John Manconi, General Manager of Ottawa’s Transportation Services, stated that “starting this week, OC Transpo will be adjusting service levels on routes across the entire transportation system because of reduced ridership and COVID-19 potential impacts to their workforce”.
The various altered times to take place are as follows:
Conventional Bus as of Monday, March 30:
- Service will continue to be provided in all neighborhoods
- Weekday service will move to Saturday service levels on many routes
- Many routes, which normally operate only on weekdays, will continue to run but at modified service levels
- Rural weekly Shopper services will continue as usual
- The first trip in the morning will be later than usual on many routes
- Saturday and Sunday service will operate as usual
- Complete schedules and details of changes on specific routes will be available later this week on octranspo.com
O-Train Line 1, the Confederation Line as of Friday, March 27:
- On Fridays, service will run until 1:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, and overnight bus service will be available from that time
- Otherwise, service start and end times will remain the same
- Trains will arrive every 6 to 8 minutes at peak periods and every 10 to 16 minutes at other times of the day and on weekends
- The number of dedicated R1 buses is being reduced to align with changed service levels on Line 1
- Staffing levels of the red-vested O-Train Ambassadors have been scaled back.
O-Train Line 2, the Trillium Line as of Wednesday, March 25:
- Trains will arrive every 15 minutes at all times
- Service start and end times will remain the same
- As we have done on our buses and Line 1 trains to protect the health of our operators and customers, we will be installing tape on Line 2 trains to block the area closest to the operator cab from the rest of the train
Para Transpo as of Tuesday March 24:
- All trip requests made a day in advance are being accommodated
- Most trips are being operated with only one customer on board, to allow for social distancing
- Service levels are being managed according to demand.
The OC Transpo plan may be adjusted as the COVID-19 situation changes. Social distancing continues to be a priority.
Metrolinx has extended the deadline to cancel autorenewal of April monthly transit passes to Friday, March 27 at 11:59 pm. This will give customers more time to cancel their monthly pass, should they wish. Customers can change their autorenew settings at Prestocard.ca.