Return to rail: The ‘Gréber Plan’ ended streetcar transit in Ottawa nearly 100 years ago
With a sense of deja vu, OC Transpo’s LRT expansion today is a return to an idea of mass transit that was shelved nearly 100 years ago.
Baseline transitway hailed as potential ‘game changer’ for east-west cycling
The City of Ottawa is moving forward a 14-kilometre rapid bus transit corridor designed to revolutionize sustainable transportation between Bayshore and Heron stations. The first of three phases in the Baseline Transitway Project is to begin construction in spring 2025. This first stage will focus on the reconstruction of the Greenbank Road and Baseline Road intersection, introducing bus priority lanes,...
OC Transpo readies publicity plan to alert Ottawans of major changes to bus routes
With the O-Train lines 2 and 4 now running seven days a week, OC Transpo will begin its latest publicity campaign, telling transit riders about the many changes coming to Ottawa’s bus network. City councillors heard the details of this plan during the Mar. 17 Transit Committee meeting.
Delivery of electric buses to OC Transpo coming up short, commission hears
OC Transpo expects to have 30 electric buses by the end of March 2025, falling short of their target, according to an update from city staff to Ottawa’s Transit Committee on Feb. 13.
Ottawa commuters frustrated by fare hikes as city seeks transit funding
Kari Glynes Elliott, co-founder of Ottawa Transit Riders, remembers one particularly memorable conversation with frustrated commuters. A family of Syrian refugees “living on the poverty line” approached her advocacy group after purchasing a second-hand car “because they couldn’t trust the transit system,” she said. As Glynes Elliott recalls it, one of the family members, a senior, told her, “I can...
Fare increases and empty seats: OC Transpo has yet to regain pre-pandemic ridership
Low ridership is a multi-pronged issue for Ottawa. For some residents, lack of reliability is the main deterrent for their participation. For public workers, remote work options mean there is no reason to take transit. For some Ottawa residents like Max Patton, a part-time line cook, declining service quality and increasing fares have been enough to make him abandon OC...
Student unions oppose OC Transpo’s ‘illegal’ U-Pass fee increase, citing breach of contract
Ottawa university student unions were surprised to learn that OC Transpo is trying to unilaterally increase U-Pass transit fees, a move the student unions say violates a legal agreement.
Ottawa councillors tell OC Transpo that residents are getting frustrated with LRT construction
City councillors told OC Transpo officials that many Ottawa residents are getting frustrated with the disruptions caused by ongoing construction of the LRT expansion.
Ottawa Council approves Lincoln Fields Secondary Plan despite community concerns
Ottawa Council has approved the Lincoln Fields Secondary plan, giving residents a look at the future of the area.
As Budget 2025 nears approval, OC Transpo faces a reckoning amid ridership, financial and reliability woes
Chronically late buses, an ever-shifting opening date for the long-delayed Trillium Line, serious deficits and irate transit passengers appearing at committee meetings are just some of the pressing issues OC Transpo has been dealing with over a challenging year.
Transit in Ottawa to get more costly as city grapples with budget shortfalls
OC Transpo riders will be facing higher costs in 2025 as the city struggles to contain budget shortfalls driven in part by rising transit costs.
Transit commission asks OC Transpo what it needs to fix bus reliability
Members of Ottawa’s Transit Commission are concerned that bus reliability is far below where it needs to be in advance a major overhaul of bus routes across the city planned for next Spring. New Ways to Bus, is to begin in April, some months after the opening of the LRT Lines 2 and 4, expected in November. The bus plan...