City of Ottawa looking to spend millions to keep people moving this fall

Vehicles are pictured on Highway 417 in Ottawa. (CTV News Ottawa)

City of Ottawa staff are proposing more than $20 million in enhancements and changes to the city’s transportation network to help keep people moving this fall, as more federal public servants commute to the office.

In a report posted to Engage Ottawa on Thursday, ahead of the July 15 city council meeting, staff outlined 48 potential transportation, mobility, and operational enhancements that could be implemented this fall. These include incentivizing active transportation, expanding Park and Ride options for transit riders, extending on-street parking hours in some places, and improving bus route runtimes, among other changes.

“Data provided by the federal government indicates that 150,000 federal employees live and work in the National Capital Region. With more than 40 per cent of workspaces clustered in Ottawa’s downtown, the increased frequency of federal employees in the office could result in at least 65,000 additional weekly trips into Ottawa’s downtown core, across all modes of transportation,” the report says.

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“This does not include those employees who will travel through the downtown core to access federal workplaces in Gatineau. This, and other factors, will lead to an increase in demand on the transportation network, requiring coordinated measures to maintain mobility, network reliability, and access to key destinations.”

Staff say they are bringing the report forward now in anticipation of increased pressure on the city’s transportation network in September. While the four-day federal mandate to return to the office came into effect this week, significant traffic impacts aren’t expected until the fall, after summer vacations. The increased traffic from public servants will be coupled with the usual influx of students in the fall.

The report outlines approximately $28.7 million in spending, the majority of which—$20.1 million—would go toward expanded parking at the Bowesville LRT Park and Ride. Staff say the Bowesville project would be funded through $13.4 million in development charges reserves and $6.7 million in transit-supported debt. A separate document notes, however, that this work cannot begin until 2027.

Nearly $4 million would be spent on the construction of the Moodie Drive sidewalk connection and the implementation of additional transit Express service from Tunney’s Pasture Station and Kanata to the DND Moodie campus.

Staff say the construction of the sidewalk along Moodie Drive is contingent on the availability of federal funding and would only proceed if such funding is secured.

Other measures include:

• $1.8 million for enhanced measures to limit or defer road encroachment applications where there is a potential impact on traffic operations and network capacity during peak commuter periods and capital deferral impacts.
• $1.1 million to establish additional express routes and additional service on existing routes from existing park-and-rides and from other key locations, such as Barrhaven Centre, Place d’Orléans, Kanata and South Keys.
• $300K for increased transit ambassadors (red vests) at major stations.
• $300K to purchase additional traffic cameras to assist in traffic monitoring (advancing future planned purchases).
• $300K to pay for continuation of E1 Service, the express bus route between Blair Station and downtown.
• $294K to stand up the Traffic Incident Management Group (TIMG) function in August and September for rapid response.
• $240K for overtime for maintenance workers to get buses back on the road quickly after breakdown/scheduled maintenance.
• $110K for promotion and paid advertising to share mitigation measures and travel tips.
• $84K for improved transit support and resources for Customer Service staff.
• $50K to launch a transit communication campaign geared to federal employees.
• $40K to leverage Right-of-Way (ROW) and Traffic inspectors for in-the-field surveillance of roads.
• $25K to extend peak a.m. and p.m. no-parking/no-stopping by 30 minutes (from 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.) on select streets downtown.
• $11K for identification of Drop-off and Pick-Up locations downtown to prevent cars from momentarily stopping and causing traffic.
• $10K to update mapping and engage mapping applications to ensure road conditions are up to date.

More public servants than pre-pandemic

As of July 6, all non-executives in the federal public service are required to be onsite four days a week. Executives have been reporting to the office five days a week since May 4.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat says the new policy applies to all public servants in the core public service, but “separate agencies are strongly encouraged to take a similar approach.” Three federal departments, however, have told CTV News Ottawa they will be delaying the four days a week return-to-office mandate due to a lack of office space – Global Affairs Canada, Statistics Canada and Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada.

City staff say the anticipated increase in traffic comes as the federal workforce in Ottawa has grown since 2019 and will still be larger overall after federally announced cuts.

“While the projected federal public service workforce is predicted to decrease to approximately 145,282 employees in 2026, this still represents a net increase of approximately 24,052 employees (19.8 per cent) compared with 2019. As a result, even moderate increases in use of services may create localized pressures on key transit services, commuter corridors, interprovincial crossings, parking facilities, and areas with significant construction activity,” staff said.

In a memo to city councillors and the mayor, general manager of Ottawa’s Strategic Initiatives Department, Debbie Stewart, said while the origin of the plan is based around the federal return-to-office mandate, the results are intended to benefit all commuters in Ottawa.

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Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says the goal is to make moving around Ottawa easier for everyone.

“Whether you travel by car, bus, bike, or on foot,” he said on social media.

“If approved, this plan will make traffic flow better for all Ottawa residents, ensuring everyone can move around our city more easily, quickly, and reliably.”