The bus of doom

(An out of service OC Transpo bus. Photo: OC Transpo)

Public transit. Something we are all familiar with. It’s a huge problem in Ottawa, especially in Stittsville. With buses not coming as frequently as they are supposed to, I am drawing attention to this issue because I feel that the schedule for buses in Ottawa, especially Stittsville needs to be re-evaluated. As someone who frequently uses this as a method of getting to and from places, I am used to the struggle of getting to places on time. My solution is to create more bus stops and have more frequent buses that come every 10 to 15 minutes rather than every 30 to 45 minutes.

I conducted a quick survey of a handful of Ottawa residents to find out whether people felt the same way that I do about the buses. Here are a few of the questions asked:

When asked if it was felt that the buses were true to their schedule respondents answered:

When asked if Ottawa could use more buses the responses were:

When asked if they felt that there were enough bus stops in Ottawa, responses were as follows:

I also asked how the respondents would rate public transit on a scale from 1 to 5 —

• 42.3% of the people who completed the survey rated it a 3;
• 23.1% give it a 1 as well as 2;
• 7.7% gave it a 4; and,
• the remaining 3.8% gave it a 5.

Also in the survey, 73.1% said that there needed to be more bus stops in Ottawa while the other 26.6% disagreed.

I also left a suggestion area where people could leave ideas on how they think the issue could be fixed. Here are a few of my favorite suggestions:

• Revamp route strategies and scheduling collaboration to communities — Re-approach and revamp employees moral; likely key to efficiency across the board.
• Fix the traffic and potholes on the roads. The buses have a better chance of being on time. Scrap the LRT and go back to the basics.
• Add more buses, have more drivers, have buses leave on time, and treat employees well so they can feel motivated to work.

As you can see from the survey, many Ottawa residents feel the same way I do about this issue. This is a growing concern as we continue to have issues both with OC Transpo and the LRT Confederation Line.

We need to make a stand so that this can be fixed for the next generation.