doing

Nille Juul-Sorensen
Principal, Global Business Leader Architecture
Arup

Joe Ogilvie
Head of Innovation Partnerships Tim & Frances Price Urban Lab Brookfield Centre for Real Estate & Infrastructure
Schulich School of Business, York University

Julia Stefanishina
Senior Associate, Strategy & Transactions
Ernst & Young Orenda Corporate Finance Inc.

Moderator:

Lorraine Huinink
Director, Rapid Transit & Transit Oriented Development
Regional Municipality of Durham

• Understanding how municipal policy and planning review fit into the process of building transit-oriented communities?
• Evaluating the status of transit-oriented development for Ontario – is it where it should be?
• Addressing the concerns surrounding higher densities and how the prevalence of working from home will shape
• Toronto housing crisis and its impacts on transportation & transit – identifying conflicts and opportunities for better alignment of housing and public transit programs
• Understanding the most efficient ways to integrate transportation and land use planning
• Determining the best ways to work with developers through land use conversations that enable working and living close to stations

Understanding and Responding to the Transit Needs of Women in Canada

David Cooper
Principal & Founder
Leading Mobility

Dr. Emily Grise
Assistant Professor
University of Alberta

Networking Luncheon

Unlocking Public and Private Sector Funding for Infrastructure Transit Projects

Damian Joy
Senior Vice President, Strategy and Transactions - Infrastructure Advisory
Ernst and Young Orenda Corporate Finance Inc.

Charles Todd
Managing Director, Investments
Canada Infrastructure Bank

Shormila Chatterjee
Acting Director
Infrastructure Canada

Yann Tisserand
Vice President, Transactions & Investments
CDPQ Infra

• Analyzing financing practice in various jurisdictions with completion and availability payments
• Financing with the use of transit-oriented development
• Leveraging the use of public financing to attract new private financing
• Financing tools and mechanisms used globally and opportunities at home

Alternate Delivery Models: Removing the Boundaries for Infrastructure Delivery

Alyssa Shivji
Partner
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Catherine Jones
Vice President, Business Development & Partnering
Plenary Group

Manuel Rivaya
Senior Vice President, Urban Transportation Solutions
Aecon

Thijs Teunissen
Senior Associate, Strategy & Transactions
Ernst & Young Orenda Corporate Finance Inc.

Moderator:

Lisa Mitchell
President & CEO
The Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships

• What is the broad environment for post COVID infrastructure investment and delivery?
• When would the benefits to alternate delivery models be applied and will they replace P3?
• Evaluating the opportunities other delivery models can offer – such as, Alliance Contracting, IPD, Progressive Design Method
• How can owners facilitate different models?

Closing Remarks, Conference Adjourns to Day 2

Remarks from the Co-Chairs and Recap of Day 1

Michael Roschlau
Strategic Adviser
Public Transit and Urban Mobility
Former President & CEO (retired)
Canadian Urban Transit Association

Staying on Track to Provide an Essential Service: How Ontario is Delivering on the Most Ambitious Transit Plan

Matti Siemiatycki
Professor, Geography & Planning
University of Toronto

This session will unpack lessons learned in Ontario since the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic, and the integral role upcoming transit projects will play in economic recovery efforts.

• Plotting the progress on key projects such as the Ontario Line and Eglinton Crosstown LRT
• Overcoming obstacles to deliver a massive project within a dense urban environment
• Prioritizing projects and analyzing the risks associated with market capacity

Green Line – Overcoming Obstacles and Forging Ahead to Deliver an LRT System

Darshpreet Bhatti
CEO, Green Line
City of Calgary

• Explore challenges related to these projects
• Examine solutions to these challenges with redefined procurement strategies and project timelines
• Will Phase 2 of the Council approved plan proceed as planned?

Networking Refreshment Break

The Winding Road to Getting Canada’s Public Transit off Dirty Diesel: Best Practices and Key Considerations for Transit Electrification

Josipa Petrunić
CEO and Executive Director
Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC)

There are 15,000 buses on the road in Canada, and the federal government wants a third of those to be fully electric by 2025. Swapping Canada’s diesel-powered buses for battery powered ones is riddled with hurdles—and opportunities. Removing emissions from public transit is far more complicated than swapping a dieselpowered bus for a battery powered one.

Join us for an interactive discussion on the federal government’s plans for the diesel to battery transition. Learn about E-bus and Fuel Cell Bus innovations as well as autonomous vehicle shuttle pilot projects and predictions for the future of this mode of public transportation.

Major Developments in the Greater Montreal Area

Sylvain Yelle
Director General
exo

• What’s happening in Montréal?
  • Major public transit projects underway
  • Electrification of transport: a Government priority
  • A new metropolitan fare structure
• How exo seized these opportunities?
  • Adapting to new travel patterns through on-demand transit project
  • Modernizing rolling stocks through historic investment to ensure a resilient train network
  • Evolving our business model to electrify our bus fleet
  • Reviewing exo’s bus network to facilitate inter-modality
  • Rethinking the future of mobility

Networking Luncheon

Project Update – Broadway Subway Project

Steve Brown
Manager, Transit Integration and Projects
City of Vancouver

Lisa Gow
Executive Project Director, Broadway Subway Project
Transportation Investment Corporation (TI Corp)

Jeff Spruston
Project Co Representative
Broadway Subway Project Corporation (Acciona-Ghella Partnership)

The Broadway Subway Project is a 5.7km extension of the Millennium SkyTrain Line. Despite the global pandemic the project is still anticipated to open on schedule by the end of 2025.

• Project overview, benefits and key areas of interest for the province
• Evaluating the latest developments and project schedule including key milestones and how the project is being constructed in a dense urban environment
• Understanding how the City of Vancouver is supporting the project through construction and planning the corridor for the future through street redesign, green infrastructure and considerations for development near stations to support resiliency and climate emergency goals

City of Edmonton — New Approaches to Transit Procurement in a Post-Pandemic World

Brad Smid
Director, Valley Line LRT, LRT Expansion & Renewal
City of Edmonton

Kevin Pringle
Portfolio Construction Manager, LRT Expansion & Renewal Branch
City of Edmonton

The City of Edmonton has continued to expand its LRT system throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Join us to hear the City’s recent successes and lessons learned from recent transactions. Topics of discussion include:

• Accelerate alternative delivery procurement
• Proactive, open and transparent industry and proponent engagement
• Rebalanced risk sharing mechanisms to ensure competitiveness and value for money
• A new model for Light Rail Vehicle supply procurement
• Use of standing open orders for miscellaneous and enabling works

Refreshment Break

Coordinating Project Construction with Stakeholders

Johnny Ton
Transit, Senior Project Manager
Enbridge

Julius Gombos
Senior Vice President, Project Delivery
Waterfront Toronto

Bruce McCuaig
Senior Vice President, Canada Transportation Business Line Leader
AECOM Canada Ltd

• Understanding how utilities work and the challenges they face in prioritizing and resourcing as they navigate the ever-changing direction of projects
• Lessons learned coordinating with utility companies
• Considering the externalities of transit projects: traffic congestion, business implications, other development pressures
• Reconciling the interest of all parties with vested interest in the same place, at the same time
• Resolving competing transit development objectives in the case of multiple simultaneous projects

Navigating the Escalating Costs of Building Transit Infrastructure to Pave a Better Way Forward

Stephen Wickens
Transportation Researcher, Journalist and Author
Station to Station, Why Subway-building Costs Have Soared in the Toronto Region

Marco Chitti
Postdoctoral Researcher, Transit Costs Project
Marron Institute of Urban Management, New York University

Construction costs associated with building transit systems, especially subways and LRTs in Canada, are soaring above market rates around the world. This session will feature a discussion on reasons behind the escalating costs and recommendations for building more cost-efficiently to ensure a higher return on investment for projects.

• How to reduce the costs without reducing the value
• Finding efficiencies to assist owners and contractors at the project outset
• Deciphering when the P3 model is appropriate or whether other methods should be considered
• Exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic is contributing to an increase or a decrease in costs of development

Closing Remarks and Conference Adjourns