Two busy bus routes that serve downtown Ottawa and a route that runs between Blair Station and Tunney’s Pasture were among the routes hardest hit by bus cancellations during the first week of February. OC Transpo cancelled 1,577 bus trips during the week of Feb. 1 and 7 as it continued to deal with a bus shortage and maintenance backlog. The statistics on cancelled trips do not include 255 trips cancelled proactively each day since mid-January to decrease the size of the fleet required for service by 20 buses. Transit Services interim general manager Troy Charter said four per cent of scheduled trips were cancelled during the first week of February. CTVNewsOttawa.ca asked OC Transpo for a list of the most cancelled bus trips during the week of Feb. 1-7. Bus routes 6, 7, 11, 12, and 14, which all serve downtown Ottawa, were among the top 10 routes with the most cancellations, along with routes 25 and 39, which run in Orléans, and a popular route that runs between Tunney’s Pasture and Barrhaven. The data shows 601 of the 1,577 cancelled bus trips were on 10 routes. Route 12, which runs between Blair Station and Tunney’s Pasture, had the highest number of trips cancelled during the first week of February, with 97 trips cancelled. OC Transpo said 90 per cent of the 1,015 planned trips were delivered as scheduled. OC Transpo cancelled 65 trips on Route 6 Greenboro-Rockcliffe between Feb. 1 and Feb. 7, which runs along Rideau Street and Bank Street. A total of 61 trips were cancelled on Route 14 St. Laurent-Tunney’s Pasture, which travels along Rideau Street, Elgin Street, Gladstone Avenue and Parkdale Avenue. Sixty-one trips were also cancelled on Route 88 Hurdman-Bayshore, which stops at Billings Bridge, Mooney’s Bay LRT Station, Algonquin College, the Queensway-Carleton Hospital and Bayshore. Of the 1,577 bus trips cancelled during the week of Feb. 1, OC Transpo said 524 trips were cancelled due to operator availability, 520 trips were cancelled due to on-street adjustments and 300 buses were cancelled because there were no buses available. A total of 233 trips were cancelled due to mechanical breakdowns. OC Transpo cancelled 9,236 trips in January. Here are the routes with the highest number of trips not delivered between Feb. 1-7
