O-Train ridership up 54 per cent during free fare weekend, OC Transpo says

An O-Train on Line 1 travels toward Tunney's Pasture Station. (CTV News Ottawa)

OC Transpo saw a boost in ridership on its O-Train lines last weekend, as thousands of people took advantage of the free fare to explore the transit system.

The City of Ottawa offered free transit on trains and buses last Saturday and Sunday to give residents a chance to explore the O-Train lines and the ‘New Ways to Bus’ network for bus routes.

Transit Services general manager Renée Amilcar says the preliminary data shows ridership on the O-Train was 54 per cent higher last weekend than an average weekend.

“More than 136,250 customers took advantage of the O-Train system,” Amilcar said in a memo to council Thursday morning. “There were 102,250 customers who rode O-Train Line 1 and 34,000 customers travelled on the new Lines 2 and 4.”

OC Transpo told CTV News Ottawa on Monday that “additional train capacity” was added to O-Train Line 2 on Sunday to meet demand.

“High passenger volumes were seen throughout the weekend, especially on Sunday during the CN Cycle for CHEO event where many passengers were seen boarding trains with bikes,” OC Transpo said in a statement. “Some of the busiest stations included Tunney’s Pasture, Bayview, Pimisi, Rideau, Parliament and Lyon.”

The free transit weekend came four months after OC Transpo opened the new Lines 2 and 4, which runs between Bayview Station and Limebank Station, with a spur to the Ottawa International Airport.

There were more than 3,030 Para Transpo customers who took advantage of the free weekend, an increase of four per cent from a normal weekend.

Amilcar says ridership data for OC Transpo buses will be shared with the Transit Committee in June.