Going solar

This is a really interesting story about a family in Orleans that have installed a solar panel, and are selling power back to the grid:

Even in December, the rooftop solar panels on the Helmerson family's home can produce enough power on a sunny day to meet the family's needs — and a little more.

The catch: at $12,000 for the system, it will take about 15 years for it to pay for itself. I would expect there to be great economies of scale with a system like this, though. Imagine a $6000 system that paid for itself in 7 years... at that point I think you'd start to see mass adoption.

Mixed messages

On the one hand, the City of Ottawa wants people to think about ways to spruce the place up:

While Deputy City Manager Nancy Schepers said cost estimates won’t be done until early next year, city staff began asking downtown pedestrians yesterday for their opinions of the city’s existing street furniture and what they would like to see in its place.

On the other hand, the City of Ottawa wants people to rip out flowers and pathways:

Resident of Ottawa's Riverside South neighbourhood who have spent years greening up the area around their homes have been told by the city to tear up any trees or flowers they have planted on city property.

The area councillor thinks maybe the Bylaw department is overzealous:

The bylaw department "I think overreacted and sent the letter to a large number of residents," said the councillor for the area, Steve Desroches. "I don't want to see them pulling out trees and tulips and flowers."

That's the Bylaw Department, they've got a hate on for everyone but Giant Tiger.

OC Ohno

This sounds insane:

Staff have come up with a plan to reduce the City of Ottawa's fuel consumption by 25%, but it would require drastic transit service cuts and cause a decline in ridership. ... The policy report, expected to be tabled at next week's transportation committee meeting, suggests eliminating 20 bus routes and reducing transit service by 25% to all areas of the city. It also proposes eliminating all morning-transit service for Riverside South.

It seems a bit like the "musical ride" style cutback: propose something so ludicrous, it is rejected out of hand. Smart move, City staff. Though proposing something useful, like replacing older buses with fuel-efficient ones, might make more sense. Cutting back bus service may reduce the City's fuel consumption, but increase overall consumption as spurned riders get back into their cars. On a related note:

Transit fares are paying less and less of the cost of running OC Transpo, but officials with the company are hoping a new fare structure, including a 7.5 per cent fare hike, will close the gap. ... A report going to city councillors on the transit committee next week says the cause of the widening gap is increased demand for longer trips downtown from the suburbs and higher fuel prices.

Guilty parties include residents of Bells Corners on the 69. I wonder how much more than the 7.5 per cent "average" prince increase the long-haul express routes will enjoy?

Baird's Bad Day

Next door, in the riding of Ottawa-West Nepean, our friend John Baird is having a bad day:

... who should appear in front of me but a friendly neighbourbood John Baird campaign staffer, bearing a stack of freshly printed press releases bearing the fabulously evocative headline: “SHADOWY FOREIGN ORGANIZATION ATTEMPTING TO INFLUENCE CANADIAN ELECTION” - which would be awesome enough all on its own, but the subhead made it even better: Apparently - their words, not mine - a “Wall Street Billionaire” is “bankrolling [the] campaign”.

Which is apropos this. Did David Pratt just become the luckiest Liberal of the year? Avaaz raised over $100K in 4 days to run anti-Baird ads, like this:

Tilting at windmills

An Ottawa man is trying to have city bylaws ammended to allow him to erect a power-generating windmill in his back yard:

About 20 of Findlay's neighbours showed up at the committee meeting Wednesday to express their opposition to the turbine. Some said they support the concept, but have safety concerns.

Kinda sad, isn't it? This isn't just NIMBY, this is NIYBY (Not In Your Backyard)! Many houses in Bells Corners have large yards, so the setback wouldn't be an issue. The 10 m height would still be a problem, though. Windmill man's suggestion is interesting:

"We should take the lead from the Europeans who are installing these not only in backyards, but on street poles, lighting poles, on schools, on fences, on bridges," he said.

Finally, a good use for these hideous structures!

Slow week ahead

I'm out of town for the week, so no new content until next Monday... sorry! In the meantime:

About 40 protesters carrying signs that read "Save the Parkway" showed up Monday night at an open house at the Nepean Sportsplex about possible routes for Ottawa's proposed light rail network.

I wanted to attend this open house, but ran out of time. But wouldn't it be nice if residents could see past their own fears and imagine how great light rail along the parkway would be for the entire city? How about getting protesters together to demand light rail in their neighbourhood? Maybe run the track down the strip? Who's with me????

Waiting for the short bus

OC Transpo has released it's 2007 Annual Performance Report, with an interesting analysis of "on-time performance":

In 2007, service reliability was at 76%, a slight decrease from 77% in 2006. The proposed policy target is for OC Transpo bus trips to adhere to published schedules 90% of the time. The policy standard for on-time performance is not to run early and to be no more than five minutes late. On Transitway routes, the adherence to the time between buses (called headway) is of greater importance than the posted times. This measure is under investigation for measurement using our new GPS system. This measurement would be of significant value for the future.

24% actually seems a bit low for late buses, at least for the 69, which runs through Bells Corners. It is >5 minutes late about half the time in the morning, and about 3/4 of the time in the afternoon. It's even worse in the winter, when I would say it's more than 5 minutes late at least 100% of the time.

Which brings me to my cranky old man suggestion of the day: OC Transpo should have some sort of "guarantee" of performance. If your bus is more than 10 minutes late, you get a free ride. Right now it would be complicated to implement, as many commuters have already bought monthly passes. But with the new smart card system, it would be simple. If your bus is late, swipe the card, and a credit is added to your account for next month's pass purchase.

Worst. PFO. Letter. EVER

I recently (on behalf of my wife) requested a book via the Ottawa Library online request service. Their response:

Title: The Divided Heart Format: Book The item that you suggested be purchased for the Ottawa Public Library will not be ordered, for one of the following reasons:

• It does not meet the Library's selection criteria - http://www.biblioottawalibrary.ca/explore/about/policies/selection_e.html
• It is by a very popular and best selling author, or is a top 40 compact disc, or a well reviewed DVD feature film - we will be buying these anyway and the order will be placed at a later date. Please check the database so you can place a hold.
• It is over two years old. (If a book, see if it is available from one of our Sm@rtLibrary partners.)
• It has not yet been published or released.
• The budget for the year has been spent.

The Library receives a large number of suggestions and can not always respond to requests for clarification of its decisions. Thank you for your interest in the Library's collection.

Translation: "Here's a semi-random list of reasons we can't get your book, but we can't tell you which one is the actual reason: 1) It's not a book. 2) It's too popular. 3) It's too old. 4) It's too new. 5) Oh yeah, we fogot, we're broke. Please don't contact us for further information. Toodles!" I particularly like the last reason. "We're broke." Maybe if you've spent the budget, you should stop soliciting ideas for new books until the next paycheque comes in. It will save us all some grief. Just an idea.

Across the border

There's exciting things afoot in Old Chelsea, over the QC side. Chelsea Matters is a blog set up to discuss the controversial Chelsea Creek housing development. It doesn't look like it's been updated in a while, but that doesn't matter, local residents have been able to force modifications to the original plan:

OTTAWA-The developer of a controversial sustainable housing project in Old Chelsea presented a revised lower-density plan at an informational meeting Wednesday night, but residents are still unimpressed by the proposed project and worry about its effect on the community.

They may even be able to cause a municipal referrendum on the development:

After a Sept. 8 council meeting, residents of the zones of Chelsea that border on the development will have the opportunity to request a municipal referendum on the project.

There's a lesson here: communities don't have to lie down and take whatever developers decide to show down their throats.