LRT Sub-Committee disbands; the City of Ottawa must create a transparency culture

Introduction

The LRT Sub-Committee formed in February 2023, following the release of the province's Ottawa Light Rail Transit Inquiry, which among other things, found that City Council's oversight of Phase One was inadequate, partly blocked by the Mayor for political reasons. 

According to the City, the Sub-Committee's mandate is 

[To] provide oversight and focused attention on non-operational matters related to Ottawa’s light rail systems (LRT), including all light rail construction projects, as well as the City’s action plan in response to the Ottawa Light Rail Public Inquiry and other third-party reviews of the light-rail transit system.

Basically, the Sub-Committee is in charge of oversight of capital projects for the LRT project, which currently includes 2.5 projects (Stage 2 East, West, and the nearly-completed South). The group (I'm not typing out "sub-committee" over and over) met eleven times since its founding a little less than two years ago, and have reported on progress on the inquiry recommendations, as well as providing updates on construction. 

The Sub-Committee is made of councillors Steve Desroches, Cathy Curry, Glen Gower, Theresa Kavanagh, Jeff Leiper, and Tim Tierney, with Mark Sutcliffe as mayor. 

The City cited a high workload on councillors, as well as their progress in following the inquiry recommendations; the Line 2/4 opening exercise has been proclaimed a success, it seems, at the City of Ottawa. 

Ridership Analysis: Kanata and Stittsville

The full dataset can be found in this spreadsheet, or in its original form, in this PDF. 

Introduction

This article will analyze ridership patterns in Kanata and Stittsville, including the (61), (62), (63), [64], [66], [67], <88>, [110], [161], [162], [164], [165], [166], [168], (252), (256), (257), (261), (262), (263), (264), (265), (266), (267), (268), and (283). 

Ridership Analysis: Inner Southwest

 The full dataset can be found in this spreadsheet, or in its original form, in this PDF. 

Introduction

This article will analyse ridership patterns in Westboro, the Glebe, and other urban areas in the southwest. This includes routes R2 (now B2), [5], <6>, <7>, <10>, <11>, <14>, [16], [54], [55], [56], <85>, and [114]. 

Ridership Analysis: Alta Vista and Greenboro

 The full dataset can be found in this spreadsheet, or in this PDF. 

Introduction

This article will analyze ridership patterns in the Alta Vista and Greenboro areas, encompassing routes <6>, [26], <40>, [42], <44>, (45), [46], [47], [48], [49], [55], <90>, [92], [93], [96], (97), (98), [140], [141], [190], [197], (290), (291), and (294). 

Ridership Analysis: Orleans-Rural East

Clarification: the averages shown on the charts represent averages for the aggregate of ridership, not the average of percentages for routes. 

The full dataset can be found in this spreadsheet, or in its original form, in this PDF. 

Introduction

This article will analyze ridership patterns on OC Transpo, with data from an FOI I received a response to on the 13th December, 2024. This will cover Orleans and the rural east connexion routes. 

The routes included in this analysis are the: <25>, [28], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34], [35], [37], [38], (39), [131], [138], (221), (222), (228), (231), (232), (234), (236), and (237). 

Ridership Analysis: Barrhaven-Riverside South

 

The full dataset can be found in this spreadsheet, or in its original form, in this PDF. 

This article will analyze ridership patterns in the Barrhaven and Riverside South areas. This includes routes [73], (74), (75), <80>, (99), [110], [170], [171], [173], [175], [176], [198], [199], (270), (271), (272), (273), (277), (278), and (299). 

Ridership Analysis: Urban East-Beacon Hill

The full dataset can be found in this spreadsheet, or in its original form, in this PDF. 

Introduction

Welcome to the first of tentatively seven (but probably ultimately more) articles analyzing ridership patterns on OC Transpo's bus routes. This will cover the Urban East and Beacon Hill areas, including Beacon Hill, Vanier, and Lowertown. 

This article will include the following routes: <7>, [9], <12>, <14>, [15], [18], [19], [20], [21], [23], [24], and [27]. 

The case for the Baseline BRT

Background

In 2013, the Transportation Master Plan appeared with a Baseline BRT, stretching from Billings Bridge to Algonquin Station in the "affordable" vision, and to Bayshore in the "ultimate" concept. According to city staff, this was the highest priority corridor for BRT in the city. 

Fast forward to 2023. The first part of the Transportation Master Plan, the active transportation portion, appeared in Spring of 2023, but the release of the rest has been pushed to quarter two of this year. 

Updated ridership figures

A short post this time. 

I've set up a new spreadsheet for OC Transpo's bus ridership figures, covering every period from January 2023 to September 2024. This sheet includes breakdowns by time of day, in addition to overall ridership and weekend/weekday splits. 

Link here

I apologize for the pulling of the ridership analysis articles. Once I figure out how I want to write those, I will repost them with newer, and hopefully better, formatting. 

Until then. 

OC Transpo: a transit agenda for the New Year

It's 2025, the first segment of Stage 2 has launched, and another network semi-redesign is imminent. OC Transpo is in crisis mode again, with federal dollars not appearing, a crisis of confidence, and a city that wants to cut, cut, cut. 

What next? 

In this post, I will set out some priority items that City Council and OC Transpo should work towards. These represent my opinion only; but I believe that their implementation will go a long way in making Ottawa a transit city.