grover: want better public transit, ottawa? invest in it
oc transpo lags other canadian cities on transit recovery. after three years of inaction, decades of neglect and cuts to the bus fleet, it's no wonder so few people are using it.
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others cities have returned public transit ridership levels to pre-pandemic levels. why can't ottawa?
jean levac
/
postmedia
as a rule, people use transit when it works and don’t when it doesn’t. this helps explain why oc transpo ridership is still at only 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
after three years of inaction, decades of neglect, and several rounds of cuts to the bus fleet, it’s no wonder so few people are riding. to make matters worse, oc transpo wants to raise fares and cut 15 connector routes that, somehow, don’t have enough riders despite graciously running four hours a day, four days a week. so rather than fixing that, the buses will be redeployed to “more important” routes, none of which include the city’s 10 most popular or three worst performing.
a net reduction in service hours will mean worse service in many places, since new routes are being added at the expense of others being reduced, cut or overextended.
if we truly want a low-carbon, affordable, accessible city with less traffic and safer roads, we need good public transit for all. it’s not a lack of ideas or resources holding us back, but an absence of political ambition.
we should take a page from fellow canadian cities.
edmonton transit service fully recovered its ridership back in february by adding a high-frequency bus corridor and running more service on off-peak hours. brampton transit has seen a 30 per cent increase above its 2019 ridership after years of expanding its bus fleet, implementing express routes and transit signal priority at stoplights, and bringing service into newer subdivisions. charlottetown’s metro area has seen all-time record ridership for the last two years thanks to free transit for kindergarten-to-grade-12 students, $20 monthly adult passes, more routes and midday service, and bus stops near housing complexes. bc transit recently recovered 100 per cent of its pre-covid ridership with metro vancouver’s translink close behind at 90 per cent; express routes, new bus lanes, and more para transit service gave riders something worth coming back to as they pursue a long-term plan to double service by 2030.
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the shift to remote work is often blamed for our slower recovery here, but this is only part of the story. a system designed primarily around the needs of 9-to-5 commuters never worked very well for anyone else. roughly one-fifth of the workforce is employed by the public sector — a lot, but not everyone. oc transpo should look to the thousands of people driving around the city every day, at all hours, and provide a service that meets their needs.
unfortunately the mayor and council have been unwilling to invest in improved and expanded bus service, tying its own hands with sub-inflationary tax increases and self-inflicted budget deficits. when transit can’t be counted on, people must either fork over $10,000 a year to own a car, uber everywhere, or stay home. funding more service in all parts of the city is how we cut emissions and grow ridership, not shuffling buses to one under-served area at the expense of another because we insist on spreading our already reduced fleet even thinner.
this past month, i’ve been out at bus stops collecting signatures with several community groups — for a petition demanding more buses, dedicated lanes on major roads, convenient para transpo, free passes for low-income riders, and using the $50-million road-widening budget to pay for it. it has more than 1,000 signatures and ample support among riders sick and tired of paying higher fares to wait around for buses that may not even show up.
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when we treat transit like a public good, it benefits everyone — whether they are traveling at midday or midnight, going to work or the doctor’s office, getting groceries or meeting a friend, living in vanier or kanata. when it’s cut and neglected, people get left behind and denied access to their own city.
this budget season, city council has a chance to either step up and invest in proper public transit, or continue depriving residents of the city we deserve.
nick grover is an executive member of free transit ottawa, a grassroots community group advocating for affordable, reliable and accessible transit in ottawa.
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