Report to committee offers possible remedies to city bus congestion
Jake Rupert, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Thursday, May 17, 2007 link

If no new mass transit system is up and running in the next three years, the city should consider extending the existing O-Train south to Leitrim Road, city transit officials say.

In a report presented to the transit committee yesterday, staff said the main problem with the transit system is eastbound traffic through downtown in the afternoon, which they say could be relieved by extending the current diesel O-Train south.

Currently, the line ends at Greenboro Station, just north of the South Keys Shopping centre on Bank Street. Staff say the train could be extended south by roughly six kilometres to Leitrim Road, where a large park-and-ride lot could be built.

The city already owns the corridor, and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment approved light rail in the area when it OK'd the now-dead plan to run electric rail from the University of Ottawa to Barrhaven.

Extending the O-Train would cut down on core congestion because, staff say, many people taking transit south in the afternoons are using buses that run east through downtown before they head south on the southeast transitway.

By extending the O-Train, many of these people could take buses westbound out of downtown and transfer to the O-Train at Bayview station for the trip south.

The report says extending the O-Train means "more capacity on Slater Street will remain open for customers who must travel east," and ridership studies show eastenders use buses more than westenders.

What staff hope to avoid is a repeat of what happened on downtown streets a few years ago.

The streets can handle roughly 195 buses per hour. In 2003, that number rose to 203 per hour and it took on average of 23 minutes for a bus to get from LeBreton Station on the west to the University of Ottawa.

Transit officials cut the number of buses to 170 per hour by 2004, and the travel time dropped to 16 minutes.

With transit ridership growing at three per cent per year, the number of buses required has risen to 191 this year. City staff hopes a few immediate changes will reduce the number of buses on those streets to 182 for the next few years.

Those measures include improving boarding platforms, using more articulated buses and trying to get more riders on routes bypassing the downtown core.

Over the next few years, they will look at using other downtown streets, start using double-decker buses, and consolidate some express routes.

But by 2011 and beyond, those options will be exhausted. By that time, officials hope to be well on their way to implementing a new mass transit plan for the entire city, including a permanent solution to downtown congestion.

The mayor's task force on transit will make its recommendation on the future of transportation in the coming weeks. After this, bureaucrats and political leaders will decide what direction the municipality will take.

Depending on the options chosen, downtown congestion could be alleviated because one of the options being considered is a downtown subway.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2007