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OC Transpo’s nightmare week for bus cancellations hit some of its busiest routes especially hard.
From Jan. 4 to Jan 10, a bus shortage forced the transit agency to cancel an average of six per cent of all scheduled bus trips, though some frequent routes saw cancellation rates far higher than that.
CBC requested information on the 10 routes with the most cancelled trips. Busy downtown routes like the 6, 7, 5, 11, 12 and 14 all made the list.
Many of those routinely score among the most unreliable bus routes during OC Transpo’s monthly updates to transit committee.
But the numbers are now much worse, with all the routes on the list seeing 10 per cent or more of their scheduled trips cancelled.
Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster, who represents the downtown, called the situation “unacceptable.” Coun. Shawn Menard, whose Capital ward is served by the 5, 6 and 7, said his constituents are angry.
“It’s awful. We’re hearing from residents about it,” he said. “They’re emailing me constantly about their bus not coming, say, two to three in a row not coming on the same route. So they’re waiting over an hour for that same bus.”
OC Transpo said it only cancels multiple consecutive trips as a last resort and under “extreme circumstances,” but the transit agency acknowledged that it has happened during the recent bus shortage.
And the shortage is just the beginning of OC Transpo’s service woes. On Wednesday, the agency announced that it is removing train cars from Line 1 of the O-Train as metal flakes off a key component that connects the axles to the wheels.
OC Transpo is warning customers to expect crowding on trains and platforms.
‘Needs all hands on deck’
Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr has also seen her email inbox fill up with frustration over the bus cancellations.
“This needs all hands on deck right now,” she said.
Routes 5 and 6 run through Carr’s ward, as do the 41 and 44. It also includes the 98, which runs along a transitway by the Rideau River and had the highest cancellation rate of any route on the top 10 list, with 13 per cent of trips cancelled.
OC Transpo said it’s only natural that some of its most frequent routes made the list.
“The routes that carry the most people run most frequently and have the highest number of scheduled trips, so when there’s a system-wide issue, they will also show the highest number of trips not delivered,” it said in an emailed statement.
But all of those routes had cancellation rates above the systemwide average of six per cent, and OC Transpo said it does prioritize frequent routes for cancellations when it has a shortage of buses.
It said it’s less disruptive to cancel a trip on a route that runs every 15 minutes than one that runs every hour, which would create a lengthy service gap.
Menard said that policy means that the cancellations are hitting areas inside the Greenbelt harder.
“It’s affecting residents who predominantly take transit more often,” he said.
Push to poach mechanics
OC Transpo has blamed its aging bus fleet for the surge of cancellations, as more complex repairs keep buses off the road for longer. It’s also blamed a shortage of mechanics.
Menard is calling for immediate action, urging OC Transpo to purchase more used buses as soon as possible.
In his view, the city should also be seconding mechanics from other departments to transit to keep up with repairs.
“This needs to be treated like an emergency water main repair,” he said. “It is a critical service that cannot be allowed to flounder in this way.
“This is one of the top issues in Ottawa right now and it’s not being treated that way.”
Coun. Shawn Menard is calling for immediate action to solve the bus reliability crisis at OC Transpo. (Francis Ferland/CBC)
Carr, however, said Menard’s proposed solutions make no sense.
OC Transpo mechanics need a special 310T licence that takes time to obtain, and she said the city relies on them to service emergency and snow-clearing vehicles.
“Will we stop servicing ambulances?” she asked.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said OC Transpo is treating bus reliability with the utmost urgency, but there is “no magic solution.”
“We can’t just flip a switch and get better service the next day,” he said. “But the team at OC Transpo is working hard,and every day we’re getting closer to having the public transit system we need and deserve.”