By Deneka Michaud
The city budget cuts to OC Transpo might actually end up costing more money as seniors in Centretown may have to turn to Para Transpo because of cuts to the No. 6 bus route.
The No. 6 runs from Tunney’s Pasture, down Carling Avenue, through the Glebe, and up Elgin Street to the Rideau Centre. One of its stops is the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital.
The riders are mainly seniors who rely on the low-floor bus to get around, says a bus driver of the No. 6 who doesn’t want to be identified.
“Most of my regulars are seniors. They use it to go to the hospital and seniors in the Glebe use it to shop on Bank,” he says.
But the No. 6 is having its operating hours cut to peak times only. It won’t run in the middle of the day, at night, or on weekends.
There is a possibility that when the city implements its third phase of public transit cuts the No. 6 will be cut completely, says Somerset ward Coun. Diane Holmes.
Cutting the No. 6 to any extent isn’t considering the human factor, says the driver.
Tim Lane of Transport 2000, a non-profit consumer advocacy group, took the No. 6 bus on the morning of March 30.
“I saw a guy get on at Tunney’s Transitway Station. He had a cane. He could barely walk,” explains Lane.
The man only went one stop, but he couldn’t walk it. These are the type of people that use the No. 6, he says, adding a lot of the riders are mobility impaired.
“If in fact you have trouble walking I think that you will be much more housebound and in fact may be looking to Para Transpo,” says Holmes.
Para Transpo costs the city much more money to operate than the regular OC Transpo bus service.
Both operate on subsidy and both charge roughly the same fares.
Since Para Transpo doesn’t run on set routes and is specially equipped for low-mobility riders costs are higher. Fares don’t cover as much as they do on regular buses.
In the past, the city had been successful at getting people off Para Transpo and onto low-floor buses, saving the city money, says Holmes.
The No. 6 was one of the first bus routes to be guaranteed a low floor bus because of its elderly riders, says Lane.
A low-floor bus is closer to the ground and has no stairs at the entrance making it easier to get on and off.
However Para Transpo isn’t the only alternative.
There are other buses that No. 6 riders can use, explains Helen Gault, Manager of Transit Schedule and Service Delivery for OC Transpo.
“There’s the 99 and the 85 on Carling Avenue and if you go down Elgin Street there’s the 5 and the 14,” she explains. But she acknowledges that cutting the 6 won’t improve service for those who use it.
There’s also the No. 316 bus that seniors can take to get to certain places like the Rideau Centre, explains Holmes.
This bus is run by OC Transpo and is designed specifically for mobility impaired individuals. But it’s very limited in its route, she says, adding the alternatives are much more inconvenient.
“There’s no other direct bus from Parkdale to downtown,” explains the driver. The riders will have to transfer and take round-about routes.
Cutting the 6’s operating hours is pointless, he says.
“This line doesn’t really cost OC Transpo a lot of money because the frequency isn’t high end,” he says.
The bus only runs once an hour during non-peak times so cuts won’t save much, he explains.
He says he believes that the city is cutting the No. 6 because they know that they won’t lose the riders as customers. These are seniors that can’t drive and will be forced to take other routes, he says.
Riders have been asking him a lot of questions about the cuts to the No. 6.
“Everyday I get asked,” the driver says
Holmes says that she hasn’t heard much yet from the public, but she expects that she will once the cuts actually become a reality.