At a media availability this week after Ottawa city council’s first council meeting of the year, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe answered questions surrounding recent OC Transpo delays.
Last week, a mechanical issue was identified along the O-Train Line 1, leading to a reduced number of trains running along the line. In spite of an increase in train frequency to counterbalance the issue, the reduction in trains still resulted in major delays and backups at Line 1 platforms.
Where some councillors are calling on council to provide refunds to passengers, Sutcliffe was clear that this would not be where Council would direct its money.
“If we give payback money to transit riders because of what they’ve suffered through recently, then it’s their own money that we’re giving them,” he said. “It means it’s less money that’s going towards public transit.”
The O-Train Line 1 has faced many issues since first opening in 2019, eventually leading to a public inquiry and taxpayer-funded litigation between the City of Ottawa and the transit provider, Rideau Transit Group (RTG).
The current constellation of councillors and mayors ran on campaigns in 2022 that largely responded to Ottawa residents’ dissatisfaction with the former council, including on how the light rail system was handled. At the start of Wednesday’s council meeting, Sutcliffe reminded councillors of their mandate.
“In 2022, residents were worried about the future of Ottawa,” he said. “We agreed as a council to devote our time and resources to some key priorities, including … fixing public transit and improving transportation throughout the city.”
During the media availability, he highlighted that OC Transpo was continuing to integrate new electric busses into their fleet, acknowledging that they haven’t come as quickly as he had hoped. He also pointed to Doug Ford’s campaign promise to take the reins over Ottawa’s light rail system.
“We need to upload the train service to the provincial government because they are better positioned to tackle these kinds of issues,” said Sutcliffe. “It will free up millions and millions of dollars that we can reinvest in better bus service and better service overall at OC Transpo.”
Ultimately, Sutcliffe emphasized that money should be directed towards improving service.
“The biggest reward we can give to our passengers is better service, reliable service,” he said. “I’m determined to invest more money in public transit, not less. I don’t want to take money out of the public transit budget that could go towards approving service.”
