Frustration grows as Orléans commuters continue to wait for LRT eastern extension

East-end commuters have to deal with crowded buses and crowded trains just to get downtown. CTV’s Leah Larocque reports.

Ottawa’s Worst Commute: CTV News Ottawa travels with viewers on OC Transpo buses, the O-Train and Para Transpo to see what’s happening on the transit system. Visit our special Worst Commute page for more coverage.

East-end transit riders say every morning commute feels like a waiting game — not just for the next bus or train, but for the long-promised eastern extension of the OC Transpo’s Confederation Line.

More than two years after the light-rail expansion was originally expected to open, OC Transpo still won’t commit to a launch date. On Thursday, OC Transpo announced the extension had achieved substantial completion, a key milestone toward an eventual opening, but it remains unclear when trial running can begin because of a lack of available vehicles.

Officials say the line is on track to open in the second quarter of this year — sometime between April and June — leaving thousands of Orléans commuters facing crowded buses, packed trains, and long travel times into downtown Ottawa.

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This means that the trip downtown for residents still starts on a bus to get them to major transfer points like Blair Road.

“Why are there not enough buses?” asked rider Gerwin Catalay, after his bus did not arrive on time.

Coun. Tim Tierney says the LRT extension would eliminate the extra transfer that currently funnels riders into Blair Station.

“When the train runs, it will avoid getting onto another bus … to get to Blair Station where all the eastern bus traffic comes.”

Blair is the current eastern terminus of the Confederation Line — and a major bottleneck. Route after route converges there, often overwhelming both bus platforms and the single-car trains that depart from the station.

One bus arriving during the morning rush was already full, leaving roughly 20 people behind on the platform.

“It’s like usual — every day,” said one commuter.

On the train platform, conditions can be worse. Riders squeeze into already crowded cars — at the very first stop of the line.

Tierney says riders “desperately” need the eastern extension to open.

“It will add in all the extra buses that would be used that are feeding Blair Station right now, they can go back into the general use for the city. We need that,” he says. “Plus, from a residential point of view, they’re not going to have to go and play ‘The Hunger Games’ at Blair Station anymore. Where you have all the buses, all the congestion taking place in one spot, we’ll be able to spread that out along the line.”

Sophie Vincent says a cancelled bus set off a chain reaction that made her late for work.

“The 7:07 bus, the 25, it was cancelled by the time I got to the bus stop. Then I had to wait … it was supposed to be a 20-minute wait.” She says 20 minutes turned into half an hour.

“It seems like everything’s almost always breaking down,” said Daniel Anderson. “It makes you lose a little bit of trust in the system when they promise you an extension of the line.”

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Orléans South-Navan councillor Catherine Kitts says unreliable transit is pushing more residents to drive, worsening traffic congestion across the east end.

“Because the transit is unreliable and commute times are very long, the majority of people are choosing to drive if they can. And so, the congestion is out of control,” she says.

City routes through south Orléans are now operating over capacity, she adds.

“The unpredictability of commute times is very stressful for people that live in South Orléans because it’s the inability to plan your day,” Kitts says.

The bus-train commute from Orléans to downtown took just over an hour during this trip — a duration riders say could drop significantly once the LRT extends further east.

“The unpredictability, inefficiency, the unknown, the frustration, the stress,” says commuter Brent Charron, “I wish I could say something positive.”

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