OC Transpo

[Richard Eade]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

OC Transpo looking at safely reopening LRT washrooms, but still no timeline
Facilities were closed in February due to vandalism, drug use

Cameron Mahler · CBC News
Posted: Apr 13, 2026 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

OC Transpo is considering how to safely reopen public washrooms at LRT stations after the vast majority were closed nearly two months ago.

. . .

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/oc...ashrooms-but-still-no-timeline-9.7160913

OC Transpo has fought, tooth and nail, against providing public washrooms. From my experience, OC Transpo regards itself as more of a Logistics Business; not a public service. It is a transit agency, not a washroom provider. The only reason that there are washrooms in any of the LRT stations is because the Ontario Building Code required it. Notice how quick OC Transpo was to shutter ALL of the washrooms when a needle was found in one. ‘A’ needle in ‘A’ washroom in 6 years should not make a panic situation.

OC Transpo does not want to be responsible for washrooms. It thought that it had the perfect excuse when a needle was found. ‘We provided washrooms, as required, but they are TEMPORARILY closed for maintenance.’ A great way to get around the Provincial requirement.

(Remember, the current Baseline Station was labeled as TEMPORARY when it was designed for its October 2009 opening. And the train tracks leading to the former Prince of Wales Bridge were only TEMPORARILY removed. When OC Transpo uses the word TEMPORARY, they are, obviously, talking in geological terms.)

The Province should have allowed a ‘reasonable’ time to get the washrooms back in operation – maybe a week – and then started to FINE OC Transpo, heavily, for any delays beyond that.

Right now, there is NO INCENTIVE for OC Transpo to open the washrooms. While they are TEMPORARILY closed, OC Transpo doesn’t have to deal with them. And there is a cost saving.

The washrooms should have been properly designed as PUBLIC WASHROOMS – accessible by anyone. That includes mitigation plans for ‘non-standard’ behaviour. Of course there should be sections of dry counter. Those should be in every public washroom for people to set things down while they do their business (which could be anything from keeping their magazine dry while washing their hands, to preparing for an Insulin injection, to setting out a shaving kit or brushing teeth).

And, the washrooms should have been designed with proper waste receptacles – including for ‘sharps’. A ‘sharps’ container should be a requirement in every public washroom. Otherwise, any form of ‘sharp’ (needle, lancet, razor-blade) could wind up in a general trash bin. Although a ‘sharps’ container is not a requirement under the Ontario Building Code, it should be – and OC Transpo should have added them anyway.

That the public washrooms designed for the LRT stations are the bare minimum, and not designed to accommodate the real world, should come as no surprise, however, to anyone who looks at almost any aspect of the LRT stations.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

I think that Uhuniau has a valid question. OC Transpo will need to retire a lot of its existing fleet soon. I’m not sure that the incoming replacement buses are arriving fast enough to offset the rate of retirements that will be coming.

It's not just that. It's also the fact that at least some of the retiring buses are bendies or DD, and none of the incoming buses are.

There is already a long-standing issue of too many trips on Bank Street being run on 40-footers, and the same issue is developing on Montreal Road. And it's no longer a crush-hour thing; late-nights, mid-day, weekend. There is just not enough physical capacity, and there are actually economic and political inducements for Transpo to run the shittiest, most bare-bones service possible on those routes.

EDITED TO ADD: I see now the bit about refurbishing at least some artics to stretch a few more years of use out of them, but as backup buses, not part of the regular fleet. This is not going to do anything about the diminishing share of high-capacity buses, and the attendant impacts on the urban routes that have the most need of high-capacity buses, especially quicker-unloading- and -loading artics.

EDITED TO FURTHER ADD: One of the reasons for the shadow fleet of refurbished artics is to act as standby buses during "weather events". I would like to know which "weather events" these are, because these days, during "weather events", they pull artics OUT of service. Am I on crazy pills?

[Truenorth00]

Does anybody know why OC Transpo uses a 15 yr service life for buses? I think that's probably part of the problem. When most cars last 10-12 years, 15 years for a bus getting substantially beat up all the time seems like a stretch. I would think aiming for 12 years would probably dramatically improve their reliability.

[Richard Eade]

Back in the olden days - when the Province used to help buy new buses - the Province had a 17-year life expectancy for buses. If a bus was older than 17 years, the Province would kick in money for a replacement. Thus, transit buses were built for longer life - because if they didn't last long enough, there were no further orders of that model.

When the Province stopped being so generous, transit agencies may have dialed the life expectancy back a bit. However, transit buses are still built for a longer life than cars (which car manufacturers, Ford, GM, Toyota, etc., hope you will replace every 4 or so years because of new-feature-envy).

[Richard Eade]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

OC Transpo to 'refurbish' rather than retire 30 older buses
It's hoped these articulated buses will deliver an additional three to five years of service each.

By Aedan Helmer, Ottawa Citizen
Published Apr 13, 2026 | Last updated 4 hours ago

. . .

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/oc-transpo-refurbish-older-buses

I’m hoping that the Transit Committee asks more questions about this. What does it cost to do a “major refurb” on an articulated bus. Since most buses get refurbished at an age between 10-12 years, will this be a second rebuild? Or was the first refurb skipped? If it was skipped, why? Was it considered too expensive for the benefit? Was it because Council had directed a switch to e-buses, so diesel buses were considered expendable?

If the Transit Committee doesn’t start to ask REAL questions, instead of relying on what OC Transpo staff want to tell it, then the Councilors will not learn how Council decisions have contributed to OC Transpo’s current position, nor what is needed to really fix the issues.

Manconi was very good at doing the ‘impossible’ with what he was given – but he was a ‘Yes-Man’, who didn’t reflect the problems from bad Council decisions back up the chain. Amilcar was not so complacent, but unfortunately thought that Councilors could add up 2+2 and see what they had wrought. She did not last in the position. The new General Manager of OC Transpo has yet to display his strengths and weaknesses. However, I am hoping that he will move toward a more open and truthful presentation of information.

This Ottawa Citizen news report does not inspire my confidence. Apparently, there is a shortage of mechanics, yet they are going to have some of those scarce mechanics work on refurbishing buses that are already over 17 years old. (I am assuming that they are referring to the 35 remaining D60LF buses from 2008-9.) And the HOPE is to get 3-5 years more as STANDBY buses.

How much time might they last if there is no refurbishment done? Are they all sitting idle do to old-age right now?
With the rate of incoming e-buses, can we survive without doing the refurbs? (The total number of available buses in the fleet does seem to be growing as e-buses arrive.) Could the 50 new 60-foot diesel buses, expected mid-2026, early 2027, serve the purpose?

And, I can see that having high-capacity buses on standby is useful for when there are system disruptions – yes, I am talking about replacing the O-Train lines with bus service – but the mention of using them during “major weather events” kind of throws me. OC Transpo’s current policy is to REMOVE ARTICULATED BUSES FROM SERVICE DURING SEVERE WEATHER. Maybe they mean they mean for the days AFTER the weather has knocked out Line 1.

Having additional spare buses to handle emergencies without cannibalizing the regular bus service is a great idea. (OK, I even suggested it not long ago.) And maybe refurbishing and keeping very old buses is a way to accomplish that. But let’s see the justification for it. And if it is not presented by OC Transpo, the Transit Committee should be demanding to see it.

This is not to promote the Committee micro-managing OC Transpo. But, let’s face it, the Transit Committee has simply been rubber-stamping what it is given by OC Transpo staff – without much questioning. The Committee gets ‘For Your Information’ reports of what OC Transpo is going to do. Councilors will ask “Is this the best option?” and accept the “Yes” answer without much clarification.

[Richard Eade]

OC Transpo catches 1,300 passengers not paying the fare so far this year
By Josh Pringle
Published: April 15, 2026 at 12:30PM EDT
https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/oc...rs-not-paying-the-fare-so-far-this-year/

OC Transpo says that 1,359 tickets were issued for non-payment of fare in the first 3 months of this year. If the same rate continues throughout the rest of the year, OC Transpo will have issued just over 5,400 tickets for all of 2026. This compares with 4,077 tickets in the first 8 months of 2025 – or about 6,100 for the year. At this rate, there seems to be much lower fare evasion this year.

I have to wonder if ‘down’ card-readers has an effect on ticketing. For the last few months, I have found the readers to be unreliable. I’m often having to try another machine on the bus or another turnstile, or ride without paying. (Luckilly OC Transpo has forced more transfers now, so if one bus doesn’t have a working reader, the next might. It seems that I have always been able to pay for my journeys, despite intermittent card readers.)

[eltodesukane]

If public transit was free, no need for pass or ticket,
no need for gates and turnstiles,
no need to collect or enforce fare,
no need for paid fare zones,
no need for extra pedestrian bridge at Place d'Orléans station, ...
How easier for bus drivers? How much would be saved?

[lrt's friend]

The bigger question is how much fare non-payment occurs because of nonfunctional presto readers. If you can't pay on the bus and you end up at Hurdman, how do pay then?

[dougvdh]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

The bigger question is how much fare non-payment occurs because of nonfunctional presto readers. If you can't pay on the bus and you end up at Hurdman, how do pay then?

And how much of the non-payment occurs because of one way trips taking longer than the transfer window to complete.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by eltodesukane

If public transit was free, no need for pass or ticket,
no need for gates and turnstiles,
no need to collect or enforce fare,
no need for paid fare zones,
no need for extra pedestrian bridge at Place d'Orléans station, ...
How easier for bus drivers? How much would be saved?

Are you suggesting the cost of fare collection is more than fare revenue? That seems unlikely.

[skyscraperaccount]

How are hockey arenas washrooms? I haven't been in 10 years or so but every local rink was open long hours with public washrooms and they were never/rarely(?) trashed because it was in a public building with folks around all the time. Same with libraries.

The stations should be considered part of the city's public infrastructure (honestly the whole system should be) and cared for in the same way. That means attendants/staffing, security and washrooms accessible to the public without fare. OC should be running the busses and LRT, not caring for public infrastructure.

Stop trying to run the city on pennies when dollars are required. Raise taxes and let the bitching and moaning happen...too bad.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

OC Transpo catches 1,300 passengers not paying the fare so far this year
By Josh Pringle
Published: April 15, 2026 at 12:30PM EDT
https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/oc...rs-not-paying-the-fare-so-far-this-year/

OC Transpo says that 1,359 tickets were issued for non-payment of fare in the first 3 months of this year. If the same rate continues throughout the rest of the year, OC Transpo will have issued just over 5,400 tickets for all of 2026. This compares with 4,077 tickets in the first 8 months of 2025 – or about 6,100 for the year. At this rate, there seems to be much lower fare evasion this year.

I have to wonder if ‘down’ card-readers has an effect on ticketing. For the last few months, I have found the readers to be unreliable. I’m often having to try another machine on the bus or another turnstile, or ride without paying. (Luckilly OC Transpo has forced more transfers now, so if one bus doesn’t have a working reader, the next might. It seems that I have always been able to pay for my journeys, despite intermittent card readers.)

I'd like to see revenue from those fines last year and this year to see if they make up the salaries of the fare inspectors.

As others have mentioned, what happens if the fare gates or Presto cards were down when you got on transit and then get nabbed by a fare inspector?

Originally Posted by eltodesukane

If public transit was free, no need for pass or ticket,
no need for gates and turnstiles,
no need to collect or enforce fare,
no need for paid fare zones,
no need for extra pedestrian bridge at Place d'Orléans station, ...
How easier for bus drivers? How much would be saved?

The City of Ottawa already struggles with the idea of funding transit while fares cover 33% of the budget (was once 50%). I prefer improvements to transit over free transit.

I would support discounts off peak and weekends.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by eltodesukane

If public transit was free, no need for pass or ticket,
no need for gates and turnstiles,
no need to collect or enforce fare,
no need for paid fare zones,
no need for extra pedestrian bridge at Place d'Orléans station, ...
How easier for bus drivers? How much would be saved?

How much worse for passengers who would have to put up with even more dirt, social disorder, and indecorous and intoxicated behaviour?

[skyscraperaccount]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

How much worse for passengers who would have to put up with even more dirt, social disorder, and indecorous and intoxicated behaviour?

Just spent 3 days in Luxembourg as a tourist (where the whole country trains/trams/buses are 'free'). Free transporation was seen, by the government as a way to a: offset the cost of fare collection and b: a way to boost public transportation use to alleviate congestion and c: a way to support the minimum wage worker to get to work to serve the fat cats of the country (of which there are many).

Spotless, on time, well scheduled. I didn't notice it being a hangout for street folk (and yes, Luxembourg has street folk).

For example, i took a trip 20km to a small town on the border with France. It was approx 23km from the core. It was serviced 1x/hour by train, on a Sunday. It also was serviced by 2 different bus routes every 20 minutes) so service to 'the burbs', on a Sunday, was 7 trips per hour. The frequency of trains is much higher M-F and 3x per hour on Saturdays

Anecdote. One part of the urban city was complaining about it taking 30 minutes by car to get to the core (from low town to upper town). Instead of one more lane bro, they built a funicular and an outdoor elevator that are free to use and cut travel time to less than 10 minutes. The elevator and funicular (3 minute service) both accomodate bikes too.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by skyscraperaccount

How are hockey arenas washrooms? I haven't been in 10 years or so but every local rink was open long hours with public washrooms and they were never/rarely(?) trashed because it was in a public building with folks around all the time. Same with libraries.

The stations should be considered part of the city's public infrastructure (honestly the whole system should be) and cared for in the same way. That means attendants/staffing, security and washrooms accessible to the public without fare. OC should be running the busses and LRT, not caring for public infrastructure.

Stop trying to run the city on pennies when dollars are required. Raise taxes and let the bitching and moaning happen...too bad.

Hockey arena washrooms are generally in good shape. That said, they are staffed all of those hours.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

How much worse for passengers who would have to put up with even more dirt, social disorder, and indecorous and intoxicated behaviour?

Fare gates offer a degree of security. In LA which I visited in 2024, rail transit has been invaded by the homeless, druggies, the mentally ill and petty criminals. Many find the system unsafe. I saw some of this. Be careful what you hope for.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by phil235

Hockey arena washrooms are generally in good shape. That said, they are staffed all of those hours.

There is a big difference between public washrooms and washrooms operated by private businesses. It is important for their reputation that private businesses keep their washrooms safe and clean. There needs to be a similar mindset for public washrooms but there is always a desire to cut corners and costs. If public washrooms are disgusting and unsafe. we need to smarten up.

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by skyscraperaccount

Just spent 3 days in Luxembourg as a tourist (where the whole country trains/trams/buses are 'free'). Free transporation was seen, by the government as a way to a: offset the cost of fare collection and b: a way to boost public transportation use to alleviate congestion and c: a way to support the minimum wage worker to get to work to serve the fat cats of the country (of which there are many).

Spotless, on time, well scheduled. I didn't notice it being a hangout for street folk (and yes, Luxembourg has street folk).

For example, i took a trip 20km to a small town on the border with France. It was approx 23km from the core. It was serviced 1x/hour by train, on a Sunday. It also was serviced by 2 different bus routes every 20 minutes) so service to 'the burbs', on a Sunday, was 7 trips per hour. The frequency of trains is much higher M-F and 3x per hour on Saturdays

Anecdote. One part of the urban city was complaining about it taking 30 minutes by car to get to the core (from low town to upper town). Instead of one more lane bro, they built a funicular and an outdoor elevator that are free to use and cut travel time to less than 10 minutes. The elevator and funicular (3 minute service) both accomodate bikes too.

So that compares pretty evenly with Ottawa then. Luxembourg is a little smaller than the City of Ottawa and has, what, about half the population of our CMA. Some of our furthest suburbs, Barrhaven for example, exceed that level of weekend bus routes, don't they?

Supposedly, Orleans will soon have pretty frequent train service as well. We can dream, can't we?

[phil235]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

There is a big difference between public washrooms and washrooms operated by private businesses. It is important for their reputation that private businesses keep their washrooms safe and clean. There needs to be a similar mindset for public washrooms but there is always a desire to cut corners and costs. If public washrooms are disgusting and unsafe. we need to smarten up.

The arenas in question are City of Ottawa facilities. Was just answering the question asked above.

[J.OT13]

I hope RTG is dinged a few bucks every time the washrooms are closed, or even the water fountains are not functional.