OC Transpo boss says audit of New Ways to Bus ‘validates’ new action plan

Ottawa’s new general manager of Transit Services says a scathing audit of OC Transpo provides validation for his plans. CTV’s Tyler Fleming reports.

General manager of Transit Services Rick Leary says a scathing audit of OC Transpo’s bus scheduling processes validates his own plan to address delays and cancellations for bus customers in the city.

Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon officially presented her audit to the City of Ottawa’s audit committee on Friday. It found that the “New Ways to Bus” plan that was launched in 2025 was formulated with outdated data and was focused more on cost savings, leading to late buses and other impacts to service. The audit made 10 recommendations, all of which were agreed to by OC Transpo management.

Speaking at Friday’s audit committee meeting, Leary said he appreciated the audit’s findings, as they echo many of his plans for the system.

“We do appreciate the findings, as they do validate what I would say are the actions of the customer-first action plan, and the feedback that we’ve received from councillors, our customers, and our union partners,” Leary said. “These findings complement the 10 action items that OC Transpo is now working on. As we presented to transit committee last week, work has already begun as part of our customer first action plan to improve service reliability.”

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It’s a sentiment that was shared by Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, in a social media post Friday morning.

“Throughout this term of council, we’ve been working hard to improve public transit, fix the problems we inherited from previous terms, and put OC Transpo on a better path. The Auditor General’s report is very consistent with what I’ve heard directly from OC Transpo customers, and also with the findings of our new general manager of transit, Rick Leary, who is implementing his Customer-First Action Plan,” Sutcliffe wrote.

“Together with the historic investments we’ve made in public transit, including acquiring 500 new vehicles, Rick’s plan will ensure we’re acting on the auditor’s recommendations and building the transit system our residents expect and deserve.”

Leary, who was hired as Ottawa’s new GM of Transit Services in March, outlined his 10-point plan in May, with particular focus on what he called “realistic” schedules. The audit found that 29 per cent of weekday routes of 30 minutes or greater in duration had scheduled run times that varied by 10 per cent or more of the actual run time, on average. Of these, 86 per cent did not have enough time, and 14 per cent had too much.

Leary told the audit committee that OC Transpo has already adjusted the run times of seven routes, with plans to adjust another over the summer and 22 more in the fall, reiterating something he previously told transit committee.

“Schedule improvements will provide more consistent and reliable service to 50 per cent of our bus customers this fall. We’re going to continue to review and analyze all routes based on current travel patterns, customer and councillor feedback, and make adjustments to schedules to deliver the service that we advertise,” he said on Friday.

In a memo issued Thursday, Leary said there will be some reduced frequency over the summer, when ridership tends to be lower, to roll out a new maintenance regime to prepare the fleet for increased ridership in September and the return of winter weather.

Focus on cost savings unfair

Leary pushed back against characterization that the New Ways to Bus plan was mainly driven by budget considerations.

“The redesign focused on achieving an annual bus operating cost reduction of approximately $10 million, equivalent to a reduction of 70,000 bus service hours annually. As a result, the redesign prioritized minimizing service impacts for as many existing customers as possible, with particular attention to equity-seeking groups,” the audit said.

Leary, who was not involved in the New Ways to Bus plan, was asked whether it he thought that was fair.

“In all honesty, I don’t,” he said. “I think that when they opened the rail systems and they started doing the New Ways to Bus, it was to have a feeder system, and having a number of discussions with yourselves, as well as many customers out there, sometimes that feeder system takes a little bit longer for travel.”

He said he and his team are looking at new ways of doing things in the very near future, with the aim providing more direct service, rather than having to take one or two buses to get to light rail.

“I think it was a good foundation. I would have done … a very similar thing myself,” he said, noting that the plan came amid traffic changes related to COVID-19 and return-to-office mandates.

“It’s now time to reassess it, look at doing things a little differently.”

Union defends operators in light of audit

The head of the union representing OC Transpo drivers told the audit committee that the audit paints a clear picture of what he and other union leaders have been saying for year.

ATU Local 279 President Noah Vineberg told committee members that throughout the years, OC Transpo has blamed a shortage of operators for many of the late or cancelled trips experienced by customers, but the term is misleading.

“It was never a shortage of operators. And let me say what that excuse really was—it was misleading, it was wrong, and it was insulting. Every time someone stood up and blamed a shortage of drivers, they were pointing at the people who showed up every single day to serve this city,” he said.

Vineberg said a “driver shortage” gives the public the impression that drivers are not working hard enough, are not present, or are somehow abusing the system. But he said the blame lies at management’s feet for poor route planning.

“What they call driver shortage is when they need to cancel a trip because they poorly planned it, and they couldn’t make it so that that recovery time allowed the next trip, and they cancel it. They say it’s because the driver wasn’t available, that goes as driver shortage, and that is an excuse. It’s a scapegoat, and every single transit commission that the previous GM laid that out, it drove our people crazy. It is unfair, it is misleading, and it wasn’t what was happening,” he said.

“If they cannot plan for the federal mandated break, if they cannot plan for the variables that an operator sees in their day-to-day, that failure is on them. It can’t be operator shortage, it’s management failure. That’s what it was.”

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The audit did find that from Jan. 4 to March 1, 2026, 28 per cent of cancellations were due to operator availability, but it notes there could be several reasons for that, such as a previous trip being late or needing to take a Canada Labour Code-mandated break. The audit also noted that OC Transpo data suggests the operator gap is not expected to be resolved until the new year.

“We’ve been keeping this system alive for 20 plus years, because they put in the overtime and they put in the extra work to help, and that’s not just for financial, there’s pride here,” Vineberg said. “So, can it be done? Yes. Is it wise to go that route? No, I think we need to be mindful of what we have, make sure that the conditions are good to retain the people that we have and treat them properly, while we attract new, and I think all that needs to come into perspective, and I really am encouraged to see that we’re talking about real numbers, real facts now, and getting to a point where the runtime will be possible to deliver.”

Leary said he is committed to being transparent with the union, and thanked Vineberg for his input on the customer-first action plan.

“Their input has been incredibly helpful through this process. The union had a document, for instance, they brought to me, sat down right away,” Leary said. “I’m very grateful. That’s why I said in my state (opening) statements, I thank Noah for his help on this. We share everything.”