Transit Committee - 11 June, 2026

 On Thursday 11 June, Transit Committee gathered for its June meeting. The meeting link can be found here.

The meeting centered around the Customer First Action Plan announced last month, and provided reasons to be both optimistic and pessimistic. The spalling problem seems to be receding into the rearview mirror, and the fleet is slowly improving, albeit with the temporarily cancelled trips (TCTs) still in place. However, this is not OC Transpo's first brush with great-sounding action plans which have not worked so well in reality, and their capacity for long-term planning and Council's ability to supervise such an undertaking remains in question.

The Stage 2 update and related talk has been quarantined into its own post again. That should hopefully be posted in a few days.

Documents list:

• OC Transpo Update - English
• Stage 2 Light Rail Transit Project
• OC Transpo Public Safety Strategy
• Motion - Saturday Service on OC Transpo Route 92
• Desroches - Response to Inquiry - Community Feedback for Limebank, Bowesville, and Leitrim Stations
• Carr - Response to Inquiry - Transit Station Elevators
• Carr - Response to Inquiry - OC Transpo Peak Ridership Definition and Service Planning

Transit Committee - 14 May, 2026

Transit Committee met for the fourth this year on 14 May. The frequency of meetings has increased since last year, likely in response to criticism that the Committee was not working hard enough to solve Ottawa's transit problems. 

This meeting brings mostly good news. An end to the 100,000 km limit on the Line 1 Cartridge Bearing Assemblies (CBAs) is in sight, and bus reliability continues to slowly climb upwards. However, service delivery will remain a problem in the foreseeable future, and general manager Rick Leary will continue to face difficult choices. 

Note: after I finished writing this post, but before I posted it, OC Transpo announced the return of full double-car service on Line 1 on 8 June. 

The video link to the meeting is here. 

Documents: 

• Update Presentation (English) 
• Inquiry - Number of conventional buses that have caught fire   
• Inquiry - Compensation for Transit Users 
• Transit Services 5-Year Roadmap: SCORECARD
• Annual Update – Transit Services 5-Year Roadmap

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
  

Transit Committee - 24 November, 2025

On the 24th of November, Transit Committee met for its sixth and final meeting of the year. The meeting link, for those interested, was uploaded to YouTube here. 

As the last Transit Committee meeting of the year, discussion centered around the budget. It includes $47 million in funding from the provincial government that may or not materialize, a small fare increase, and "savings and efficiencies." There was also some discussion around a David Hill inquiry on standardizing the transfer window following reports that commuters were paying double fares for a single trip and a Wilson Lo motion to staff to procure articulated diesel buses. 

Over twenty delegates appeared before the Committee on the budget, and a few delegated on a Wilson Lo motion to allow diesel bus procurement in the coming years. 

I have posted the documents for this update below. 

• 2026 Draft Operating and Capital Budget
• Multi-Year Budget
• Response to Inquiry: Central Park High School Routes
• Response to Inquiry: Line 1 and 2 Regulatory Oversight
• Inquiries and Motions ending 13 November, 2025
• Motion - 2026 Bus Procurement

Ultimately, the budget passed 8-1, with only Riley Brockington voting against and Marty Carr dissenting on the fare schedule. 

Budget Holes and Money Pits

The draft 2026 budget has finally been released, after Mayor Mark Sutcliffe bragged about it being the most transparent budget in the history of the city. It's true - hot air is transparent, and it creates mirages of fiscal responsibility and responsible governance. 

The mayor's press statements brag about fiscal responsibility and transparency, but the transit budget stands in opposition to his empty claims. Among the misleading or inaccurate statements are a third  "one-time" expectation for $47 million of "required" funding from upper levels of government which has never materialized ever; fare revenue increases bordering on magical; and the hiding of OC Transpo's subsidy behind the aforementioned false numbers and misleading budgeting. 

With this budget, the total operating cost reaches $939 million in 2026. Despite this, there is zero attempt to reorganize scheduling, a pathetic attempt at transit priority measures, and little attempt at financial transparency, which creates true image of fiscal indulgence and a lack of regard for long-term planning. 

OC Transpo will require even more money over the coming few years. Overprojecting revenue has become an annual ritual at City Hall - with a hostile mayoralty or province in charge, transit runs the risk of becoming a target. 

 

The City must right the fiscal ship, come clean about the looming danger, and City Council be resolute in demanding that this be done with the utmost transparency and accountability. 

Improving Bus Service Reliability Report (Transit Committee) - 11 September, 2025

As part of Transit Committee's motion requesting a plan to achieve reliable service by the end of 2027, staff presented a report on improving bus service reliability at Transit Committee on 11 September.  

The relevant document is the report, linked in PDF form. 

OC Transpo defines reliability with three headline statistics, which bundles the entire network into one number. The trips delivery metric measures the percentage of trips which were not cancelled and ran at all; regularity measures the gap between buses on frequent routes [it is not clear if this is applied to frequent routes outside frequent operating periods], with a wide band of 40% allowance; and punctuality, which is on-time performance for less frequent routes, with an allowance of one minute early/five minutes late. 

Both Transit Committee and OC Transpo love to talk about their commitment to reliable service for Ottawa residents. But OC Transpo has a poor track record of presenting good information to Transit Committee that would enable action; Transit Committee has a poor track record of taking action to improve reliability. To improve bus service reliability, Council must begin to understand that there is no free lunch, and make the difficult choices to improve service. 

Stage 2 Update (Transit Committee) - 11 September, 2025

At Transit Committee, staff presented a Stage 2 update to council. This was a truncated version, due to time constraints, so this article will mostly be a photo dump, providing photos for those who do not wish to trudge through the meeting. Timestamp at 4:49:00. 

The relevant document is this report on Stage 2 progress. Meeting video here. 

Transit Committee - 11 September, 2025

Introduction

On 11 September, 2025, Transit Committee met for its fifth meeting this year. The meeting video can be found at this link. 

Reliability continues to be the big issue facing OC Transpo. This meeting, councillors discussed reliability problems, the electric bus program and fleet assignments, and funding splits for transit priority projects, among other topics. However, while councillors talk a good game about supporting public transit, many have a track record of opposing programs which would improve reliability. In this context, empty words only calls to mind broken promises, not that of a more transit-oriented future. 

Much of the discussion was triggered by a staff report on reliability, whose contents were discussed at the meeting and are in this article. I will write a response to the report itself in a separate article. This meeting also included a Stage 2 update, which will be separate as usual. 

This is the first meeting after Renee Amilcar's departure from OC Transpo. Troy Charter, the director of rail operations, has become acting general manager pending a search for a permanent figure. 

Documents archive, all in PDF format: 

• Stage 2 Rail Transit Project [Update]
• Improving Bus Service Reliability
• Transit Committee Inquiries and Motions

There were also a large number of inquiries answered this meeting: 

• Fire Safety Code for E-Bus Garages
• O-Train Line 2 Service Schedule
• Para Transpo Eligibility Reviews and Vehicle Assignment Procedures
• Line 1 LRT Construction Road Closures
• Line 1 East Extension Bus Service

Stage 2 Update (Transit Committee) - 12 June, 2025

Introduction

This is the second part to my update on the Transit Committee meeting on 12 June, focusing on Stage 2 updates. The first part, covering everything else, can be found here. 

The relevant documents are a report to city council at this link and a motion here. 

Transit Committee - 12 June, 2025

Introduction

On 12 June, 2025, Transit Committee met for the fourth time this year. You can find the meeting video here. 

This meeting was presentation heavy, and as such, this update is a little longer than usual as well. 

As usual, councilors talked a range of questions, some good, many bad. But as long as the good questions are simply one time questions and not part of a clear headed strategy to reform and rehaul OC Transpo operations and management, we won't see any progress on a better transit system. 

Stage 2 talk has been quarantined into its own article again, which should be up in a day or two. 

This meeting's document list, with everything in PDF format: 

• OC Transpo Update
• Response to Westboro Collision Coroner's Inquest
• Verdict of Inquest Jury
• Action Plan to address the Inquest recommendations directed to the City of Ottawa
• OC Transpo's Non-Fare Revenue Strategy
• Stage 2 Light Rail Transit Report

Renee Amilcar leaves OC Transpo, path forward is unclear

Introduction 

Renée Amilcar announced early this month that she would resign from her position as General Manager at OC Transpo, and move to Montreal as head of Mobilé Infra Québec. This has both written annd unwritten implications for the future of OC Transpo. This indicates problems bubbling beneath the surface, ones that will be increasingly hard to fix as the institution continues to fossilize. We need reform, and we need reform now if we want to pursue a successful transit policy in Ottawa. 

(I apologize for any weird formatting issues and the short length. I am abroad, so this is hastily written from my phone as opposed to my laptop, as usual) 

Transit Committee - 10 April, 2025

Introduction

On Thursday, the 10th of April 2025, Transit Committee held its third meeting of the year. Video link here, the meeting begins at 20:45. 

This meeting was a head-turner, and featured some good discussion of OC Transpo's reliability problems, and the hard questions needed to turn the service around. Unfortunately, there were no hard answers - but this is the closest they have gotten in a while, and I hope future meetings continue to push on this front. 

Though they could stand to be a little shorter!  

And a documents list, all linked to the City of Ottawa's website. I provide no guarantees this stuff won't link rot over time ... 

Staff update presentation (PDF) 

Light rail monitoring and compliance (PDF) 
Five-year roadmap update (PDF)

Stage 2 Update (Transit Committee) - 17 March, 2025

On the 17th of March, a Monday, Transit Committee met for the second meeting of the year. Video link. Meeting begins at 16:50. 

The Stage 2 update presentation begins at timestamp 3:35:30 in the video. 

Transit Committee - 17 March, 2025

On the 17th of March, a Monday, Transit Committee met for the second meeting of the year. Video link. Meeting begins at 16:50. 

Transit Committee - 13 February, 2025

On Thursday, the 13th of February 2025, Transit Commission ... I mean, Transit Committee met for the first time in nearly three months to receive updates from OC Transpo's management on a variety of information. The video link can be found here. 

Before we begin, note that Vice-Chair Cathy Curry has been replaced with Steve Desroches. 

Transit Commission Meeting - 25 November, 2024

On Monday, the 25th of November, the Transit Commission met to discuss the budget, which was carried to City Council with some amendments. 

On the 13th of November, the City of Ottawa released its draft budget for 2025. The full Transit budget book can be found as a PDF here. A number of factors, especially a fare increase, caused outrage, leading to a strong public response. I'll be summarizing it in this article. I'll leave timestamps for different parts of the meeting, which can be found in this YouTube video.