A new report by OC Transpo is expected to be released in September to ensure that service reliability remains a top priority for transit users.
During April’s Transit Committee meeting, River Ward Councillor Riley Brockington tabled a motion that passed unanimously stating that OC Transpo will present a “detailed plan on how bus reliability will meet or surpass the 85% performance target by December 2027” during their next meeting.
As a long-time advocate for better transit service, Brockington stated that he was motivated to present this motion due to performance targets not having been reached yet, as well as a lack of improvement in data over the years.
“Month after month that I review data we receive at the Transit Commission, there is zero improvement,” he said. “The data has been flat for literally years.”
Brockington also presented a similar motion back in 2019 to have OC Transpo reintroduce their regular performance reports. They were put on hiatus in 2014 due to the construction of the LRT’s Confederation Line which impacted many bus routes and made data incomparable.
“We had, as transit commissioners, extremely little quantities of data or metrics being provided to us during the construction phase… I wanted to get us back into being provided these high-level stats to see how the system was functioning and meeting the needs of our passengers.”
Some of the root causes of OC Transpo’s unreliability issues include traffic gridlock, increased traffic volumes post-COVID, and the impact of construction and weather. Brockington also described how this results in a “domino effect” of bus delays, and that there needs to be better infrastructure such as advanced lights and intersections for improvement.
He hopes to also debate new bus corridors and bus-dedicated lane infrastructure to address these challenges. Brockington also hopes to discuss the challenges of delivering new e-buses due to high demand later this year.
Nick Grover, Climate Change Organizer at Ecology Ottawa, was a delegate in support of Brockington’s motion and emphasized the need for accountability from OC Transpo. He also highlighted the need to clearly define what is meant by “reliability,” as there have been inconsistent uses of the term confusing the public.
Grover explained that the term can often be referred to as service delivery and that this use needs to be consistent.
“A bit less ambitious of a definition would be it sticks to its schedule,” he said. He also pointed to a report published last year about how 40 per cent of major routes are late by more than five minutes, mostly due to traffic.
Some potential solutions he urges the Transit Committee and City Council to prioritize are Bus Rapid Transit and bus lanes. This implementation could not only reduce traffic but also encourage ridership.
Currently, Strong Towns Ottawa is advocating for bus lanes along Bank Street to reduce traffic and have them also be used as bike lanes. However, the consultation process for this has been delayed, Grover said.
“A lot of the cities that we’re seeing doing well on transit recovery – Brampton, Toronto, Vancouver – they’re going all in on bus lanes, and it would really help us,” he said. “It would make such a big difference for transit service.”
While “New Ways to Bus” has been implemented since April, Brockington said that proof of this system impacting reliability will be in the stats. He mentioned the impact of the Trillium line opening in January and the subsequent discontinuation of local buses. The theory behind these changes, he explained, was to help increase bus fleet capacity and improve reliability over the long term.
“We should, in the data, see an upward improvement on reliability. If it doesn’t, then we’re in trouble from a reliability point of view.”
Brockington said that the report’s timing is deliberate as it will be released during budget discussions for 2026, ensuring that resources are allocated to address reliability issues. He emphasized the importance of tracking data to understand ongoing issues and the need for continued transparency.
“It’s all lined up on purpose. I know some folks may be disappointed with the timelines they want to see release[d] immediately, but you need the report [and] you need staff to acknowledge the challenges,” he said. “That’s why I’m going to keep pushing.”
