It’s 3:45 p.m. on a Wednesday and the workday is ending. For many, that means it’s time to head home. CTV News Ottawa is continuing our return-to-office commute stress test, this time heading from the ByWard Market to the Millennium Park-and-Ride bus station in Orléans. Peter Szperling is taking the car, while I’m taking the LRT to Blair Station before transferring to a bus. We put both options to the test to see which gets us there faster. Google Maps shows Peter’s drive should take about 40 minutes. Mine is longer, but for $4.15 per trip ($4.10 if you tap a credit, debit or presto card), and without the parking hassle, OC Transpo has its perks. As long as it works. On the LRT, from Rideau to Blair, I meet Melissa Landry and Leslie Langil, co-workers and friends who commute from Orléans every day. “Normally I would take the E1, which is an express bus, except on Tuesdays,” says Landry. “There’s much more traffic on the roads so the express is very, very slow compared to the train.” Langil says the LRT is simply too slow on most days. “When it goes through Hurdman or Lees, anywhere there’s a turn, it almost comes to a stop,” she says. “I feel like I could actually get out and walk faster than this train is going.” But for the pair, and many others, the bus connection is what makes getting home unpredictable. Langil says she lives in Blackburn Hamlet and sometimes waits up to 40 minutes for a bus. Her husband will drive to Blair to pick her up instead. While Landry says delays of five to 10 minutes can leave her texting her family that she’s “stuck in bus purgatory again.” At Blair Station, I have options, including a new 539 express bus. But the 25 arrives first, and I hop on. It fills up fast. Peter’s route weaves around the slowdowns, on and off the highway, and he arrives at the Park-and-Ride in just under 45 minutes. I’m still 20 stops out. It is 4:55 p.m. when I finally arrive. Peter had been waiting half an hour. I probably could have shaved 15 minutes off my trip if I’d taken the express bus but after talking to people on the train, who said it may not show up, I chose the first available bus. While driving was quicker, transit worked well. But that’s not always the case, and for most commuters, like Melissa and Leslie, reliability is what matters most. “Sure, it would be nice to make the trains faster,” says Langil. “But they need to get buses in the stations and on time.” Last week, I took the same trip during the morning rush and overall, the commute times remained similar. It took 65 minutes to travel from Millennium Park-and-Ride to downtown, and 70 minutes during the afternoon.
