Bus After Midnight, Pt. I: the last bus of the day

Every day at midnight, transit service stops for the night, only to resume the next morning. Shutting down a transit service is more complex than it seems though, and an examination of late night service on OC Transpo reveals some patterns that are difficult to spot during the more complex daytime service. 

Evening service levels are lower than other periods for good reason. This period sees lower travel demand, and agencies schedule more service during the day when it can serve the most passengers and needs a lower subsidy, such as that seen in the TTC chart below. 

Note: while OC Transpo runs with a greater subsidy on most routes, there is no reason to believe that this pattern is different - ridership figures show lower passenger counts in the evening. 

But this is not a reason to abandon sensible late night network planning. As the chart above demonstrates, even in 2022, evening ridership was lower than it was at the peak of OC Transpo ridership in 2011. Night service often serves low income residents - service workers finshing work at the city's stores and restaurants, students returning home after late classes, and shift workers working late shifts. Additionally, many people occasionally ride late night service, and the availability of service may induce them to keep riding transit instead of switching to driving. 

This is the first of a two part series. This post will examine late night connections, especially last trips and Line 1 headways. The second post will look at the overnight bus network, focusing on coverage, scheduling quirks, and connections at Rideau Station. This will be more speculative than my usual, with some crayons in each part.