OC Transpo

Officials managing the federal government’s return-to-office plans are concerned about the ability of Ottawa’s troubled municipal transit system to actually get public servants to their workplaces, an internal memo shows.

OC Transpo users now have new concerns about whether Ottawa’s light rail system has enough staff to keep trains running reliably.

The union representing OC Transpo rail operators is raising concerns about staffing on the O-Train system following the shutdown of two lines on the Victoria Day long weekend, saying the system has been “consistently understaffed, often operating below 75 per cent capacity.”

A redesigned axle hub for the Alstom trains on O-Train Line 1 could still be years away, officials told the City of Ottawa’s transit committee, but progress on the redesign is being made.

OC Transpo general manager Rick Leary has unveiled his 10-point plan to improve transit service in the capital.

Ten OC Transpo buses have been decommissioned over the past 18 years due to fires, according to new data.

OC Transpo staff say they’ve looked at several options for compensating riders for thousands of bus trip cancellations and disrupted service on O-Train Line 1 this year.

OC Transpo says sections of O-Train Line 2 will be offline this Saturday and Sunday morning for work on track switches.

OC Transpo says 25 light rail vehicles on O-Train Line 1 are now below the 100,000-kilometre mileage threshold that has been in place since January because of the spalling issue.

OC Transpo is proactively cancelling dozens of bus trips each workday this spring due to longer travel times and an “increase in fleet requirements,” as the transit service rolls out the new spring schedule this week.

More than 1,300 people have been fined for not paying the fare to ride OC Transpo buses and the O-Train so far this year.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says Metrolinx, the provincial agency that operates public transit services in the GTA and Ottawa’s Presto card, has sent the city axles for O-Train Line 1.

OC Transpo plans to refurbish dozens of aging articulated buses this year as part of a plan to strengthen the resiliency of the fleet and improve service reliability during winter storms and disruptions.

Single-car service will continue on O-Train Line 1 for at least the next six weeks as OC Transpo and Rideau Transit Group work to address issues with axles on the light-rail transit vehicles.

Taking OC Transpo in the afternoon is consistently worse compared with any other time of the day, according to new metrics shared at Thursday’s Transit Committee meeting.