Fare hikes and bus route cuts: Four things to know about OC Transpo in 2024

An Ottawa LRT train near Bayview Station in November 2021. (CTV News Ottawa)

OC Transpo riders are facing fare hikes and bus route changes in 2024, while the new north-south Trillium Line is scheduled to open at some point this year.

CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at four things to watch with OC Transpo in 2024.

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Fare increase

OC Transpo is ringing in the New Year with a hike in transit fares.

Council approved a 2.5 per cent increase in transit fares as part of the 2024 city of Ottawa budget, with staff saying the additional revenue will "offset increased operating costs of providing transit service."

Here is a look at the new OC Transpo fares for 2024, as of Jan. 1:

• Adult monthly bus pass - $128.75 ($125.50 in 2023)
• Youth (13-19) monthly pass - $99.25 ($96.75 in 2023)
• Senior monthly pass - $49.00 ($47.25 in 2023)
• One-day pass - $11.75 a day ($11.25 in 2023)
• 3-day pass - $28.50 ($27.75 in 2023)
• 7-day pass - $54.25 ($52.75 in 2023)
• U-Pass (per semester) - $229.07 ($223.48 in 2023)
• Adult single-ride fare (paid by card) - $3.80 ($3.70 in 2023)
• Adult single-ride fare (cash) - $3.85 ($3.75 in 2023)

This is OC Transpo's first fare hike since 2022.

A train passes under an overpass along the Confedration Line of Ottawa's LRT. (CTV News Ottawa)

New wheel hub assembly for LRT trains

OC Transpo and Rideau Transit Group could be adding more trains to the Confederation Line this year, as testing continues on a new wheel hub assembly on the trains.

Since the O-Train returned to service last summer, RTG must replace the front and rear axles every 60,000 km on the LRT vehicles. To cut down on mileage on the trains and avoid frequent replacement of the axles, OC Transpo and RTG have been running some single-car trains during the week and only single-car service on weekends.

In December, OC Transpo, RTG and Alstom began testing new wheel hub assemblies with a pin to hold the restraining nut in place.  Officials say the pin would extend the useable life of the axle hub assemblies, allowing OC Transpo and RTG to run more trains in service.

Testing will run on select out of service trains for 1,500 km. After the testing is complete, officials will conduct a number of tests and measurements to see if it works.

The second phase of testing will involve OC Transpo testing trains with axles that have exceeded the 60,000 kilometres and applying the additional pins with 30,000 kilometres of testing over several weeks.

Alstom told the Transit Commission in October that the nut locking would reduce the current inspection regime from the current 60,000 km to 400,000 km, increasing the size of the available fleet for service.

Alstom and RTG are redesigning the wheel hub assembly on the LRT as the permanent, long-term solution to the ongoing bearing issues.

A timeline for the axle redesign presented by Alstom calls for the prototype completion and start of endurance testing in August 2025. The endurance and fatigue testing is not expected to be completed until mid-2026.

Alstom released pictures of the axle of an Ottawa LRT vehicle and the nut unlocking. (City of Ottawa/report)

OC Transpo reducing bus service by 74,000 hours

OC Transpo will roll out changes to bus routes in the spring, cutting many 200-series routes between residential neighbourhoods and O-Train stations and redirecting buses off residential streets with low ridership.

The overhaul of the bus network will see OC Transpo operate 74,000 fewer hours of bus service across the city next year.

Transit Services general manager Renee Amilcar said in November the overhaul of the bus route network is designed to improve service along "important routes" and connections to commercial and employment destinations, including increasing service to 15 minutes "at most times" on main transit corridors.

"It is anticipated that some customers will experience a range of impacts to their transit trips," Amilcar said in a memo to council in November.

"Many customers will have no substantial change to the trips they make day to day and the overall reliability of the system will see improvements."

The changes come as OC Transpo projected a $40 million budget deficit in 2023 and a $35 million revenue shortfall in 2024. The 2024 budget projects 70 to 75 million customer trips on buses and the O-Train this year.

Changes to the bus route network will be implemented in the spring.

An OC Transpo bus turns onto Elgin St. from Wellington St. in downtown Ottawa, Ont. in this undated photo. (Photo by Shubham Sharan on Unsplash)

Launch of the Trillium Line

Ottawa's new north-south rail line is scheduled to begin carrying passengers this year, but the exact launch date for the Trillium Line has not been announced.

The Trillium Line will run between Bayview Station and Riverside South, with a line from South Keys to the Ottawa International Airport.

A report in December said slow progress on completing work on the signalling, train control and communications system is having a domino effect on other aspects of preparation, including training.

In mid-December, OC Transpo began testing all nine trains on the north-south system. The first cohort of operators were nearing the end of training in December, with two cohorts scheduled to begin training early in the New Year.

Construction was originally scheduled to be completed in August 2022, but was delayed until September 2023. In September, staff announced the line would not be launched until spring 2024.

OC Transpo shared video of train testing on the new Airport Link for the Trillium Line. (OC Transpo/Twitter)

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Will Eltherington and Ted Raymond