Extending OC Transpo transfer window could cost nearly $1 million, staff say

OCTranspo is set to launch its new bus transit network. April 5, 2025 (Joshua Marano/CTV News Ottawa)

Extending the OC Transpo transfer window an additional 30 minutes would cost Ottawa’s transit service nearly $1 million in lost revenue, according to staff.

In September, Barrhaven Coun. David Hill asked staff to review the 90-minute transfer window, noting construction delays and system reliability were slowing down travel times on buses and the O-Train.

Some commuters complained about their trip from the downtown core or Gatineau to the suburbs exceeding the 90-minute transfer window, and they’d have to pay twice for the trip.

• Fare increases should come with service improvements, OC Transpo riders say

In a memo to council, acting OC Transpo general manager Troy Charter said extending the current transfer window from 90 minutes to 105 minutes would impact revenue by $330,000, while extending transfers to two hours would cost approximately $900,000.

“The lost revenue calculated here is not related to long trips which require multiple transfers and is not related to refunds following service failures,” Charter notes.

“It is instead related to separate short trips in succession, which now require two fares and could, in future, be made with a single fare payment.”

Hill says he doesn’t need the transfer window opened up indefinitely.

“I only need to solve the problem, and the problem is on-peak, out of Tunney’s (Pasture) in the afternoon,” Hill said.

“That’s the pitch I’ll make at Transit Committee. Yes, they’re making the good point that it’s going to cost $330,000 if they’re going to increase (the transfer window) throughout the day. I’m saying just doing it on-peak in the afternoon, and we only need to do it up until the LRT gets out to Algonquin.”

Coun. Hill says the transfer window is not the “root issue” of the problem for riders.

“The root issue that needs to be addressed is the reliability out of Tunney’s Pasture in the afternoon on-peak,” Hill told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll on Monday.

“If we had the buses leaving precisely on schedule when they were supposed to at that point, and also, if we didn’t have the construction that pushed the buses into regular circulation, then this would not be an issue. But it is an issue because we don’t have enough buses to do the roots out of Tunney’s Pasture in the afternoon.”

OC Transpo currently offers timed-based transfers valid for 90 minutes to 105 minutes, depending on the time of day and day of the week. The transfer window for fares purchased after 10:30 p.m. each day of the week is valid until 4:30 a.m.

OC Transpo offers refunds if a transfer that should be possible within the transfer window “was not possible because of a service failure, such as a missed connection,” according to Charter.

A motion presented during Monday’s Transit Committee meeting proposes extending the transfer time for weekdays to 105 minutes between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The motion, presented by Coun. Steve Desroches, said the extended transfer window would be temporary until the launch of the O-Train to Algonquin and Moodie stations in 2027.

Charter says the STO in Gatineau, Toronto’s TTC and transit services in Hamilton, Mississauga, Kitchener-Waterloo, York and Durham Region all offer 120-minute transfer periods. The transfer window is 90 minutes in Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City and Winnipeg.

An extension to the 90-minute transfer period is not included in the 2026 OC Transpo draft budget, which will be voted on by members of the Transit Committee on Monday. Staff plan to gather feedback and ideas for possible changes in 2027.

“With the continuing expansion of the O-Train system, there will be many more stations where proof of payment is no longer required when connecting between services, and thus no risk of a financial penalty to customers in case of a missed connection,” Charter said.

“One current example is a trip from Kanata North to Carleton University, which could be made on Route 63 to Tunney’s Pasture Station, O-Train Line 1 to Bayview Station, and Line 2 to Carleton Station. At each of these stations, no proof of payment is required to transfer from one service to the next.”