Train’s on time, you can get to work by nine
But overcrowding on return trip buses generates afternoon complaints
The $2.1-billion light rail system passed its first real test — moving thousands of weekday commuters on Monday morning — and with flying colours no less.
But the morning’s rave reviews didn’t exactly spill over to the evening crowd. Comments about the ride home were a little more mixed, mostly due to crowding at connection stations.
EAST-END COMMUTERS
Almost all the commuters this newspaper spoke to at the Place d’Orléans station said they enjoyed the actual train ride. But many criticized the loss of direct buses to the downtown core and some had issues with crowding on the connection buses at Blair Station.
“It was a nice ride, however, when we got to Blair it was really messy — over a hundred people trying to get on the same bus, trying to get to Place d’Orléans or Trim,” said Melanie Sorrell who was trying out the LRT system to see if it was more convenient than driving from her home in Orléans to her job at the University of Ottawa.
“It was really difficult, we all were waiting. We didn’t know where to go, and it was too many people and not enough buses. Hopefully they’re going to have more buses. If they do, than it’s fine.”
University of Ottawa student Marie Du Cénacle Bumwemana said the LRT has made her commute to school easier and faster. “It’s really fast,” she said. “I got to sleep in today.”
Carleton student Rachel Dolton, on the other hand, said her commute is about to get a lot worse.
“For students trying to get to Carleton, it’s now going to take three different modes of transportation and make (commute time) an hour and 15 minutes. Taking the 39 to Blair, then the O-Train from Blair to Hurdman and then the bus from Hurdman to Carleton,” she said.
University of Ottawa students Andrew Murphy, Tyler Canning and Justin Davies were out to test the train for the first time on Monday. However, they weren’t optimistic.
“We actually left extra early just in case it’s late,” Davies said.
All three agreed the change in the buses will make their commute more inconvenient.
“It’s horrible. It’s overcomplicating it for absolutely no reason,” Davies said. “Before we used to take a bunch of direct buses, and now we have to transfer and with how unreliable the buses are, how reliable will the train be?”
Pascal Laliberté, on the other hand, enjoyed his commute.
“I liked going from Orléans to downtown. That was really smooth,” he said. “I actually thought it was really classy to be on the train.”
WEST-END COMMUTERS
For west-end commuters who took the train downtown and back, there was a common refrain: The train is great, there was lots of helpful assistance from transit workers, but Tunney’s Pasture is a bottleneck on the afternoon commute that has to be addressed.
By 7 a.m. a steady wave of bus riders were boarding trains at the Tunney’s Pasture LRT station smoothly. Trains there were running less than half-full. Red-jacketed guides were everywhere like a swarm of Walmart greeters.
Bonnie Clement, who works downtown, arrived back in Kanata shortly after 4 p.m. and said the commute was smooth sailing going both ways. She even managed to get a seat travelling both east and west.
“I have no complaints,” she said. But Sarah Bayern had another story. She lives in Arnprior, and takes her car to a park and ride on Eagleson Road in Kanata, followed by a 40-minute bus ride to Tunney’s Pasture, and a quick train ride downtown — a threestage journey that was once only a two-stage trip.
The most difficult part of her day’s journey is getting back on a bus to return to Kanata.
“It was standing room only. They had to tell people to wait for the next bus,” she said. “The day the train gets to Kanata, it will be great. But I might be retired by then.”
Christine Dion said her trip to the Rideau Centre took 13 minutes less. But on the return trip, everyone got off at Tunney’s Pasture.
“It maybe added 10 minutes at the end of the day. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” she said.
Deb Richardson, who lives in Kanata North, used to take one express bus downtown. It is now a two-stage trip. There were two full buses before she could get on. And she notes that waiting for buses in the winter will be very cold.
“The train itself is lovely. But the commute itself is more strenuous,” she said. “It just feels longer. There’s a lot more walking.”
Some commuters are sticking with the bus — but they know they have only three more weeks before that is no longer an option.
“We’re taking advantage of it while we still can,” said Nika Hashemi-Akkaya. “We thought it would be a huge mess. Our co-worker said it was a nightmare. People didn’t know where they were going.”
Diane Hodgkinson and Aurelio Carreira got downtown 10 minutes faster on the train. But coming home was a different story: all the buses they expected at Tunney’s Pasture weren’t there.
“We stood between bus stops waiting for whatever bus came first,” said Hodgkinson.
When they did get on a bus, it was crowded. Carreira says what the train offered was a nice, clean ride. But they’re thinking about conducting an experiment with one taking the bus while the other takes the train to see which option is fastest.
With files from Tom Spears and Luke Carroll
I liked going from Orléans to downtown. That was really smooth. I actually thought it was really classy to be on the train.