Councillor Allan Hubley says if a delay ensures the LRT is safe, he's okay if it takes a little longer.

After a one-day delay, the Rideau Transit Group was slated to give the City of Ottawa a new handover date for the light rail project on Thursday.

Mayor Jim Watson has been quite vocal about March 31, or the end of this year's first quarter, as a start date for the new LRT Confederation Line.

But the news of another delay saw some people questioning how long it would actually be before the trains start running in the capital, including councillor Jeff Leiper, who tweeted a tongue-in-cheek prediction.

My wholly uninformed guess prior to today's memo is we get the keys on May 15 and then put it into fare service on June 15 - in time for Canada Day! — Jeff Leiper (@JLeiper) January 3, 2019

Former deputy mayor Mark Taylor, speaking on Ottawa Today, explained that if a March deadline could be met, we would have heard by now.

"There's probably been some back and forth between the city and RTG," he explained. "They're landing on something reasonable that they can both live with, but I don't think it's going to be March I think you're probably looking at April."

Taylor said that the discussions may be looking at splitting hairs on some issues, without putting any safety risks in place.

That's something that the chair of the Transit Commission can agree with.

Councillor Allan Hubley said that he has not been given any information about a handover date but should the Rideau Transit Group need more time, he would accept that.

"If they come back recommending another delay, we have to support them," he told the Rick Gibbons show. "If it's based on safety and the operational ability of this system, we've gotta get it right, that's the key piece in here. If they come back and say they need a little more time, I'm ok with that."

Once city staff receives the new handover date, they will evaluate that information and then prepare a briefing for council that will be delivered at the next Finance and Economic Development Committee meeting.