Wed, April 24, 2024 at 9:35 AM EDT
Business
LRT: Exhausting commute has night shift worker considering a car – Ottawa Sun
The post-LRT bus service change cancelled one of the bus routes Rob Maybee used to be able to take, and reduced service on another, in addition to the extra transfer and leg of train travel for which he now has to account.
—This week, this newspaper decided to spend several days during rush hour along the Confederation Line, talking to passengers and riding the rails. The following pieces profile just a few of the countless transit users with stories to tell about commuting on the Confederation Line. If you have one of your own that you’d like to share, please get in touch at ottcopyeditors@postmedia.com.
When Rob Maybee wakes up for his commute to work, he’s usually managed to catch about five hours of shut-eye.
The overnight shift worker rises around 2:30 p.m. to catch a Route 40 bus from Elmvale Acres to St. Laurent Station at 4 p.m. Once at St. Laurent, he takes a light-rail train to the Confederation Line’s eastern terminus at Blair Station. He and hundreds of others hop off the train and hustle down to the street-level bus platform in the hopes of claiming a spot on one of the eastbound buses that are often packed to the brim, forcing would-be passengers to wait for the next bus on their route to show up — if it does at all.
While most commuters at Blair are finishing their workday and heading home, Maybee is gearing up for a 10 to 12-hour shift as a supervisor at a Trim Road manufacturing facility. Once he manages to board a bus for the final leg of his commute, he’ll hopefully make it to work at least a half hour before his 6:30 p.m. start so he has time to prepare his staffing plan for the shift. When he finishes his workday at 5 a.m., it’s time for another 90-plus minutes in transit — if he’s lucky — to get home, sleep, and do it all over again.
“I’m out of the house upwards almost 15, 16 hours a day,” said Maybee, 43. “You run on five hours sleep — by the end of the week, I’m just exhausted. My weekend’s pretty much shot, trying to catch up.”
It wasn’t always like this. Before the September opening of the Confederation Line, Maybee said his commute took two buses and 45 minutes, even on the busiest day. The post-LRT bus service change cancelled one of the bus routes he used to be able to take, and reduced service on another, in addition to the extra transfer and leg of train travel for which he now has to account.
“It’s a huge difference,” said Maybee. And he feels it. With a job where he’s overseeing multiple people and spends most of the night on his feet, five hours of sleep isn’t really cutting it.
“I’m sure one of these days it will come to — I miss something major, or I may not even wake up for work just because I’m so tired.”
In addition to his sleep schedule, his new commuting routine is affecting his wallet. Once or twice a month, whether due to bus cancellations or LRT service outages, he has to ditch transit and call an Uber to get to work on time.
“I’ve got staff that are waiting for me,” he said. “I can’t call them like an hour before to say, ‘I’m not coming because of the trains.’ I have to go to work, I have to suck it up and pay the 20 bucks for an Uber.”
Now spending about $50 a month on ride-hailing services on top of his transit pass, Maybee said he’s compelled to consider an option he can’t really afford – buying a vehicle.
Born and raised in Ottawa, he’s mostly relied on transit since he was a teenager. But, in recent months, the prospect of ditching OC Transpo has grown increasingly tempting.
“I’m getting tired of dealing with this,” Maybee said. “It’d be a lot easier to just get a bit more sleep and be able to get to work every day.”
ALSO IN THE NEWS
‘Unimaginable terror’: Ottawa drug dealer gets 7 years after teen plunges 16 storeys
Navy removes commanding officer and second in command of HMCS Calgary
Continue Reading
Business
Oil Firms Doubtful Trans Mountain Pipeline Will Start Full Service by May 1st
|
Oil companies planning to ship crude on the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline in Canada are concerned that the project may not begin full service on May 1 but they would be nevertheless obligated to pay tolls from that date.
In a letter to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), Suncor Energy and other shippers including BP and Marathon Petroleum have expressed doubts that Trans Mountain will start full service on May 1, as previously communicated, Reuters reports.
Trans Mountain Corporation, the government-owned entity that completed the pipeline construction, told Reuters in an email that line fill on the expanded pipeline would be completed in early May.
After a series of delays, cost overruns, and legal challenges, the expanded Trans Mountain oil pipeline will open for business on May 1, the company said early this month.
“The Commencement Date for commercial operation of the expanded system will be May 1, 2024. Trans Mountain anticipates providing service for all contracted volumes in the month of May,” Trans Mountain Corporation said in early April.
The expanded pipeline will triple the capacity of the original pipeline to 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 300,000 bpd to carry crude from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia on the Pacific Coast.
The Federal Government of Canada bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) from Kinder Morgan back in 2018, together with related pipeline and terminal assets. That cost the federal government $3.3 billion (C$4.5 billion) at the time. Since then, the costs for the expansion of the pipeline have quadrupled to nearly $23 billion (C$30.9 billion).
The expansion project has faced continuous delays over the years. In one of the latest roadblocks in December, the Canadian regulator denied a variance request from the project developer to move a small section of the pipeline due to challenging drilling conditions.
The company asked the regulator to reconsider its decision, and received on January 12 a conditional approval, avoiding what could have been another two-year delay to start-up.
Business
Tesla profits cut in half as demand falls
|
Tesla profits slump by more than a half
Tesla has announced its profits fell sharply in the first three months of the year to $1.13bn (£910m), compared with $2.51bn in 2023.
It caps a difficult period for the electric vehicle (EV) maker, which – faced with falling sales – has announced thousands of job cuts.
Boss Elon Musk remains bullish about its prospects, telling investors the launch of new models would be brought forward.
Its share price has risen but analysts say it continues to face significant challenges, including from lower-cost rivals.
The company has suffered from falling demand and competition from cheaper Chinese imports which has led its stock price to collapse by 43% over 2024.
Figures for the first quarter of 2024 revealed revenues of $21.3bn, down on analysts’ predictions of just over $22bn.
But the decision by Tesla to bring forward the launch of new models from the second half of 2025 boosted its shares by nearly 12.5% in after-hours trading.
It did not reveal pricing details for the new vehicles.
However Mr Musk made clear he also grander ambitions, touting Tesla’s AI credentials and plans for self-driving vehicles – even going as far as to say considering it to be just a car company was the “wrong framework.”
“If somebody doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy I think they should not be an investor,” he said.
Such sentiments have been questioned by analysts though, with Deutsche Bank saying driverless cars face “technological, regulatory and operational challenges.”
Some investors have called for the company to instead focus on releasing a lower price, mass-market EV.
However, Tesla has already been on a charm offensive, trying to win over new customers by dropping its prices in a series of markets in the face of falling sales.
It also said its situation was not unique.
“Global EV sales continue to be under pressure as many carmakers prioritize hybrids over EVs,” it said.
Despite plans to bring forward new models originally planned for next year the firm is cutting its workforce.
Tesla said it would lose 3,332 jobs in California and 2,688 positions in Texas, starting mid-June.
The cuts in Texas represent 12% of Tesla’s total workforce of almost 23,000 in the area where its gigafactory and headquarters are located.
However, Mr Musk sought to downplay the move.
“Tesla has now created over 30,000 manufacturing jobs in California!” he said in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
Another 285 jobs will be lost in New York.
Tesla’s total workforce stood at more than 140,000 late last year, up from around 100,000 at the end of 2021, according to the company’s filings with US regulators.
Musk’s salary
The car firm is also facing other issues, with a struggle over Mr Musk’s compensation still raging on.
On Wednesday, Tesla asked shareholders to vote for a proposal to accept Mr Musk’s compensation package – once valued at $56bn – which had been rejected by a Delaware judge.
The judge found Tesla’s directors had breached their fiduciary duty to the firm by awarding Mr Musk the pay-out.
Due to the fall in Tesla’s stock value, the compensation package is now estimated to be around $10bn less – but still greater than the GDP of many countries.
In addition, Tesla wants its shareholders to agree to the firm being moved from Delaware to Texas – which Mr Musk called for after the judge rejected his payday.
Business
Stock market today: Nasdaq futures pop, Tesla surges after earnings with more heavyweights on deck
|
Tech stocks rose on Wednesday, outstripping the broader market as investors welcomed Tesla’s (TSLA) cheaper car pledge and waited for the next rush of corporate earnings.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose roughly 0.6%, coming off a sharp closing gain. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.2%, continuing a rebound from its longest losing streak of 2024, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.1%.
Tesla shares jumped nearly 12% after the EV maker’s vow to speed up the launch of more affordable models eclipsed its quarterly earnings and revenue miss. That cheered up investors worried about growth amid a strategy shift to robotaxis and the planned cancellation of a cheaper model.
The results from the first “Magnificent Seven” to report have intensified the already high hopes for Big Tech earnings, that the megacaps can revive the rally in stocks they powered. The spotlight is now on Meta’s (META) report due after the market close, as the Facebook owner’s shares rose after the Senate voted for a potential ban on rival TikTok. Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG) next up on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Boeing (BA) reported better than expected first quarter results before the opening bell with a loss per share of $1.13, narrower than the $1.72 estimated by Wall Street. Shares rose about 2% in morning trade.
Live6 updates
-
Health22 hours ago
Remnants of bird flu virus found in pasteurized milk, FDA says
-
News19 hours ago
Amid concerns over ‘collateral damage’ Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
-
Art23 hours ago
Random: We’re In Awe of Metaphor: ReFantazio’s Box Art
-
Art16 hours ago
The unmissable events taking place during London’s Digital Art Week
-
Politics20 hours ago
How Michael Cohen and Trump went from friends to foes
-
Tech23 hours ago
Surprise Apple Event Hints at First New iPads in Years
-
Science22 hours ago
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
-
Media22 hours ago
Vaughn Palmer: B.C. premier gives social media giants another chance