OC Transpo Performance Lowest in Eight Years
By Hannah Berge and Zhuyin Fan
As Ottawa’s frigid winter approaches, commuters hoping to spend less time waiting for buses may be out of luck. OC Transpo’s recent statistics reveal that so far, 2017 has the worst overall on-time bus performance in six years. This follows this year’s fare hike, which is almost double the amount of any increase since 2012.
Fleming has two route options she can take to get to work- one is Bus 11. She typically waits for the bus for 10-15 minutes past its scheduled time. During rush hour, she can count on standing at the bus stop for even longer.
Fleming said she was surprised to hear that, according to OC Transpo’s statistics, Bus 11 only comes late 10 per cent of the time. “I’m not going to call them liars… it’s just never on time, that’s my observation,” she said.
Fleming certainly isn’t the only commuter who has issues with the transit system. Carleton student Sujithan Navakumar takes the bus to school every day, and downtown to work.
“If I’m comparing it to Toronto’s transit system, it’s actually horrible here,” he said.
Twice while coming home late from work at the Rideau Centre, he had to wait an hour for a bus and on a few occasions, the bus didn’t even stop for him, he said.
While on-time performance has decreased, Presto fares have increased by almost 12 per cent this year, compared to 2016’s fare increase of about six per cent.
OC Transpo said most problems are out of its control. Pat Scrimgeour, the director of transit customer systems and planning, said things such as weather, accidents and traffic are all unavoidable reasons for buses being late.
“In many cases, buses are noted as late from a scheduling standpoint, but the frequency of service is consistent, limiting the impact to customer wait times,” he said.
The battle over delayed buses frequently erupts on social media, as commuters express their irritation with untimely transportation.
Commuters and OC Transpo are hoping the addition of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) in 2018 will improve Ottawa’s transit system.