NOTEBOOK: Recap of Transit Commission on June 13, 2024

by | Jun 14, 2024 | Notebook

NOTEBOOK: Recap of Transit Commission on June 13, 2024

Here’s a recap of what we covered at Transit Commission this week.

One million taps using O-Payment
This month O-Payment will reach the milestone of one million taps, with OC Transpo recording up to 10,000 taps per day. You can now tap your Interac® Debit card on any fare gate or bus to ride transit with daily and monthly fare-capping.

Changes in ridership
Ridership from January to May 2024 has been 2.1 million (6.6%) lower than forecast.  Year to date, adult pass sales are at 32% of 2019 levels while all other pass types combined are at 99%. Staff attribute the lower adult pass sales primarily to fewer people commuting to offices downtown. OC Transpo believes that the recent federal decision to require on-site work three days a week starting in September will bring in more transit riders, increasing ridership by 12,000-20,000 trips per day. (OC Transpo currently sees around 275,000 trips per day.)

Free service on Canada Day
OC Transpo is the best way to travel to Canada Day events across the city, with free service all day on O-Train Line 1, buses, and Para Transpo. OC Transpo will have extra service running throughout the day and into the evening. Para Transpo service will run until 3 am, with last trips booked for 2 am.

New Ways to Bus update
Customers will start seeing changes to on-street signage soon in the lead up to the launch of our new bus route network, with changes coming to more than 5,000 bus stops and 246 new stops being added. All new flags will be printed, bagged and installed on-street with the existing flag. Any new or decommissioned stops will have a special notice letting residents know about the upcoming changes. On-street changes will be widely communicated and include posters at stations and high-ridership stops, website, social media updates and more. A travel planner preview is also being launched at the end of the month and will be available on octranspo.com. You can see highlights for Stittsville here…

Upcoming maintenance closures
O-Train maintenance work will occur from July 15 to 28 and will result in a temporary closure of O-Train Line 1 between Tunney’s Pasture and Rideau stations. Replacement bus service will run between Tunney’s Pasture Station and Hurdman Station during normal service hours throughout the planned maintenance period.

Partial closures of Line 1 are also planned for October 2024 as part of the regular maintenance program required to ensure sustainability and long-term reliability. The closures will be scheduled in the evenings after 11:30 p.m. and on weekends.

On-demand pilot project update
After a successful trial period, the pilot project in Blackburn Hamlet will end on Sunday, June 23. Results from the pilot will inform future on-demand services, including selecting service areas and enhancing software to meet customers’ travel needs. The purchase of 10 new minibuses for on-demand service is underway.

Ridership and reliability update
In May, O-Train service delivery was 99.8 per cent and conventional bus service delivery was 98.6 per cent. Para Transpo ridership in May reached 74,700 total customer-trips. See a summary of ridership and reliability data here…

Highlights from Q1 and Q2

Finance & admin
Transit Commission also authorized the closing of completed capital projects and adjustments to the budgets of ongoing capital projects, as well as received a report on contracts awarded under delegated authority during the second half of 2023 and an update on OC Transpo’s budget for the first quarter of this year.

 

Presentation Slides

 

 

YouTube Index