Councillors call on OC Transpo to restore bus service

An east-bound O-Train pulls in to Rideau Station on the Confederation Line of the Light Rail Transit system in Ottawa, Ont. (Brenda Woods/CTV Ottawa)

Several Ottawa councillors are onboard calls to restore bus service through the downtown core until issues with the Confederation Line have been sorted out.

Councillors Jeff Leiper and Catherine McKenney urged OC Transpo to restore R1 bus service following a lengthy delay on the two month old system Tuesday afternoon. In a post on Twitter, Councillor Leiper called on Mayor Jim Watson to "initiate discussions" on bringing back suburban bus routes until "some period of virtually flawless performance is achieved."

OC Transpo implemented R1 replacement bus service between St. Laurent and Blair Stations at 3:34 p.m. Tuesday due to a stopped train by Cyrville Station. The bus service was in place for nearly an hour while the train was taken out of service. OC Transpo tweeted 17 buses were used for the replacement service on Tuesday, with routes 25, 30 and 39 beginning their runs at St. Laurent Stop B.

Councillor Carol Anne Meehan supported the Councillors call to run buses parallel to the Confederation Line, saying “serious solutions are needed now.” Citizen Transit Commissioner Sarah Gilbert said she “100% agree” with calls to resume bus service.

Speaking on CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Evan Solomon, Transit Commission Chair Allan Hubley said it would cost $1 million a week to run parallel bus service alongside the Confederation Line.

Several passengers have been calling on the city to keep bus service running from the suburbs through the downtown core since the new multimodal transit system was introduced in October.  The new system directs buses from the suburbs to Blair, Hurdman and Tunney’s Pasture stations.

When asked on CFRA what rating he would give Rideau Transit Group for its work on the Confederation Line, Hubley said "what's below an F?"