O-Train ridership at 43 per cent of pre-pandemic levels

OC Transpo is struggling to attract riders back to buses and the O-Train as life returns to normal following the COVID-19 pandemic, with ridership on the O-Train less than half of what it was before the pandemic started.

Now with OC Transpo missing ridership targets for another month, there are concerns it may be years before ridership returns to normal.

"It could be 8-10 years before we are back to pre-pandemic levels," Coun. Glen Gower said.

Statistics tabled at the Transit Commission meeting shows there were 4.8 million passenger trips on the O-Train and on buses in May, just under the 5 million-ridership target for the month. Ridership was 5.5 million trips in January, 5.4 million in February, 6 million in March and 5.4 million in April.

Fare revenue was $1 million under budget for the month of May.

Transit Services General Manager Renee Amilcar says ridership is slower to return to rapid transit compared to buses, a trend seen in other cities across Canada.

Amilcar says bus ridership is 73-75 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, while O-Train ridership is 43 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

With OC Transpo facing a $39 million budget deficit, a revamped financial plan will be tabled in the fall with options for councillors to consider.

"We have identified a lot of potential savings and we will continue to work with them," Amilcar said.

"The long-range financial plan sets out the operating and the capital, the fares, how much can we expect to receive from riders, from Transit Levy, how much is coming in from federal and provincial governments," Gower said.

The statistics show fare revenue was $56.9 million for the first five months of the year, short of the $62.5 million budget.

OC Transpo is currently conducting a review of routes to address current ridership following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Where is the Route #11 and #85 bus?

A presentation for the Transit Commission showed 98.7 per cent of bus trips were delivered in May.

On average, 130 of the 8,127 scheduled trips were not delivered on the average weekday. Staff say 58 per cent of the cancelled trips were due to on-street service adjustments, 25 per cent due to mechanical breakdowns and 16 per cent due to driver absenteeism.

The three routes with the most trips cancelled in May were Route #11 (245 trips), Route #75 (165 trips) and Route #85 (165 routes).

Coun. Riley Brockington and Jeff Leiper told the Transit Commission they receive a lot of emails and complaints about issues with Route #85.

"This route is consistently struggling to provide reliable service," Brockington said.

Transit Services general manager Renee Amilcar says she is working with staff to keep operators on standby to respond to any slowdowns on routes.

"When we know we have recurring problems with a certain number, we will put additional service to fill the gap or we have to change the trip because we know that there is traffic problems," Amilcar said in French, adding OC Transpo may have to review routes to ensure service standards are met.

Amilcar told Leiper she will provide a plan to fix the Route #85 service in two weeks.