OC Transpo reducing bus service by 3.5 per cent next year

OC Transpo is planning to decrease its service by 74,000 fewer hours in 2024.

In a memo to Ottawa City Council released on Friday, Nov. 3 Renée Amilcar, general manager of OC Transpo, said the City of Ottawa’s transit services will operate with 3.5 per cent less of its bus service next year as part of a plan to revamp the bus route network.

“As part of OC Transpo’s five-year roadmap, the bus route review was launched in January 2023 to examine and confirm service planning principles, prepare for the opening of O-Train Lines 2 and 4, and determine a network design that meets the evolving needs of our customers,” said Amilcar in her memo.

Amilcar said following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and employers providing their employees with work from home options, “it was necessary to conduct the bus route review process in response to noticeable changes in customers’ travel patterns.”

“The current bus network was designed to carry 100 million passengers each year,” said Amilcar. “However, with recent ridership trends, OC Transpo is currently on track to carry 70 to 75 million customer-trips in 2024.”

Amilcar said OC Transpo’s new bus route network, outlined in a report to the City’s transit commission to be considered on Nov. 14, “responds to these changes in travel patterns and ridership, the needs of customers,
and ensures that a sustainable network is implemented to improve service reliability to 99.5 per cent.”

“Improving service reliability is key to building and maintaining a public transit system that customers and residents can have confidence in,” said Amilcar. “The service reliability target of 99.5 per cent means that out of approximately 8,000 trips delivered each weekday, no more than 40 trips would be cancelled in a single day.”

Amilcar said OC Transpo is operating approximately 2.111 million hours of bus service this year, adding that the new bus route network is providing 2.037 million service hours in 2024.