Demand Better Public Transit—For the Climate 

It’s been another rough stretch for public transit in Ottawa.

The saga of the embattled LRT is ongoing, with a new shutdown occurring in July. The R1 bus replacement—which involved cancelling buses elsewhere in the city—was unpredictable and irregular, and the LRT’s subsequent return to service only partial. At the same time, the City also recently announced that Para Transpo buses would be used for “on-demand transit,” despite its customers’ observations for years of the service’s low capacity.

To add insult to injury, the City recently announced it was contemplating route cuts and another fare increase to deal with a budgetary shortfall..

This was all, of course, predictable. In the City’s 2023 budget, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe announced $47 million in cuts to transit service—called “efficiencies” at the time—and Council also left a $39 million hole in transit funding that they hoped the province or the federal government would fill. (They didn’t.) With respect to the LRT, the previous administration’s priority was “on time, on budget”—not service reliability, apparently, as the scathing LRT issued report outlines.

So why is this important? Well, obviously countless Ottawans rely on transit to get around. And having a good transit system is key to a well-functioning city. Public transit is far more efficient than private vehicles, for example, whether with regard to space occupied or financial expense. Easy, dependable, affordable service is also critical for people with particular mobility needs.

But it’s also critical to meeting our climate goals. The City of Ottawa has committed to more than half of all trips in the city in 2046 occurring via sustainable modes—that is, walking, biking, rolling, or transit. Making good on this commitment is particularly crucial to our greenhouse gas emissions goals, as 42% of our GHG emissions come from transportation. Yet unfortunately, many people are forced to rely on a car—or forgo trips outright—because transit service is too unreliable.

This is why we and three other organizations—Free Transit Ottawa, Horizon Ottawa, and Ottawa Transit Riders—are calling on City Council to fix public transit. We have five demands:

● Affordability: Make the Community and Equi Passes free for low-income riders and ODSP recipients, and end fare enforcement and punitive fines.

● Frequency and reliability: Add buses to routes and accelerate existing plans for bus-priority lanes.

● Accessibility: Ensure all stops are safe and accessible and that Para Transpo offers same-day booking and rides past midnight.

● Democracy: Involve riders in route planning and service levels to give us a say over the service we rely on.

● Funding: Reinstate the transit cuts from the 2023 budget and devote the over $50 million budget for road widening to improve and expand transit operations.

How can you join us? First, contact the mayor and your councillor with these demands. Second, we’ll be circulating a petition soon that we invite you to sign. Third, we’re planning a rally at City Hall at the end of September that we hope you’ll join us at—please stay tuned.

Together, let’s work for a better Ottawa for all!

William van Geest is a Living Cities Program Coordinator at Ecology Ottawa.