“New Ways to Bus” Rolls In as OC Transpo Faces Continued Questions About Reliability

New Ways to Bus Aims to Improve Reliability and Service Alignment

OC Transpo General Manager Renée Amilcar began the City of Ottawa Transit Committee meeting with a General Updates presentation. Amilcar opened with mention of the April 27th launch of New Ways to Bus, stating that the project would improve reliability for bus service delivery.

The New Ways to Bus plan is a major reorganization of OC Transpo’s bus routes, schedules, and transfer points to better align with current travel patterns and the expanded O-Train network. It includes changes to over 80 bus routes, the introduction of new connection hubs, and a focus on simplifying service and improving frequency across the city. Amilcar noted that OC Transpo welcomed customer feedback as the system begins implementation, to help identify areas for improvement. To increase accountability, key performance indicators for the bus service will be posted on the OC Transpo website each month.

Public Info Sessions Planned Across the City

As part of the rollout, OC Transpo will be holding several public outreach sessions across the city to answer questions and provide information about the New Ways to Bus network. At these community events, residents will have the opportunity to view future network and route maps, learn about local service changes in their neighbourhoods, and explore how new connections to the O-Train will offer more convenient access to key destinations. More details, including dates and locations for these sessions, can be found at octranspo.com.

Service Delivery Metrics Presented—But Gaps Remain

Service delivery for OC Transpo bus service in March was 96.9 percent, while O-Train service delivery was 99.5 percent for Line 1 and 97.9 percent for Lines 2 and 4. However, the on-time service metrics were not provided during the presentation, despite being referenced in a new service reliability diagram intended for future measurement, which did not include specific metrics.

On-time service reliability has been a consistent issue for OC Transpo, and committee members, including Councillor Riley Brockington and Amilcar, have clashed over the issue in previous meetings.

Public Frustration with Para Transpo Services

The meeting then pivoted to hear from the public. Delegate Kyle Humphrey expressed frustration with the dissemination of information from Para Transpo. Humphrey held up a flyer he received for the New Ways to Bus campaign and pointed out that, as far as he was aware, Para Transpo is unable to send information to its service users via mail.

Humphrey also complained that same-day bookings are advertised as available but are not an official service on the Para Transpo online booking page. He explained that, because the Para Transpo booking service operates from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., if he wishes to book 24 hours in advance but receives a call to meet a friend at 6 p.m. for the following evening, he must rely on a fit-in booking—something he argued is not a public or accessible service.

Humphrey also noted that there is no service past midnight, meaning Para Transpo users cannot go out and enjoy nightlife or shows in the same way as those who do not rely on the service.

Concerns Raised Over Route Cancellations and Performance Metrics

Councillor Wilson Lo shared that his constituents are dealing with frequent cancellations on Route 74. He noted that OC Transpo’s reported metric for the route showed a 96 percent delivery rate, suggesting that transit users might feel misled or think that “We’re just making up our data.” Amilcar interjected that service delivery below 99 percent was “very bad” and that management was aiming for a goal of 99.5 percent service delivery. Amilcar concluded by stating, “I think the customer would prefer the bus to be late than [if] there is no bus.”

Lo thanked Amilcar for her comments but added that the average person sees a 96.9 percent service delivery rate and assumes it is a strong metric—until “their bus does not show up.” He requested a service delivery metrics analysis for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, pointing out that Friday and Monday often serve as outliers in the data.

Calls for Clear Definitions and Reliable Metrics

Councillor Riley Brockington stated, “What we’ve learned this morning is that there is the opportunity for confusion when we talk about reliability statistics.” Brockington pointed out that reliability is different from on-time performance. He noted that the challenge for both is that the problem has been identified, but there is no roadmap for improvement for either metric to achieve better performance.

Public Delegates Push for Accountability and Clear Goals

The Transit Committee heard a presentation on the five-year plan for OC Transpo. Afterwards, delegate Nick Grover of Ecology Ottawa asked how the committee plans to have people use OC Transpo services if the service is not reliable. Grover stated that the city needs to adopt one definition for service reliability and that it needs to be used “consistently.” He added that the worse the service gets, the more people will drive, which will lead to traffic congestion and further poor performance for OC Transpo.

Motion Passed to Create Framework for Service Metrics

The meeting ended with a motion brought forward by Councillor Brockington asking for a framework to improve metrics, with a deadline to be determined to be passed by the committee.