Councillor proposes 2 free weekends on OC Transpo buses, O-Train to compensate riders

A packed platform at Tunney's Pasture O-Train Station in February. (Dylan Dyson/CTV News Ottawa)

Two free weekends to ride Ottawa’s transit system and extending Para Transpo Service on Friday and Saturday evenings are some of the ideas being floated at Ottawa City Hall to boost service for riders.

O-Train Line 1 is running at regular service with double-car trains on Monday 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.

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

Council will vote Wednesday on a motion from Coun. Shawn Menard, seconded by Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, to implement several measures to boost reliability and enhance service.

“Ottawa’s transit riders deserve safe and reliable transit services on both our rail and bus networks,” said the motion.

One of the options is spending $900,000 to offer two free “familiarization weekends” on public transit. One weekend would be September 12-13, while the other free transit weekend would be following the launch of the O-Train Line 1 East Extension.

The motion also recommends increasing 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.

Other proposals in the motion include:

• Buying 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.

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.

If approved by council, the city would 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.

Menard’s motion comes after OC Transpo staff examined possible ways to compensate transit riders for the delays and disruptions on the transit system so far this year. Council approved a motion directing staff to explore scenarios to compensate transit riders, including refunds, discounted future service or capital improvements to boost reliability.

A 50 per cent refund provided to customers for disruptions between Jan. 22 and March 31 would cost approximately $8.2 million.

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.

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