Pellerin: On-demand public transit could help end OC Transpo's death spiral

What if I told you there is a way to stop the transit crisis, which goes from higher fares to less service to even higher fares to worse service until everyone's forced to buy a car?

Published Sep 12, 2024  •  3 minute read

An OC Transpo bus travels through Blackburn Hamlet earlier this year. The hamlet has also been the site of a local on-demand transit pilot project. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

Were you frustrated Tuesday morning when the LRT stopped working, again, due to a “technical issue” related to cameras (that’s a new one) or are you resigned by now to driving yourself everywhere you need to go?

What if I told you there is a way to stop that transit death spiral, which goes from higher fares to less service to even higher fares to worse service until everyone’s forced to buy a car? A method that uses the power of algorithms to improve service in suburban and rural areas while saving money that can be used to improve reliability closer to downtown?

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This innovation, which has been shown to work in the real world, is the brainchild of Concordia University researchers. It’s called on-demand transit (ODT) and — wait, you know about this already because Ottawa recently and successfully piloted something with that name in Blackburn Hamlet? Ah, yes. But this is even better.

Concordia PhD student Siavash Farazmand and study co-authors say their ODT system “could result in up to a 36 percent reduction in total travel time” compared with the regular kind of “fixed route” transit.

The best part? Because it uses small passenger vans instead of buses, this ODT system saves a tonne of money in capital, training, fuel and maintenance costs. Vans are easier to park than buses when they’re sitting empty waiting for ride requests. Less loud and less smelly, too. Oh, and there’s no need to take vehicles away from Para Transpo users either, as happened in the Blackburn Hamlet pilot project earlier this year.

The Concordia on-demand transit system works by adding a device at bus stops that people use to request a ride to the nearest transit hub (it could also be any other location we want, such as a community centre or a mall). The app informs passengers how long it will take to be picked up, just like when you call an Uber. Your van then drives you (and other users going the same way at the same time, if any) to that destination. There’s no need to download anything, or even have a phone for this service. It’s just a regular transit fare. Talk about accessibility.

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OC Transpo’s pilot project in the east end replaced Route 28 on Sundays and holidays with on-demand service that people requested by phoning or using an app. The service brought riders to Blair station and it was used for 191 trips between Feb. 11 and June 9.

I asked OC Transpo officials if they were aware of the Concordia study and spokesperson Katrina Camposarcone-Stubbs said “our teams continue to review the findings and will consider them for future developments of the program.” That makes me happy, given that Ottawa just ordered 10 new minibuses and will soon issue a request for proposals for software to run on-demand transit. Seems to me the stars are aligning.

The Concordia system was recently tested in the Montreal suburb of Terrebonne, which boasts a population of about 120,000. Results were significantly shorter total travel times compared to existing local transit. Wait times were down, too. The details are in the study, published in the journal Transportation Research Record.

Precise information about large-scale implementation is not yet available, but I am confident we have enough smart people to find the right application for Ottawa’s needs.

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This kind of on-demand transit doesn’t work everywhere, as the algorithm is designed for relatively sparse demand. It performs poorly where there’s a lot of riders wanting to go places; it couldn’t handle the kind of volume that packs Route 11 on the way to Tunney’s Pasture every weekday morning. But to bring someone from, say, Spratt Road near Earl Armstrong Road to Fallowfield station in the afternoon, at the precise time of the rider’s choosing, not once every half hour? Perfect.

Technology exists to improve services for users in low-density areas and save precious resources that can then be used to make the busier parts of the system work more reliably. That’s a lot better than jacking up the cost of riding a system that’s less and less reliable.

Brigitte Pellerin (they/them) is an Ottawa writer.

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