Tardy trio: OC Transpo's worst performing bus routes in May were 11, 75 and 85

“What can I tell my residents that the city is doing to make this better?” one councillor asked.

Published Jun 29, 2023 • Last updated 10 hours ago • 2 minute read

For some OC Transpo customers, the wait can be longer than usual. Photo by Errol McGihon /Postmedia

Call them OC Transpo’s unholy trinity.

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Routes 11, 75 and 85 had the dubious distinction of being the worst performing routes on the system in May, OC Transpo says.

Together, those routes are the exceptions to the transit agency’s boast of 98.7 per cent on-time service. The monthly report was delivered Thursday to the city’s transit commission.

Route 11 is a 15-minute service running from Bayshore Shopping Centre along Richmond Road and Somerset Street West, then along Bank Street to Queen Street and finally on to the Rideau Centre. It registered 245 “undelivered trips” in May for a last-place 93.6-per-cent reliability rating.

Route 85, another east-west route from Bayshore to Promenade du Portage in Gatineau that travels along Carling, Bronson and Booth, ranked second last with 165 undelivered routes for a 95.9-per-cent rating.

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Route 75, from Barrhaven to Tunney’s Pasture, was third last with 165 undelivered trips and a 96-per-cent reliability.

Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper read a poignant email from a frustrated constituent reliant on the 85.

“Bus service is bad. Significant impact on my mental health bad. Not being home in time to meet the kids bad,” Leiper read. “Missing meeting at work bad. Routinely waiting 40 minutes for a bus that’s supposed to come every 15 minutes bad. It just feels like nobody cares anymore. Like the city just gave up.”

Leiper says the 85 is the source of many complaints to his office, something echoed by River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington, whose ward is also serviced by that route.

“What can I tell my residents that the city is doing to make this better?” Leiper asked.

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Overall in May, according to OC Transpo, it delivered 98.7 per cent on-time service. Photo by Errol McGihon /Postmedia

The good news is that OC Transpo reliability is improving. In March, the system averaged 231 undelivered trips out of about 8,300 runs. In May, that fell to an average of 130 out of 8,100, Director of Transit Operations Troy Charter told the commission.

Reasons for cancellations vary, but they are frequently due to driver absenteeism or mechanical breakdown. OC Transpo is on a hiring spree and has hired and trained 108 new bus operators, with another 54 either in training or about to begin training.

As far as individual routes, Charter says controllers at the transit operation control centre watch for problems and delays and can help try to get buses back on schedule by adding an extra bus to a route, for example. Over the long term, they can look at other solutions such as altering traffic signals, changing parking regulations or even slowing the service down to make the schedule more reliable.

In March, the most frequently cancelled routes were the R2 (replacement for the O-Train), 15 and, once again, the sad-sack 85.

Ridership of buses and the LRT in May was 4.8 million, below the projected level of 5.0 million, but above May 2022 levels of 3.6 million. Pre-pandemic ridership in May was 7.2 million.

Ridership revenue was $10.6 million, or a million less than the $11.6 million projected in the budget, but $3.1 million above what it was a year ago.