Fuelling the Strain: Rising gas prices force students to rethink budgets
With gas prices fluctuating wildly in recent years, students have been feeling it at the pump and some are having a hard time managing their budgets. Finley McHattie, 18, drives to school almost every day from his parents’ house in Stittsville to Carleton University. On a good day, it takes him 30 minutes, but often, with traffic, it takes him...
City to hand transit riders worrisome fare increase in 2025
Despite Statistics Canada indicating slowing inflation for public transit fares, the City of Ottawa is considering significant fare hikes, increased property taxes and service cuts as it debates the budget for 2025. Those impending increases concern Ayesha Khan, a fourth-year student at Carleton University. She lives in Orléans and uses public transit to get to school. She is worried about...
City Builder: Renée Amilcar embraces OC Transpo leadership amidst transit turmoil
Renée Amilcar, General Manager of Transit Services at OC Transpo, welcomes the challenges that arise while striving to improve Ottawa's public transit.
More Ottawa commuters are carpooling, cycling, walking or taking transit as traffic backs up in Ottawa
Since the government’s Sept. 9 return-to-office mandate, Ottawa’s streets have become much more congested, pushing commuters to seek alternatives in order to avoid long delays. As public transit struggles to keep pace and traffic worsens, cycling, carpooling, and walking have come in-clutch as popular solutions among commuters.
OC Transpo workers suffering as transit struggles, union leader tells councillors
Members of Ottawa’s Transit Commission got an earful from OC Transpo union leaders Sept. 12, who say that the problems with the system cannot be fixed with more cuts. “Some of our operators are on shifts tirelessly for up to 12 hours, yet really compensated for seven and a half on average,” said Noah Vineberg, president of ATU Local 279,...
Students getting bad deal from OC Transpo, transit commission hears
Ottawa’s Transit Commission heard from student users, fed up with a service that is becoming less reliable, that further cuts will make a bad situation worse. Carleton University Students’ Association Associate Vice-President Aidan Kallioinen told the committee Sept. 12 he has concerns in particular about cuts to off-peak service frequency on O-Train Line 1. “In 2023 alone, our association saw...
OC Transpo workers “stretched to the limit of safety and legality,” says union leader
OC Transpo employees are “stretched to the limits of safety and legality,” ATU Local 279 President Noah Vineberg told a Sept. 12 Transit Commission meeting. This is happening, he added, as the system is having difficulty retaining staff despite increased recruitment efforts. As a result, Vineberg said schedules are “unreasonable,” with operators stretched thin because of the changes. Operators are...
City Builder: Neil Saravanamuttoo of CitySHAPES wants Ottawa to reach its ‘terrific’ potential
The economist, CitySHAPES director, and community advocate says Ottawa has "great bones," but needs work to reach standard of a G7 capital
Transit advocates in Ottawa alarmed by OC Transpo’s pattern of “cutting services”
Community organizations, workers and residents are raising concerns over a pattern of service cuts after OC Transpo announced its plan to reduce LRT frequency during off-peak hours and accusing the city of ruining Ottawa’s public transit system. OC Transpo says, starting Aug. 26, Line 1 will run every 10 minutes at stations between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays...
OC Transpo offers upbeat performance assessment to Transit Commission
Ottawa's Transit Commission met Thursday to discuss upcoming OC Transpo closures and their overall performance in the first half of 2024.
OC Transpo’s bus route changes are really just cuts, say transit advocates
The OCTranspo route overhaul is facing criticism from local advocacy groups who are concerned that it will reduce service to those who use he system.
Para Transpo riders challenge councillors to experience ‘horrible’ system
Para Transpo users are challenging city politicians to ride on the service to experience what they go through just to get to work on time.