Empty downtown Ottawa buses could move to the suburbs

The pandemic has changed downtown Ottawa forever, leaving dozens of buildings and buses empty.

Now one city councillor wants to move those buses to the suburbs.

Something that frequent transit user, Isabella Welch says is a great idea. Welch has been taking transit from Kanata to the downtown core for years, commuting to the University of Ottawa multiple times per week. 

"It’s really inconvenient for people that live in Stittsville," says Welch. "Especially for me. I’m a student, I can’t afford to live downtown."

She says there’s not enough buses where she lives, nor do they come as frequently as she would like.

"The fast bus in Stittsville stops at 8:05 a.m.," says Welch. "So if I don’t get out before then, it’s going to take me two hours to get downtown."

As government employees continue to work from home, buses are driving through half empty park and rides, and doing trips downtown with very few passengers.

Transit Commission chair Allan Hubley wants to make better use of those empty buses, bringing them to the suburbs to help keep the entire city bustling for more hours of the day.

"If we don’t need as many buses on that trip as we had, then let's take some and put them into Kanata, Stittsville, Barrhaven, Orléans. To move people around the communities better," says Hubley. "So that people can get from their house, in the burbs, to a grocery store, to a library, to a bank."

OC Transpo had less than four and a half million passengers in March, even though they budgeted for more than six million. Compare that to almost nine million passengers for the same month, pre-pandemic.

Keep in mind, fares were free on several routes serving downtown, Rideau-Vanier and the O-Train for most of March.

Some transit riders agree that change is needed, others are skeptical about moving buses from one route to another. 

"I’d be waiting almost an hour and the bus didn’t show up until then," says transit rider Rachel Burnet. "And I have to be at work at a certain time."

"You know, they’ve consistently cut transit, year after year, where they’ve cut routes. And if they say they’re going to remove routes from somewhere else, I don’t believe they’re going to put them anywhere else. I think we’re going to see a decrease in the number of buses and routes," says transit rider Jonathan Davis.

For Welch, she just wants a better overall transit experience, especially in her part of town. 

"It would really help the people in Kanata," says Welch. "We really need it."