A few weeks ago, OC Transpo released the preliminary findings and recommendations for the city’s bus route review. The bus route review was launched in January 2023 as part of OC Transpo’s five-year roadmap. This bus route review was used to:
- Examine and confirm service planning principles
- Prepare for the opening of O-Train Lines 2 and 4
- Determine a network design that meets the evolving needs of our customers
- Customer consultations and feedback has been an important aspect and informed the bus route review. Multilingual surveys received 8,200 responses. Multiple open houses were also held across the city both virtually and in-person. Major employers and post-secondary institutions were consulted. Feedback from OC Transpo employees was also captured. All the feedback received was summarized in the As We Heard it Report. Bus route changes are detailed in a report to Transit Commission here.
After an initial review of the proposed changes, our office had a number of concerns, including service to Carleton University, the elimination of route 5 in Old Ottawa South, service in Heron Park and service in Greystone Village.
After hearing from residents and speaking with OC Transpo, staff have made some improvements to their recommendations. These include:
- Maintaining access to Carleton via route 111.
- Replacing the service of route 5 from Billings Bridge to downtown with route 18.
- Keeping and extending service along route 10 all the way through Rideau Centre, downtown and to Greystone Village.
- Routes 41 and 292 will service Heron Park via Clementine.
At the time of writing this, updated route maps were not available, but follow updates at Coun. Shawn Menard website.
You can also visit www.octranspo.com/en/news/article/bus-route-review/ to remain up-to-date on the issue.
Source:shawnmenard.ca
