OC Transpo sees fewer passengers for four straight months

The O-Train operates on Line 1 on Thursday, July 3, 2025. (Andrew Adlington/CTV News Ottawa)

Fewer people are boarding OC Transpo buses and the O-Train this year, as OC Transpo deals with a shortage of buses and offers only single-car service on O-Train Line 1.

Statistics show there were 5.6 million passenger trips on buses and the O-Train in April, down from 5.9 million passenger trips during the same month in 2025.

It was the fourth straight month that OC Transpo reported a drop in monthly ridership so far this year.

OC Transpo reported 6.1 million passenger trips in January, 5.4 million trips in February and 5.9 million passenger trips in March. In 2025, OC Transpo saw 6.5 million passenger trips in January, 5.9 million trips in February and 6.6 million trips in March.

The new ridership figures for April come as the finance and corporate services committee will receive a report on Tuesday showing OC Transpo posted a 7.2 million budget deficit in the January-March period.

Staff say lower ridership resulted in a $9.8 million shortfall in revenues during the first three months of the year.

While expenditures were $2.7 million below budget, due to the delayed opening of the O-Train East Extension and performance deductions for the O-Train, the savings were offset by higher costs for bus fleet maintenance, diesel fuel and compensation.

It has been a rough start to the year for OC Transpo.

The transit service has cancelled thousands of bus trips since January due to a shortage of available buses available. Staff say the shortage is due to an aging bus fleet requiring maintenance and a delay in the delivery of new electric buses.

OC Transpo has also been running single-car service on the O-Train since January after a spalling issue discovered on the cartridge bearing assemblies resulted in a 100,000 km limit imposed on train axles.

Starting June 2, regular service with double-car service will resume on O-Train Line 1.

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