OC Transpo to offer two free weekends as service shows signs of improving

An OC Transpo LRT in a recent file photo. The transit service will offer two free weekends later this year after several months of poor service. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

Article content

OC Transpo will be offering two free fare weekends as part of a package of reliability measures and service enhancements approved by council this week.

Article content

Council approved a motion from Capital Coun. Shawn Menard on June 10 that will offer a free “familiarization” weekend on Sept. 26 and 27, when service demand is expected to rise with the return to school. A second free weekend will be offered at a future date, once the LRT’s east extension to Orléans has been completed.

Article content

Article content

Article content

Menard’s motion, which was seconded by Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, referenced the LRT’s reduced capacity after a spalling issue was detected in January, along with OC Transpo’s aging bus fleet that led to reliability issues, frequent breakdowns and numerous cancelled trips over the winter that left riders “stranded at bus stops in the cold.”

Article content

Article content

The two free weekends will cost about $900,000. The plan does not include refunds or future discounts for transit riders, which had been proposed to compensate for OC Transpo’s poor service.

Article content

Coun. Shawn Menard seen during a recent city council meeting at Ottawa City Hall. Photo by Jean Levac /Jean Levac

Article content

The motion calls for the city to purchase two new articulated diesel buses to improve reliability and modernize its fleet at a cost of $3.6 million, along with two six-metre Para Transpo buses that will cost $480,000.

Article content

Para Transpo service hours will be extended on Friday and Saturday evenings, which will cost $108,000 per year.

Article content

The city will also spend $2 million as its share of costs to install heat tracing on the LRT’s overhead catenary system, which powers the trains, to avoid multi-day shutdowns due to freezing rain.

Article content

The package will also deploy “a suite of transit priority measures” requested by councillors, up to $1 million “in a way that maximizes transit benefits at the earliest opportunity.”

Article content

Article content

OC Transpo GM Rick Leary talks to Postmedia during a recent interview at OC Transpo headquarters. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

Article content

Recent improvements to transit

Article content

OC Transpo general manager Rick Leary and senior staff highlighted a number of improvements to bus and train service, maintenance and staffing in a presentation to the June 11 transit committee.

Article content

Double-car trains returned to the LRT’s Line 1 on June 8 and Leary said the transit authority is “well-positioned” to handle large-capacity crowds expected for Canada Day and the summer festival season. Transit will be free on Canada Day.

Article content

Line 1 had been running single-car trains after spalling was detected in the cartridge bearing assemblies in the trains’ wheel hubs, but Leary said a number of those trains have been repaired and returned to service.

Article content

He reported “positive results” from a new onboard condition monitoring system that is designed to detect any anomalies with the trains, and said an analysis is underway to determine the root cause of the cartridge bearing assemblies’ premature failure.

Article content

Leary said he had no update, however, on the rail line’s long-delayed east extension.

Article content

“When all the fleet is fully equipped with the smart tracker system … then we’ll announce when we’re going to be doing the trial running and then picking a date after certification for (extending the rail) service,” Leary said.