The CTV News Ottawa mayoral debate is Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 10 a.m. Watch on CTVNewsOttawa.ca, listen on Newstalk 580 CFRA and watch on the Newstalk 580 CFRA YouTube Channel. OC Transpo has been in the news headlines in Ottawa a lot this year, and new exclusive polling for CTV News Ottawa shows transit is dominating the agenda for voters in the lead up to the Oct. 26 municipal election. Nanos Research surveyed 762 randomly selected Ottawa residents between Oct. 4 and Oct. 8. Respondents were asked to rank the top two City of Ottawa services that need the most improvement. The survey found 55 per cent of Ottawa residents ranked transit as the top service that needs the most improvement in the City of Ottawa, followed by roads and sidewalks and snow-clearing operations in the winter. The focus on improving transit was highest in downtown Ottawa, with 63 per cent of respondents ranking transit as the service that needs the most improvement. Nearly 60 per cent of respondents in the west and 52 per cent of respondents in the east end ranked transit as the service that needed the most improvement, while 47 per cent of respondents in rural Ottawa said transit is the service that needs the most improvement by the city. OC Transpo was forced to reduce service on O-Train Line 1 earlier this year after a spalling issue was detected on the axle-bearing assemblies of the light-rail transit vehicles, and hundreds of bus trips were cancelled in the winter and spring due to a shortage of buses and the aging fleet. The Nanos Research survey found voters were split on whether the City of Ottawa and OC Transpo need to focus on improving O-Train service or bus reliability to help improve transportation around the capital. The survey asked respondents to rank the top two items that should be the focus to improve transportation in Ottawa. “Majority of Ottawa residents cite transit as the top priority for improvement. Top solutions include better LRT service and more reliable buses,” said Nik Nanos, Chief Data Scientist with Nanos Research. Thirty-four per cent of respondents want OC Transpo and the City of Ottawa to focus on better light-rail transit service, while 33 per cent of respondents said the focus should be on more reliable buses. The survey found 21 per cent of respondents ranked better roads as the focus for improving transportation in Ottawa, while eight per cent said safer walking and cycling routes should be the focus. The spotlight has been shining on OC Transpo and Ottawa’s transportation network this fall, as federal public servants are required to spend a minimum of four days a week in the office and post-secondary students return to school. The city was expecting an additional 65,000 trips into downtown Ottawa each week this fall. City Services that need the most improvement The state of Ottawa’s roads and sidewalks and snow-clearing operations were next on the list of city services needing improvement, while other priorities depend on neighbourhoods across the city. The Nanos Research survey found 27 per cent of respondents ranked roads and sidewalks as the city service that needs the most improvement. Roads and sidewalks ranked second as the service needing improvements in all areas of Ottawa. Snow clearing was ranked by five per cent of respondents as the city service that needs the most improvement. Waste collection was chosen by three per cent of respondents as the city service most in need of improvement, followed by parks and recreation at two per cent. Other City of Ottawa services that need the most improvement depend on the areas of Ottawa. Five per cent of respondents in Ottawa’s west end want the city to improve infrastructure in their neighbourhoods. This comes after record rainfall on Canada Day flooded thousands of homes in Bay, College and Knoxdale-Merivale wards. While one per cent of rural respondents ranked infrastructure as a city service that needs the most improvement, infrastructure was not ranked by residents in the downtown and east areas. In downtown Ottawa, five per cent of respondents said services for Ottawa’s homeless need improvements. In rural Ottawa, five per cent of respondents want the city to improve waste collection services. The Nanos Research survey found one per cent of respondents want the city to improve municipal taxes, 0.3 per cent ranked crime as the city service that needed the most improvement, while 0.2 per cent picked traffic as the city service that needed to improve. Methodology The Nanos Research survey was conducted exclusively for CTV News Ottawa between Oct. 4 and Oct. 8. The survey included 762 Ottawa randomly selected residents with interviews completed by telephone and online. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
