Transit riders to receive 2 free weekends on OC Transpo

Ottawa transit riders will receive two free weekends on buses and the O-Train later this year to compensate for transit disruptions. CTV’s Leah Larocque reports

Ottawa transit riders will receive two free weekends of transit on buses and the O-Train later this year to compensate for transit disruptions so far this year.

Council approved a motion from Coun. Shawn Menard, seconded by Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, with a number of measures to boost transit reliability and enhance service. One of the free transit weekends will be Sept. 26-27, when Ottawa celebrates its 200th birthday with events including the Nuit Blanche.

“Clearly, we have been undergoing such a difficult time in Ottawa for many years now with reliability and LRT. This is just one positive step in the right direction. And I appreciate the mayor’s support on it,” Menard said.

The O-Train Line 1 has returned to regular service with double-car trains this week for the first time in four months after a spalling issue was discovered on the cartridge bearing assembly in January and a 100,000 km limit was imposed on all axles. OC Transpo has also cancelled thousands of bus trips so far this year due to an aging bus fleet requiring maintenance and a delay in the arrival of new electric buses.

Menard says the plan is not enough, but it is a good first start.

“I think if you combine this, the reliability measures here, the new double car trains that have just relaunched, the new busses that are rolling out on our street to help with reliability, as well as the free transit for youth starting July 1st. This is good news, I think,” he said.

“But, of course, there’s much more that needs to be done around service enhancement and ensuring that we’re investing in transit to get this get this right for reliability.”

• OC Transpo resumes double-car service on O-Train Line 1

The plan will see OC Transpo offer two free “familiarization weekends” on public transit, at a cost of approximately $900,000. One weekend would be September 26 and 27, while the other free transit weekend would be following the launch of the O-Train Line 1 East Extension.

The plan also calls on OC Transpo to:

• Increase Para Transpo hours of service on Friday and Saturday evenings by two hours to align with the LRT schedule. That would cost $108,000 per year.
• Buy two 60-foot articulated buses to “advance our fleet modernization and increase bus reliability.” The two new buses would cost $3.6 million.
• Purchase two six-metre Para Transpo buses at a cost of $480,000.
• Deploy a suite of transit priority measures requested by councillors in a way that “maximizes transit benefits at the earliest opportunities.” That would cost $1 million.

“We know that going forward we’re going to have big milestones like the opening of the eastern extension of line one, big events in our city like Canada Day and the weekend where we’ll be celebrating Ottawa’s 200 birthday. So, to give people the opportunity to try the service out for free at those times, I think is a very, very powerful way to engage people,” Sutcliffe said.

“We’ve seen it work before when we’ve done it in the past. People have used the service, and I hope many of them who were trying it for the first time decided to continue to use the service.”

Sutcliffe says the plan for free weekends is about balance.

“We’re striking a balance between doing what any business would do when they have a new service or when there’s a big moment to offer something to their customers, to give them an incentive to try the service and at the same time investing as much money as possible in improving the service so they have a better experience.”

Menard’s motion also recommends spending $2 million to install heat tracing on the Line 1 overhead catenary system to avoid future multi-day LRT shutdowns caused by freezing rain. The O-Train east of uOttawa station was out of service for several days in March after freezing rain damaged the overhead catenary system.

The city will use funding from the Transit Capital Reserve to purchase the new buses and install the heat tracing technology on O-Train Line 1. Funding from the transit operating reserve would be used to fund operating relating initiatives.

Earlier this spring, OC Transpo staff examined possible ways to compensate transit riders for the delays and disruptions on the transit system so far this year.

A 50 per cent refund provided to customers for disruptions between Jan. 22 and March 31 would cost approximately $8.2 million, according to a report for the transit committee.

Staff said a future 50 per cent discount on the price of monthly passes sold to individual customers would cost $2 million to $2.5 million a month. A 50 per cent discount on the cost of single-ride fares would cost $3 million to $3.3 million per month.

Renoviction bylaw

Council has directed city staff to introduce a proposed renoviction bylaw to the planning and housing committee next month for discussion.

Council initially directed staff in May 2024 to assess the feasibility of a municipal renoviction bylaw. Earlier this month, staff said amendments introduced to the Residential Tenancies Act in April by the Ontario government “enhanced tenant protections, including strengthened requirements related to renovation or repair-related evictions.”

On Wednesday, council approved a motion from Coun. Ariel Troster to table the original draft of the Rental Renovation Licence Bylaw to committee on July 8, and highlight provisions that may duplicate or overlap with Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act.

The motion recommends staff continue to review the implications of amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act as they come into force to identify gaps that may require additional tenant protection measures. If there are gaps in the legislation, staff will introduction options during the next term of council to “further enhance tenant protections.”

With files from CTV’s Leah Larocque.

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