By Anna Piekarski
A record number of people rode the O-Train in September, with more than 10,000 passengers using the service in a single day, the largest one-day total to date.
This growth represents a 13 per cent increase compared to September 2004 and ridership was only expected to climb two to three per cent says Coun. Janet Stavinga, the chairperson of the city’s transportation committee.
“This is reaffirming the value of the O-Train,” Stavinga says.
The train began operating in 2001 and since September 2002 ridership has increased by 57 per cent.
Tyler Wheeldon recently moved to the South Keys area, picking an area close to the O-Train, and he started to ride the rail line in September to get to Carleton University.
“I couldn’t get to school without the train. It definitely makes life easier,” Wheeldon says, adding his commute to campus would take twice as long if he had to take the bus.
The increase in riders is determined by an electronic monitoring device that was installed on the trains. Transit service director George Diamond says students going back to school could account for the increase, but adds there could also be other factors.
“The high gas prices didn’t hurt us either,” Diamond says, adding that during peak times the train is already close to full.
Numbers reported earlier state the trains can hold up to 285 passengers per trip and can make 104 trips a day, with a total capacity of about 30,000 riders. With 10,000 passengers, the train is currently operating at one-third of its daily capacity.
Diamond says the train often isn’t busy during non-peak hours, such as late at night, so the total capacity isn’t an accurate representation.
Public transit is subsidized in most cities.
Diamond says Ottawa riders contribute 60 cents to every dollar of actual costs to run the O-Train and buses.
The increase in ridership is not surprising to David Jeanes, the president of the non-profit group Transport 2000, which encourages public transit use and supports environmentally and socially acceptable forms of travel.
Jeanes says the city is not promoting the O-Train sufficiently and the people riding it are doing so because they have to and realize the benefits of using the service.
“The train is going to be overcrowded,” Jeanes says, adding he doesn’t believe there is a short-term plan in place to deal with capacity, as the city is focusing on the long-term expansion project.
“We haven’t turned passengers away,” Diamond says, adding this does happen on busy bus routes.
Once construction begins, Jeanes says he is concerned about what will happen to the present rail line and those who rely on this form of transit.
A ridership increase is good news for the O-Train expansion project, as the city has received criticism in the past for wanting to create a bigger light rail transit system.
The project will cost an estimated $650 to 700 million and the federal and provincial governments agreed last May to each contribute up to $200 million, with the city matching that number.
“These numbers show our citizens, residents and business owners that by investing in the light rail project there will be a return on that investment,” Stavinga says.
The city is currently in the first stage of the expansion project and when it is finished it will include 30 kilometres of track, running from Mackenzie King Bridge to Woodroffe Avenue.
With 29 stations and four park-and-ride lots, the line is scheduled to open in September 2009 and is expected to carry 40,000 passengers per day.
Three groups have been chosen to submit proposals and one will be picked in the spring, with construction to begin next summer.
Jeanes says the city is not releasing enough information about the expansion.
“Right now there is a lot of secrecy about what is in the project,” Jeanes says.
Jeanes says the track should be extended to areas like the airport, Barrhaven and across the border to Quebec.