Ridership Increasing Despite Continued Issues with On-Time Service

 Transit head Renee Amilcar briefed today's Ottawa Transit Commission meeting on OC Transpo’s status. She announced that testing for Lines Two and Four of the O-Train commenced on October 7 and is set to last for twenty-one days. Amilcar called it the “final exam”, and the light-rail transit (LRT) has
LRT leaving Pimisi Station

Off-Peak Service on Confederation Line Reduced to Every 10 minutes

 With students returning to school and government employees heading back to the office, OC Transpo is cutting off-peak train frequency on the O-Train Confederation Line from five minutes to 10 minutes between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and again from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays. Peak-period and weekend service

At 66 percent, OC Transpo Ridership Continues to be Well Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

 The Ottawa Transit Commission, tasked with running OC Transpo affairs, met on Thursday, February 8, for the first time in 2024. The meeting shed light on several serious problems facing the transit service under the tenure of boss Renee Amilcar. In her briefing on the state of OC Transpo, Amilcar’s

PWD Demands Left Behind as On-Demand Service Arrives

 Last Thursday, city staff decided that Blackburn Hamlet would be a good area to begin the test pilot to see if on-demand transit service would work in Ottawa. A Para Transpo bus will be used as part of the test pilot. Users will be able to book a ride through

It’s Better to Bust a Gut Than to Bust a Wheel

 For the fourth week in a row, the LRT is still down. Riders continue to complain about the service interruptions, while both OC Transpo and the City of Ottawa, along with our Mayor and some City councillors, continue to point fingers at each other and ignore people, especially people with

Letting The Good Times Roll—Unlike Our LRT!

 Before I roll deeply into this week's article, I want to point out that I’m aware of what’s going on with the LRT being down again and how it continues to affect people with disabilities and Para Transpo users. Those who follow me on social media probably know I’ve posted
LRT leaving Pimisi Station

Fix OC Transpo Leadership to Fix LRT

 There is an old adage that efficient government can make the trains run on time. With yesterday’s announcement from Premier Doug Ford that there will be no funding for Stage Three of the LRT until the City of Ottawa sorts out the problems with the Confederation Line—and with Stage One
LRT leaving Pimisi Station

Technical report meeting has no date for problem-free LRT

 Ottawa City Council held a special meeting on April 19th to review the technical briefing on the city’s response to the November 2022 report from the Light Rail Transit Public Inquiry. OC Transpo boss Renee Amilcar took the floor to brief the commission and city staff on the action plan

We’re learning who is at fault for which LRT failures in court

 The revelatory finger-pointing between Ottawa and the LRT designers continues. To the surprise of few, the City of Ottawa and the Rideau Transit Group (RTG)’s legal challenges with each other have been nasty–not least because RTG is still maintaining the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system. The City of Ottawa is

Councillor Shawn Menard releases “four point immediate action plan” to deal with LRT woes

 Capital Ward Councillor Shawn Menard is demanding action  from Mayor Jim Watson  and OC Transpo and released a statement on Friday detailing the continuing LRT problems and what he sees as a lack of  city leadership in dealing with those issues. Below is Menard’s statement on the matter. We are

Neighbourhood Spotlight: Centretown

 The Ottawa landscape is changing. Soon Light Rail will link more people to more places, making house prices go up and transit times go down. Our downtown juggles politics, business, and culture, a balance which disperses the rest of our city into an eclectic collection of residential pockets. Every neighbourhood

Monsters Walk Among Us

 Ottawa Life’s Festival City Series is back! We'll provide a unique look at some of your favourite events. We’ll go beyond the music with artist interviews, volunteer profiles, concert reviews and spotlights on the tastes, sights and sounds of the festival season.  Your city! Your festivals and events! Like a good sunscreen,

Light-Rail gets $1 Billion Boost from Feds

 The existing O-Train passes over the Rideau River. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. In a letter to Mayor Jim Watson dated July 22, Orléans MP Royal Galipeau announced his party’s intention to give $1 billion to support Stage 2 of Ottawa’s light-rail plans. That money will make up one third

Preserving History: Reinstating the Ogilvy Building Heritage Façade

 Rendering of the Rideau Centre Expansion The corner of Rideau and Nicholas Streets is getting a facelift. The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited and Barry Padolsky Associates Inc. have started reinstating historical elements of the former Ogilvy Department Store as part of the Rideau Centre Redevelopment Project. “By preserving the heritage

The Renaissance of Downtown Ottawa Is at Hand… but the Federal Government Is Still a Hindrance to the Process Rather than a Help

 Downtown Ottawa is undergoing an architectural renaissance. Unsightly parking lots are gradually being replaced by gleaming condos and office towers. Ottawa Life Magazine spoke to city councillor Diane Holmes, who represents Ward 14 Somerset. "When I first was elected in '82, I thought I'd never see people from the suburbs

City Must Put Western LRT into Underground Tunnel: Partially Buried Trains Won’t Save Parkway Greenspace

 The City of Ottawa must ensure that the Light Rail Transit (LRT) it proposes for the Western Parkway is moved to an underground tunnel, said Lesley Taylor, president of the community group Underground Solution.  “The City of Ottawa’s proposed trenched LRT route will drastically reduce access to the parkland of

The O-Train: Getting It Right the First Time

 The City of Ottawa's plan for an expanded 0-Train is being tackled in rather a piecemeal fashion. Eventually, trains will replace much of the bus service that clogs downtown streets at rush hour. Futuristic trains (aka Light Rail Transit — or LRT — vehicles) will glide from Bayview Station to