OC Transpo

[phil235]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Yeah, driving or by bus, I've never felt like Queen was particularly bad, even when Wellington was closed.

Speaking of Queen, was the City not supposed to rebuild O'Connor to Elgin? Why didn't they rebuild it properly? Did they not rip it up anyway when they built the subway? Isn't that where they found remains from the old Barrack Hill cemetery?

I don't think they ripped that section up at any point. But yes, they are supposed to give it the same treatment as the western portion.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by phil235

I don't think they ripped that section up at any point. But yes, they are supposed to give it the same treatment as the western portion.

They did.


https://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/bone-d...eath-downtown-ottawa-series-introduction

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by phil235

I'm familiar with Queen as I am on it most days. I actually don't find it to be terrible these days in terms of transit delays. And it is probably the nicest street downtown, so the changes to the streetscape have been positive on balance and sorely needed.

YMMV, but my buses coming from the east are almost always held up by something or another, and often more than one something, from the right turn off Elgin until the left turn at Bank.

Drivers don't respect stop lines, flagpersons give priority to private auto movements, and the bus stops are often impeded by objects of various sorts which delay rear-door passenger movements.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

They did.


https://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/bone-d...eath-downtown-ottawa-series-introduction

Oops, my mistake. That does look familiar.

I do think that the streetscaping was to be a separate project. Why combine the two when you can rip up the street twice?

[phil235]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

YMMV, but my buses coming from the east are almost always held up by something or another, and often more than one something, from the right turn off Elgin until the left turn at Bank.

Drivers don't respect stop lines, flagpersons give priority to private auto movements, and the bus stops are often impeded by objects of various sorts which delay rear-door passenger movements.

The left turn at Bank definitely needs some sort of priority. Same with Lyon. On the other stuff, until there is some level of enforcement (and frankly more thought to giving drivers/ubers somewhere to drop people off) that is not going to get better. To me both of those things would seem to be high-return investments in urban mobility, but it really gets no attention.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by phil235

The left turn at Bank definitely needs some sort of priority. Same with Lyon. On the other stuff, until there is some level of enforcement (and frankly more thought to giving drivers/ubers somewhere to drop people off) that is not going to get better. To me both of those things would seem to be high-return investments in urban mobility, but it really gets no attention.

Ubers or taxis destined for Queen Street Fare should be shunted to the Albert side of the building.

Also, employee parking in any lot or structure with an entrance/exit on Queen should be strictly reserved for carpools. That sort of policy change might require a frogboil, though.

[Williamoforange]

I don't think this will go anywhere for a multitude of reasons, but city studying adding bus lanes to merivale


https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/ottawa-eyes-bus-only-lanes-on-merivale-road/

[rocketphish]

'Tunes and Tracks' brings music and smiles to transit riders in Ottawa

By Shaun Vardon, CTV News
Published: October 24, 2025 at 6:59AM EDT



OC Transpo is looking to make your commute a little nicer with the help of some local musicians.

Currently in its trial phase, the program is called “Tunes and Tracks” and is sponsored by EnviroCentre. Local acts are hired to play at peak hours at some of the capital’s busiest transit stations.

Thursday at the Bayview Station, OK Naledi was putting a bounce in commuters’ steps as they ran for their connections. Lead singer Naledi Sunstrum thinks gigs like this are great and hopes to see the program become a permanent fixture of commuting in the capital.

“So far we have had really, really lovely folks smiling, giving us some really great, positive feedback and singing along, so we are pretty stoked. We are happy to be here,” Sunstrum said. “Things like this are great because you know public transportation, or getting from A to B, sometimes is not the most exciting thing, and I think this kind of helps make it more exciting.”

According to Felicity Borgal of EnviroCentre, this investment in local talent is a way to help make using transit more of an experience. The artists are selected in conjunction with the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition. Together, they hope that by brining musical entertainment to busy transit stations, more people will see public transit as a welcoming alternative to hopping in their cars.

“Supporting local artists and supporting local transit is part of EnviroCentre’s goal to reduce greenhouse gases,” Borgal said. “Our public transit system is the backbone of our sustainable transportation planning in Ottawa, and we want to do everything we can to support it.”

For Kirsten Gelevan, arriving at Bayview Station to the sounds of a band playing made her busy day.

“I love the song, I love the music,” she said. “When you are playing beautiful, feel-good music like this, it feels like it puts you in touch with what you like about life. Honestly I’m coming off a hectic work day and I’m leaving early to boot an hour commute across town for a special event and I was feeling frazzled and it brought joy to me.”

The Tunes and Tracks trial program wraps up on Sunday at the South Keys station from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/tu...-and-smiles-to-transit-riders-in-ottawa/

[Richard Eade]

Reading that article, confusion sets in: Why is the envirocentre paying for local musicians to play at O-Train stations?

Yes, I know that the article says that they want to encourage people to take transit. But, really, is paying for musicians going to draw people onto public transit?

OK, a bit of music while we wait for the next train might be nice, but why is the envirocentre paying for live musicians? There is a speaker system, Muzak could be played. (Although there would be complaints about the style of music being played.) Does the envirocentre have a surplus of cash that they are trying to spend?

Then there is OC Transpo’s role in this. From the article, I gather that the envirocentre approached OC Transpo with the idea. OC Transpo let them have some floor-space (and not even in the Fare-Paid zone, from the looks of it, so no-one will be hanging around to listen – they’ll head to their platform). How about OC Transpo start animating the spaces that they built into the stations? There was talk of Busker spaces, for example. All OC Transpo has to do is allow the Buskers in. I’m sure that some would be happy to strum a guitar or ‘drum-a-tub’ for donations – requiring NO PAYMENT from the envirocentre. Or, how about OC Transpo contact some dance studios or high schools to allow them to do ‘flash-style’ band/singing/dancing entertainment? Even stick a piano into the stations for random players.

I’m all for animating transit stations, but it can be done without having to hire musicians to “play at peak hours at some of the capital’s busiest transit stations.”

On that note; “Sunday at the South Keys station from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.” is playing “at peak hours”? And that is when it ends? How long has it been going on? How was it promoted/advertised?

Sort of unrelated, but still confusing:
In the article’s picture, I see a green ‘2’ with an arrow pointing up the escalator. The Trillium Line (Line 2, and usually colored green) leaves from the at-grade platform; so why would someone need to go up? (I expect that there is more to that picture that is just outside of the frame that will explain it all – but I don’t have that information here.)

[phil235]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Reading that article, confusion sets in: Why is the envirocentre paying for local musicians to play at O-Train stations?

Yes, I know that the article says that they want to encourage people to take transit. But, really, is paying for musicians going to draw people onto public transit?

OK, a bit of music while we wait for the next train might be nice, but why is the envirocentre paying for live musicians? There is a speaker system, Muzak could be played. (Although there would be complaints about the style of music being played.) Does the envirocentre have a surplus of cash that they are trying to spend?

Then there is OC Transpo’s role in this. From the article, I gather that the envirocentre approached OC Transpo with the idea. OC Transpo let them have some floor-space (and not even in the Fare-Paid zone, from the looks of it, so no-one will be hanging around to listen – they’ll head to their platform). How about OC Transpo start animating the spaces that they built into the stations? There was talk of Busker spaces, for example. All OC Transpo has to do is allow the Buskers in. I’m sure that some would be happy to strum a guitar or ‘drum-a-tub’ for donations – requiring NO PAYMENT from the envirocentre. Or, how about OC Transpo contact some dance studios or high schools to allow them to do ‘flash-style’ band/singing/dancing entertainment? Even stick a piano into the stations for random players.

I’m all for animating transit stations, but it can be done without having to hire musicians to “play at peak hours at some of the capital’s busiest transit stations.”

On that note; “Sunday at the South Keys station from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.” is playing “at peak hours”? And that is when it ends? How long has it been going on? How was it promoted/advertised?

Sort of unrelated, but still confusing:
In the article’s picture, I see a green ‘2’ with an arrow pointing up the escalator. The Trillium Line (Line 2, and usually colored green) leaves from the at-grade platform; so why would someone need to go up? (I expect that there is more to that picture that is just outside of the frame that will explain it all – but I don’t have that information here.)

Is this really something to complain about? My reaction was that it sounds kind of nice.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Reading that article, confusion sets in: Why is the envirocentre paying for local musicians to play at O-Train stations?

Yes, I know that the article says that they want to encourage people to take transit. But, really, is paying for musicians going to draw people onto public transit?

OK, a bit of music while we wait for the next train might be nice, but why is the envirocentre paying for live musicians? There is a speaker system, Muzak could be played. (Although there would be complaints about the style of music being played.) Does the envirocentre have a surplus of cash that they are trying to spend?

Then there is OC Transpo’s role in this. From the article, I gather that the envirocentre approached OC Transpo with the idea. OC Transpo let them have some floor-space (and not even in the Fare-Paid zone, from the looks of it, so no-one will be hanging around to listen – they’ll head to their platform). How about OC Transpo start animating the spaces that they built into the stations? There was talk of Busker spaces, for example. All OC Transpo has to do is allow the Buskers in. I’m sure that some would be happy to strum a guitar or ‘drum-a-tub’ for donations – requiring NO PAYMENT from the envirocentre. Or, how about OC Transpo contact some dance studios or high schools to allow them to do ‘flash-style’ band/singing/dancing entertainment? Even stick a piano into the stations for random players.

I’m all for animating transit stations, but it can be done without having to hire musicians to “play at peak hours at some of the capital’s busiest transit stations.”

On that note; “Sunday at the South Keys station from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.” is playing “at peak hours”? And that is when it ends? How long has it been going on? How was it promoted/advertised?

Sort of unrelated, but still confusing:
In the article’s picture, I see a green ‘2’ with an arrow pointing up the escalator. The Trillium Line (Line 2, and usually colored green) leaves from the at-grade platform; so why would someone need to go up? (I expect that there is more to that picture that is just outside of the frame that will explain it all – but I don’t have that information here.)

- It's in the fare paid zone, the glass in the background is the delineation
- The icon for a bus is partially in the frame; Line 2 bus departs from the second level hence the signage directing people upstairs
- You really will complain about anything, eh?

[Richard Eade]

Ah, good. Thanks, Catenary for the clarifications. Yes, I see the glass now.

The use of a green ‘2’ for a Line 2 Bus could lead to confusion. (As it did for me.) If I were new to the city, I might not make a clear distinction between an adjacent bus pictorial and one for a train. Personally, I think that OC Transpo should have used a very distinguishable difference. How about naming the bus ‘B2’ or ‘R2’ (as it used to be) and making it a different colour – maybe dark green?

As for complaining about anything; maybe. In this case, these are my opinions after reading an article. I do still believe that the envirocentre should not have put money into paying for musicians to play at transit stations. I believe that OC Transpo should have worked to animate the stations. I believe that there are ways to provide transit customers with a more pleasing experience – but that this is ‘Bread & Circuses’, not the changes that would really help draw people to use transit.

I am an analytical person. If I see something that doesn’t make logical sense to me, I flag it. In doing so, I try to offer an alternative. If that is what you consider complaining about anything, then so be it. I doubt that I could change your point of view – but you are entitled to your opinions, too. (However, that doesn’t mean that I will not try a second time to explain my position, if I didn’t get the impression that I explained it well enough. I think that sharing ideas on many facets of a subject is important.)

[JCL]

I haven't been on this discussion board in sometime now...

On September 22, 2025, OC Transpo did put one of the four new Nova LFSe+ Electric Bus into revenue service, bus 2503. This particular bus had initially been restricted to Orleans-area routes for a few weeks, but that restriction has been lifted and have been circulated to other electric bus designate runs.

The four Nova LFSe+, buses 2501 to 2504, were delivered this past Spring. As of October 22, 2025, all four buses has entered revenue service. An additonal 47 or 51 units are to arrive (conflicting information on the quantity on OC's web site: https://www.octranspo.com/en/our-services/vehicles/zero-emission-bus/)

I took a couple of videos, exterior and interior.

• Video Link

• Video Link

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Ah, good. Thanks, Catenary for the clarifications. Yes, I see the glass now.

The use of a green ‘2’ for a Line 2 Bus could lead to confusion. (As it did for me.) If I were new to the city, I might not make a clear distinction between an adjacent bus pictorial and one for a train. Personally, I think that OC Transpo should have used a very distinguishable difference. How about naming the bus ‘B2’ or ‘R2’ (as it used to be) and making it a different colour – maybe dark green?

As for complaining about anything; maybe. In this case, these are my opinions after reading an article. I do still believe that the envirocentre should not have put money into paying for musicians to play at transit stations. I believe that OC Transpo should have worked to animate the stations. I believe that there are ways to provide transit customers with a more pleasing experience – but that this is ‘Bread & Circuses’, not the changes that would really help draw people to use transit.

I am an analytical person. If I see something that doesn’t make logical sense to me, I flag it. In doing so, I try to offer an alternative. If that is what you consider complaining about anything, then so be it. I doubt that I could change your point of view – but you are entitled to your opinions, too. (However, that doesn’t mean that I will not try a second time to explain my position, if I didn’t get the impression that I explained it well enough. I think that sharing ideas on many facets of a subject is important.)

I get your point. Why do we need a formal, sponsored band when we could just, you know, allow buskers like other transit systems. That's more complicated since buskers now need a permit (which makes the experience less spontaneous, more "sterilized"). Even though this is way more complicated than it needs to be, it's better than nothing.

For the green 2, that points to the Line 2 replacement (R2) that ran for 4.5 years while Line 2 was being "upgraded". OC Transpo just hasn't removed the sticker yet. Maybe the sticker should have been "R2" with a note "for when Line 2 is off-line".

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by TransitZilla

I can assure you that there is a team that is working hard on these issues. The current arrival prediction system has a few limitations, including:
-it is unable to provide real-time predictions when a bus is "off-route" (e.g. on a detour).
-it relies on the scheduled runtime of routes to predict arrival times and cannot account for live traffic conditions. (e.g., if the schedule says the bus will take 5 minutes to get from its current location to your stop, the prediction will be 5 minutes).
-accuracy is lower for trips that have not yet started because even if we know the location of the bus, we cannot know for certain when it will depart from the terminus.

The team is aware of an issue that affect trips that start at Parliament station, such as those on route 19. This issue stems from a data problem that arises when schedules are loaded from the scheduling system to the dispatch system. These systems are supplied by 2 different vendors. Work is underway to determine a solution.

The result of the problem is that as buses on route 19 are deadheading between trips (to turn around to head back east) the buses are considered "off-route" and the prediction system stops providing real-time predictions for them. This may be causing the issues you see in the Next Departures tool on the website and on the screens.

The best workaround to this is to use Transit or another app that will show you the GPS location of the buses on a map. There is not very much interlining on route 19; nearly every trip that arrives as an inbound trip on route 19 turns around and departs as an eastbound route 19 a few minutes later. Transit (and other apps) will show you the GPS location of all buses on the route. In Transit, you can check the map for both directions on route 19; if you see a bus on Kent St under either direction, it means it is laying up and will start its next eastbound trip soon.

I do know that some issues with the Next Departures tool (such as when it incorrectly shows that there are no departures for the next 4 hours) have been challenging for staff to reproduce. Feel free to PM me with examples if you see this happen. Details like the exact time you refreshed the data, device OS, browser, etc would be helpful to uncover the cause of that issue.

These issues aren't getting any better.

If anything, they're getting worse.

Another example from last night: The 19 didn't have a first stop problem. It had first TWO stop problem. It didn't show up at stop 3052 as scheduled, which is to be expected these days because of the Porter Island detour. No huge deal; it's what riders on the 19 have, sadly, had to come to expect.

And it also wasn't visible on Transee at the usual layup spots. No big deal, because Transsee did show me a 19 Parliament making its way past U of O, and I guessed, correctly, that it would turn around and start its eastbound trip, late relative to "the schedule", which no longer exists, to be sure, but eventually.

HOWEVER: at no time did OC Transpo's own web site give me a passing time for that trip at Parliament 3052, or at Metcalfe 3008. It DID, however, give me an accurate time for Mackenzie King.

It was still not recognizing that there was a bus in service an on its way at 3052 or 3008 even after the bus was in service, in motion, and visibly on its way towards the stop. OC Transpo's own web site could only tell me the next scheduled trip, not the actual trip that was already in service. But it was only "blind" to that trip at 3052 and 3008, and not at stops further down the line.

Nor was the bus visible to Transsee any more, even though it had been visible before it turned around.

Also: For the past two or three weeks, OC Transpo's website has been overly pessimistic in projecting the next passing times of buses already in motion, projecting them to arrive two or three minutes after they actually do... which misleads riders into heading to stops or attempting to make connections with buses that have already come and gone.

The data service is an absolute goddamn mess, and is no better than a Magic 8 Ball at this point. As was the case last night, you are better off ignoring what OC Transpo's data tells you much of the time, which really should not be the case, to put it mildly.

It's one thing for "the team" to be collecting examples or real-world reports from users, but CRAZY IDEA ALERT - how about "the team" actually go out in to the world and ground-truth the system themselves? Because I am not convinced at all that "the team" truly understands the problems, the extent of the problems, and the impact on riders.

I would also love to know where the Transit Commission is on all this stuff, because I don't see much evidence that they are on top of it at all.

[ponyboycurtis]

I've been keeping myself away from OC Transpo threads on here for a bit because I felt like my posts were overwhelmingly negative despite being overwhelmingly true.

I've been ridin the cruiser for the last 2 days. I popped an oil cooling line on my work van and didn't realize until I pulled into my parking spot. Yeah.. don't do that. Big mess. No idea I lost oil pressure until I absolutely wrecked my condo parking lot. Don't do that.

Anyhow.

I for the moment have the privilege of riding the 88 eastbound from Merivale and Baseline. On one hand.. it's annoying because its absolutely jammed packed, on the other hand.. people are using transit. So I can't be that put off by it. By using transit I mean.. people are standing on the upper deck area of a double decker after 7pm. So that is certainly good in a way.

Switching to L2 SB at Mooneys Bay it was busy.. most seats were filled. Lots of backpacks but thats ok. I won't say it was standing room only but the seats were quite busy.

Here's the deal

At Greenboro I switched to the 92!

For the first time I got to rock an electric bus. What a treat to sit at the back and have relative peace and quiet.

Here's the one thought I had though. The two digital routing screens are great and honestly seemingly better than the screens on Line 2 trains. However.. they displayed nothing of any use.

It said. uhhhh. .. Route 92 Walkley.. with an entirely blank/black display panel on the left 3/4.. and the right side was a 1/4 display for something like.. hold the elevator for someone who might need it? or something like that, I don't even recall.

Point being.. we have these beautiful screens and we display nothing of use on them? No next stop.. or even a short list of upcoming stops.. or a very basic twisting graphic of the neighbourhood etc.

So we have these cool screens that are far better than anything we have on our 6.1B train upgrade and we use them for nothing. Jeez. You know what.. I forgot to check if the electric busses remembered to install hand straps.

I'm thinking of a new marketing idea for rage filled people like me. Its a 16"x16" drywall square that sells in a 10 pack and comes in a frame and anytime you deal with the city of Ottawa you can just Mr. Miyagi that 🞵🞵🞵🞵. Let me know if you want in.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by ponyboycurtis

I've been keeping myself away from OC Transpo threads on here for a bit because I felt like my posts were overwhelmingly negative despite being overwhelmingly true.

I've been ridin the cruiser for the last 2 days. I popped an oil cooling line on my work van and didn't realize until I pulled into my parking spot. Yeah.. don't do that. Big mess. No idea I lost oil pressure until I absolutely wrecked my condo parking lot. Don't do that.

Anyhow.

I for the moment have the privilege of riding the 88 eastbound from Merivale and Baseline. On one hand.. it's annoying because its absolutely jammed packed, on the other hand.. people are using transit. So I can't be that put off by it. By using transit I mean.. people are standing on the upper deck area of a double decker after 7pm. So that is certainly good in a way.

Switching to L2 SB at Mooneys Bay it was busy.. most seats were filled. Lots of backpacks but thats ok. I won't say it was standing room only but the seats were quite busy.

Here's the deal

At Greenboro I switched to the 92!

For the first time I got to rock an electric bus. What a treat to sit at the back and have relative peace and quiet.

Here's the one thought I had though. The two digital routing screens are great and honestly seemingly better than the screens on Line 2 trains. However.. they displayed nothing of any use.

It said. uhhhh. .. Route 92 Walkley.. with an entirely blank/black display panel on the left 3/4.. and the right side was a 1/4 display for something like.. hold the elevator for someone who might need it? or something like that, I don't even recall.

Point being.. we have these beautiful screens and we display nothing of use on them? No next stop.. or even a short list of upcoming stops.. or a very basic twisting graphic of the neighbourhood etc.

So we have these cool screens that are far better than anything we have on our 6.1B train upgrade and we use them for nothing. Jeez. You know what.. I forgot to check if the electric busses remembered to install hand straps.

I'm thinking of a new marketing idea for rage filled people like me. Its a 16"x16" drywall square that sells in a 10 pack and comes in a frame and anytime you deal with the city of Ottawa you can just Mr. Miyagi that 🞵🞵🞵🞵. Let me know if you want in.

Home Depot is a short walk from Greenboro: https://www.homedepot.ca/product/cgc-she...ll-panel-for-patch-and-repair/1000668034

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by ponyboycurtis

At Greenboro I switched to the 92!

For the first time I got to rock an electric bus. What a treat to sit at the back and have relative peace and quiet.

Here's the one thought I had though. The two digital routing screens are great and honestly seemingly better than the screens on Line 2 trains.

I have been saying for a while that these would improve the rider experience.

And with my experience lately, I daresay that I think more standard 40 ft e-buses would be better than the double deckers we have and a good chunk of the artics. Recall the discussion about how we couldn't get electric artics.

I love double decker buses for the view but I have come to resent artics and DDs for what they allow OCT to get away with on service. Notably, let's them substantially reduce service frequencies. If service was built entirely around 40 ft buses, the response to higher demand would be higher frequencies. Imagine that world.

I don't think artics or DDs are needed unless you have a route that is consistently running at 5 min headways during rush hour or sub 10 mins the rest of the day. And I don't think that's true even on the most urban routes in Ottawa.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by ponyboycurtis

I've been keeping myself away from OC Transpo threads on here for a bit because I felt like my posts were overwhelmingly negative despite being overwhelmingly true.

I've been ridin the cruiser for the last 2 days. I popped an oil cooling line on my work van and didn't realize until I pulled into my parking spot. Yeah.. don't do that. Big mess. No idea I lost oil pressure until I absolutely wrecked my condo parking lot. Don't do that.

Anyhow.

I for the moment have the privilege of riding the 88 eastbound from Merivale and Baseline. On one hand.. it's annoying because its absolutely jammed packed, on the other hand.. people are using transit. So I can't be that put off by it. By using transit I mean.. people are standing on the upper deck area of a double decker after 7pm. So that is certainly good in a way.

Switching to L2 SB at Mooneys Bay it was busy.. most seats were filled. Lots of backpacks but thats ok. I won't say it was standing room only but the seats were quite busy.

Here's the deal

At Greenboro I switched to the 92!

For the first time I got to rock an electric bus. What a treat to sit at the back and have relative peace and quiet.

Here's the one thought I had though. The two digital routing screens are great and honestly seemingly better than the screens on Line 2 trains. However.. they displayed nothing of any use.

It said. uhhhh. .. Route 92 Walkley.. with an entirely blank/black display panel on the left 3/4.. and the right side was a 1/4 display for something like.. hold the elevator for someone who might need it? or something like that, I don't even recall.

Point being.. we have these beautiful screens and we display nothing of use on them? No next stop.. or even a short list of upcoming stops.. or a very basic twisting graphic of the neighbourhood etc.

So we have these cool screens that are far better than anything we have on our 6.1B train upgrade and we use them for nothing. Jeez. You know what.. I forgot to check if the electric busses remembered to install hand straps.

I'm thinking of a new marketing idea for rage filled people like me. Its a 16"x16" drywall square that sells in a 10 pack and comes in a frame and anytime you deal with the city of Ottawa you can just Mr. Miyagi that 🞵🞵🞵🞵. Let me know if you want in.

Does anybody ride the 92 anymore since they totally gutted service?

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I have been saying for a while that these would improve the rider experience.

And with my experience lately, I daresay that I think more standard 40 ft e-buses would be better than the double deckers we have and a good chunk of the artics. Recall the discussion about how we couldn't get electric artics.

I love double decker buses for the view but I have come to resent artics and DDs for what they allow OCT to get away with on service. Notably, let's them substantially reduce service frequencies. If service was built entirely around 40 ft buses, the response to higher demand would be higher frequencies. Imagine that world.

I don't think artics or DDs are needed unless you have a route that is consistently running at 5 min headways during rush hour or sub 10 mins the rest of the day. And I don't think that's true even on the most urban routes in Ottawa.

Most would agréé with you. Artics were brought in the 80s to reduce frequency on the busiest routes. DDs were brought in 10 or so years ago to reduce frequency on commuter routes. Over the years, frequency has been cut in half on many routes with the obvious impact on ridership. Who wants to get to a transfer station and wait 28 minutes at rush hour?

The obvious solutions won't work after damaging the network to the dégrée that we have. We have chased away too many people who won't return after too many bad expériences.

The city has all kinds of excuses. Not enough budget. Not enough buses. Not enough drivers. Not enough mechanics. All designed to get the public to shut up about lousy service.

As a results, we don't even get a modest proposal to improve service on a few key routes that will improve the overall network. Rail alone is not enough..

What about a 10 minutes guarantee on Bank, Montréal, Carling, Baseline, Richmond to start?