OC Transpo's new spring schedule means longer commutes for students

OC Transpo bus near Hurdman Station in Ottawa. The transit agency switched over to its spring schedule with lower frequency to local colleges and universities while classes are still in session. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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As OC Transpo buses switched to their spring schedules on Sunday, university and college students finishing up their last week of winter term will have to contend with some reduced service.

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Rory Haley, a journalism student at Algonquin College, has taken the 88 to commute to school throughout the year. With a few exams left this week before Algonquin’s official end of term on April 25, she’ll still need to rely on it to get onto campus.

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However, as of April 19, the weekday frequency of the 88 was reduced from a bus every 10 minutes to every 15 minutes. Haley said the extra wait time means her multi-transfer, one-hour-long commute may be even longer.

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“Taking the 88 from the hours of noon until 4 p.m. is a nightmare because the service is already so far apart,” Haley said. “I feel like (reducing service is) just gonna further exaggerate the problem for me and others, because I know tons of people are frustrated with the (route) as well.”

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OC Transpo buses go through four regular schedule changes a year — spring, summer, fall and winter. These adjustments are supposed to make the transit system match the needs of commuters, especially as the flow of students fluctuates throughout the year.

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Last year, OC Transpo rolled out its planned spring schedule changes alongside its service overhaul called New Ways to Bus on April 27, which fell after the end of the term for most Ottawa area post-secondary schools.

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But this year, these spring changes came earlier than the end of term for all major Ottawa colleges and universities.

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Routes 7, 25, 47, 68, and 75 will also have their schedules adjusted. All these routes will see their service reduced by some degree — except for route 47, which will have two new times added to support Amazon shifts.

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The spring service changes also included better alignment of certain buses with the start and end times of schools and detours for construction.

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In a memo to council on April 16, OC Transpo General Manager Rick Leary wrote that those routes would be less frequent on weekdays “due to lower seasonal ridership levels as the winter term ends at postsecondary institutions.”

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In an emailed response, the city pointed to a webpage explaining its service changes, in which it noted that service changes came after months of planning. The city also said they were based on many factors, including “major events, operating conditions and feedback.”

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The city did not provide further comment about the service change coming before the end of the term.

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Adam Bethune, another Algonquin student, said he’d noticed the 88 was frequently late, and so he started his commute earlier back in January to give himself extra time to get to campus.