A new poll has found widespread disapproval of Ottawa’s public transit service, with many citing poor reliability and cancelled trips.
The Liaison Strategies survey — commissioned by the Ottawa Compass and iPolitics — found that 64 per cent of respondents disapproved of OC Transpo service, including the O-Train.
Reliability and delays were flagged as the biggest concern (54 per cent), with safety, wait times and poor connectivity far behind at 11 per cent each.
Around 1,000 Ottawa residents were randomly surveyed for the poll between May 8 to 10 using random digit dialling across landline and cellphone networks. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.09 percentage points.
The public transit service has been routinely criticized for delays and cancelled trips, as well as its handling of the problem-plagued O-Train Line 1, which is currently running only single-train cars due to issues with the vehicles.
Eighty-one per cent of respondents disapproved of OC Transpo’s handling of service reliability, while the service receives better grades for security, with only 47 per cent disapproving (compared to 32 that approve, and 21 that don’t know).
Approval ratings are also underwater for frequency of service and waiting times (60 per cent disapproval), while residents said Ottawa should prioritize improving existing services instead of expanding the system (60 to 20 per cent).
Meanwhile, 47 per cent said they would be more likely to regularly use OC Transpo if it became more reliable.
Transit will likely become a major issue in the run-up to this fall’s municipal elections.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe hasn’t formally announced his plans to seek a second term, but the Compass/Liaison poll had him narrowly leading the race.
