Transit Committee - 9 April, 2026

On 9 April, Transit Committee met for its third meeting of 2026. 

This is the first Transit Committee since Rick Leary joined OC Transpo. Bus reliability is improving thanks to the better weather, e-bus deliveries, and lower service requirements during summer. However, the spalling problem with Line 1's CBAs (cartridge bearing assembly) has not been resolved, limiting train availability.

The link to the meeting video is here. 

Documents: 

• OC Transpo Update Presentation
• LRT Annual Compliance Report - 2025
• Inquiry (Marty Carr) - Number of Free Bus Passes

Stage 2 Update (Transit Committee) - 12 March, 2026

This is the second part of my update on Transit Committee on 12 March. The first part can be found here. 

Staff presented an update on Stage 2 LRT at that meeting. Stage 2 East achieved substantial completion right before the meeting, which is a big step forwards for that project. But the continuing spalling issue will affect the timeline for trial running, if it is not resolved soon, and there seems to be no indication that will occur. 

The only document: 

• Stage 2 Light Rail Transit Project
  

The Stage 2 update begins at timestamp 3:21:10 of the video, which can be found here. 

Transit Committee - 12 March, 2026

Another month, another Transit Committee. 

The spalling trouble remained unresolved and the surface network remained unreliable throughout February. Adding to these problems, an ice storm whipped through town the day before the meeting, causing Line 1's catenary wires to snap and forcing three days of R1 service on the network. 

The video link for the meeting can be found here. 

The Stage 2 update, as always, will be posted separately. This will include Committee's discussion of how the spalling issue may affect Stage 2 East's opening date. 

Documents list for this meeting: 

• Stage 2 Light Rail Report
• Motion - Implement of a [sic] Communication Protocol

Our new GM: a brief history of Rick Leary

Ten months after the departure of former general manager Renée Amilcar, OC Transpo has a new head: Rick Leary. 

You can watch the city's press conference introducing him here. 

Mr. Leary has held executive positions in Boston, York Region, and Toronto. According to the memo City Manager Wendy Stephenson sent to Council: 

Rick has extensive experience overseeing integrated bus, light rail, subway, and streetcar systems, with responsibility for operations, maintenance, safety, and long‑term asset management ... [his] experience includes managing aging infrastructure, supporting the integration of new and expanding services, and ensuring the successful delivery of capital projects.  

Given his extensive experience, I am confident that Rick is well positioned to lead the Transit Services department in an inspiring and empowering way while strengthening Ottawa’s growing multi-modal transit system.  

Actually, Mr. Leary has extensive experience in obfuscating service quality, hiding safety issues, and agency mismanagement. With his record, Council should question the hiring process that led to his appointment.  

Transit Committee - 12 February, 2026

On the 12th of February, Transit Committee met for the first time in 2026. The video of this meeting can be found here. 

Since the last Transit Committee in November, bus service has continued to deteriorate, and adding to OC Transpo's troubles, most of the Line 1 fleet was ordered out of service after spalling was discovered on the cartridge bearing assemblies (CBAs). There is currently no timeline to return the trains to service. Most of this meeting was, understandably, dedicated to these two crises.

Despite the quixotic self-congratulations from OC Transpo and from Transit Committee, delegations and the state of service reveal a system full of problems. As long as councillors do not feel urgency on this file, transit will continue to be a whack-a-mole of acute and chronic problems. 

Documents from this meeting: 

• Electric Bus program inquiry
• Outstanding motions and inquiries
  

OC Transpo pass sales data

This is a short one - I received historical monthly pass sales data through an email exchange with OC Transpo staff a few months ago following a failed MFIPPA request. I forgot about it and it languished in my inbox, but I am posting the data now, a few months late. 

This data covers the sales for each type of monthly pass (excluding U-Passes) from September 2018 onwards, which includes pre-pandemic and pre-LRT data for comparison's sake. 

You can view and download the dataset here. 

Route 41 service snapshot - 3 to 30 November

Route 41 is a frequent route that runs from Billings Bridge to St. Laurent. The route is the primary service on Heron Road, Walkley Road, and St. Laurent Boulevard, and services Herongate and Elmvale, both low-income communities with relatively high transit use. 

The westbound service towards Billings Bridge is generally reliable, but the eastbound service towards St. Laurent has a severe mismatch between scheduled and actual runtimes, falling below the 5th percentile for much of the day. The usual afternoon peak reliability issues also make an appearance. 

Priorities at City Hall: OC Transpo in 2026

As we roll out of 2025 and into 2026, transit in Ottawa drifts forwards without a coherent vision. 

OC Transpo is changing from the Transitway days, and it is not clear what it will become. The first part of Stage 2 opened last year, with another set to open this year; meanwhile, the bus network is in an apparent state of meltdown, and with one problem solved (operator shortage), another has appeared (fleet shortage). It remains to be seen whether the situation will improve or not. 

This year is also a municipal election year. As 20% of the city budget and the most visible signal of dysfunction at the City of Ottawa, transit will be a headline issue this campaign season. It is therefore essential that candidates and City institutions create and present a coherent vision of transit.