RIDERS ARE REJECTING NEW SYSTEM: KAVANAGH,

City risks frustrated riders rejecting new system, Theresa Kavanagh says.

A City of Ottawa Transit Commission meeting initially scheduled for Oct. 16 was cancelled despite many questions from commissioners such as myself. The timing was problematic. We just launched a new lightrail system and we lost an opportunity to have a public discussion on how it was going. As we wait for the next meeting on Wednesday, commissioners will have built up plenty to say regarding the implementation of the new Confederation Line while everyone adjusted to new trains with new doors and a multitude of bus route changes.

In the summer, when Ottawa council finally got the date of the LRT launch, it was a moment of excitement that signalled a bright future. Of course, there were many tough questions on the operation of the shiny new trains and the stations. As a change of pace, I asked senior management about the almost forgotten buses. Yes, this was the launch of the train and we were all happy that it was finally going forward, but what about the bus service?

At the time, city staff expressed its confidence that we would see much-improved bus service now that the buses didn’t have to go downtown. This was welcome news because throughout the past winter, we had residents who waited for buses that were late or never showed up. We were assured that due to the planned shorter routes, there was a better chance that buses would be on time and not missing. This was important since changing from buses to trains would in itself be a delay. Transit riders would no longer have one ride downtown; everyone would have to pile out of their buses and get on the train. Bay Ward residents understood this new changeover, so better service from their bus stops was all the more important before getting on the train.

What residents didn’t realize right away was that many of these new, truncated bus routes, such as the new route 57, would not only not take them downtown anymore in one ride like the former 97, but the bus would also come less frequently. It was a double whammy for commuters going downtown who would now have to wait longer for buses, then wait again for a train.

For many of the residents in my ward, the bus is their mode of transportation around the community. There were positive reinstatements to the new schedule that recognized this reality, such as the No. 11 bus route to Bayshore — even if it would be every halfhour instead of the previous 15-minute frequency. It was a route reinstatement that recognized that many transit riders, primarily seniors, shop in their community and don’t plan to go downtown on the train anytime soon. The problems with LRT are something they read about in the paper, but don’t experience first-hand.

Notwithstanding the bumps and snags that continue in the train service, the bus service continues to be the workhorse of the OC Transpo system. Unfortunately, the reduction of this service is making for grumpy transit riders who continue to wait for late or missing buses to take them home. This means many will be considering other options instead of embracing the new system.

I expect that the train service will improve once issues such as the doors and the slippery floors are resolved (and any other issues that arise as I write this piece).

But when the Transit Commission meets again, we need to get back to basics and address the bus service. I look forward to a continued dialogue in our common goal of making this system work well for our city.

We need to get back to basics and address the bus service.