Councillor Shad Qadri posted some comments about OC Transpo service in his weekly newsletter today. Highlights:
- A double-decker bus will be added to the 4:00 p.m. trip on Route 261 starting in April.
- Overall, most morning trips are taking three minutes longer to reach downtown than they did before Christmas.
- Scheduled times for all routes are being adjusted based on up-to-date actual observations.
- Qadri is encouraging residents to keep emailing and calling his office with concerns.
Here’s the full text of his update:
Recently I have heard from some of you voicing concerns over OC Transpo service on Stittsville routes. Since the announcement of the recent service changes, I have had three opportunities to sit down with OC Transpo staff including the General Manager to discuss service within Stittsville and even attended the recent public meeting in Kanata to analyze whether similar issues are occurring within our neighbouring wards. I have now received the following update:
- OC Transpo staff has reviewed the ridership in the afternoon on all Stittsville routes against the capacity that is available. Overall, the afternoon service is currently carrying between 77 and 89 percent of the customers they are capable of carrying. Staff did observe that Route 261 is currently operating above planned-capacity when departing Bayshore station, resulting in some over-crowding but of the two weeks the service was monitored, only one trip experienced overloading as a result of a lower-capacity-than-planned trip earlier in the day. A double-decker bus will be added to the 4:00 p.m. trip on Route 261 starting in April to accommodate this higher demand.
- OC Transpo staff has confirmed that ridership on Routes 92, 261, and 263 is approximately 10 customers higher on Senators’ game nights at the Canadian Tire Centre. Current observations show, however, that no trips are overcrowded on game nights. Actual travel times vary from day to day depending on auto traffic congestion, the effects of the weather, and other circumstances.
- Overall, most morning trips are taking three minutes longer to reach downtown than they did before Christmas and OC Transpo staff along with Traffic Services are working together to identify the cause of this and determine the best possible action.
- Scheduled times for all routes are being adjusted based on up-to-date actual observations, to help buses to arrive at stops when scheduled. With all areas of construction for the O-Train Confederation Line now active, traffic conditions have likely stabilized, and City staff responsible for both traffic management and transit operations will continue to manage the service under these conditions. The O-Train Confederation Line will open in 2018 and will bring a huge improvement to transportation in Ottawa.
I appreciate residents reaching out to me with their concerns. OC Transpo staff is working hard at addressing these issues but they still require resident feedback to ensure what steps to take moving forward. Please continue to email and call my office with concerns as these are the only methods to ensure proper action. Should service not improve over the coming weeks based on feedback, I will work with OC Transpo staff to coordinate a public meeting within Stittsville. Please email responses to Shad.Qadri@ottawa.ca or call 613-580-2476.