OC Transpo bus route overhaul draws public's ire

The biggest shakeup of Ottawa bus routes in more than a decade and is expected to save the city $10 million.

Published Nov 14, 2023 • Last updated 5 hours ago • 2 minute read

OC Transpo buses at Hurdman Station. Photo by Tony Caldwell /POSTMEDIA

Buses running longer routes and slowed by traffic, longer walks to bus stops, loss of service, and fears of a “transit death spiral.”

Such were some of the complaints councillors on the city’s transit commission heard on Tuesday from residents angered over a massive restructuring planned for OC Transpo bus service. The service changes, which amount to some 75,000 fewer hours of service, are scheduled to come into effect next spring when service begins on the north-south Trillium LRT line.

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It is the biggest shakeup of OC Transpo bus routes in more than a decade and is expected to save $10 million, money which will be used to support Trillium Line operations. The changes are on top of a 2.5 per cent fare increase that is to take effect on Jan. 1.

“Cutting service does not get more people onto the bus,” said Sarah Donnelly, one of 17 residents who made presentations to the commission. “It leads to ‘transit death spirals,’” she said, where less service and higher costs drive commuters away from buses and trains.

“I think we’ve used light rail as an excuse to say ‘We don’t need buses anymore,’” said Nick Grover, who presented to the commission on behalf of the advocacy group Free Transit Ottawa.

University student Naomi Badour worried about what the loss of the local bus route into her neighbourhood would mean for her already long commute to class.

“With the route changes, I will no longer have access to transit other than at peak periods, which is a pretty devastating change from what I have right now,” Badour said.

Badour does not have a car and said the route changes mean she’ll have a half-hour walk to reach the nearest bus stop.

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“How is it reasonable for anyone to spend hours and hours a day just trying to move around the city for a drive that just takes 20 minutes? How am I going to get anything done? How am I going to have a social life,” said Badour.

“There is no way for me to live my life without regular service to my neighbourhood.”

The route review began in January and followed public consultations at in-person meetings, interviews with drivers and staff, and more than 8,000 online submissions from the public. In broad terms, OC Transpo says the route review is meant to increase reliability and provide better service along key transport corridors and to key destinations such as park-and-ride lots, shopping areas and civic services.

OC Transpo staff presented an overview of the changes on Tuesday for the information of commissioners. It is also planning a public education blitz in the new year to explain the changes to riders.

Although the changes won’t occur until spring when the Trillium Line opens, currently expected in April, it will take OC Transpo about six months to implement them, said transit general manager Renée Amilcar. That means work to implement the changes will begin next week.

“This is not about cost cutting,” Amilcar said. “This is about creating a sustainable network.”

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