Maintenance, increased congestion blamed for hundreds of OC Transpo bus trip cancellations this week

Hundreds of OC Transpo bus trips have been cancelled this week due to a “decrease in fleet availability and increased congestion” on Ottawa’s roads, according to the transit service.

In a post on social media on Thursday, OC Transpo warned commuters that the service continues. “to see an increase in the number of buses missing their trips.”  OC Transpo also warned of a spike in bus trip cancellations on social media on Monday.

OC Transpo tells CTV News Ottawa its conventional bus fleet availability has been “impacted by a backlog in bus maintenance.”  Increased congestion on transit routes was also cited as one of the reasons that trips were not delivered as planned.

The transit service cancelled 348 trips on Monday, 297 trips on Tuesday and 270 trips on Wednesday. OC Transpo operates 8,210 planned trips every weekday as part of the fall schedule.

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“OC Transpo’s conventional bus fleet availability has been impacted by a backlog in bus maintenance. Safety is our top priority and our maintenance team is working diligently to reduce the backlog by completing tasks such as preventative maintenance, bodywork, and other work orders to ensure our vehicles meet our strict safety and regulatory requirements,” Katrina Camposarcone-Stubbs, OC Transpo Public Information Officer, said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

“Since first reporting this issue earlier this week, progress has been made in reducing the number of undelivered trips due to vehicle availability.”

Camposarcone-Stubbs adds undelivered trips can “also be impacted by other factors beyond vehicle availability, including unplanned service adjustments" due to traffic congestion, collisions and detours.

“We are actively working to increase the availability of our fleet to fulfill planned trips and supplement unplanned service disruptions,” Camposarcone-Stubbs said.

The union representing OC Transpo drivers and mechanics says it’s a combination of issues contributing to the cancellations, including underfunding and a lack of mechanics to keep older buses on the road.

"It is unbelievable how much overtime, how much time they take away from their families to be able to deliver,” Noah Vineberg, president of the Amalgamation Transit Union Local 279, told CTV News Ottawa.

“And that is the most important point of all of this - Our members absolutely want to deliver.”

Vineberg notes OC Transpo has enough operators to deliver service, “and we can’t get the buses to them in time.”

Transit riders at the Marketplace bus station in Barrhaven expressed frustration with cancelled buses on Friday.

“A lot of them have been coming later or just not at all,” says one rider, “I just wait, honestly, or I try to take other buses; but, like, not a lot of them go to the place that I want to go.”

Another transit rider says they have to take two buses to Stittsville.

“So, with the bus delays, when one bus is cancelled, then it, like, messes up my whole plans and puts it, like two hours back because the other bus only comes, like, every half an hour,” says Shada Khanagr. 

“It's a blessing to have bussing and everything. So like, I'm always grateful, but like, I feel like they could do more.”

Emmanuel Amedjrovi says he missed his number 88 Terry Fox bus earlier this week because it was already full, “At that time, like, the bus was so full, so it couldn't actually take me.”

The increase in bus trip cancellations comes as OC Transpo reported an increase in passengers riding buses and the O-Train as federal workers return to the office a minimum of three days a week.

The Transit Commission was told ridership on OC Transpo buses was up four per cent in September compared to September 2023, while weekday ridership on the Confederation Line was up 11 per cent from the year before.

The number of vehicles parked at OC Transpo park and ride lots was up 12 per cent

OC Transpo is also preparing to open the new north-south Line 2 and Line 4 later this fall, with the 21-day trial running period continuing into the weekend.

Maintenance work

OC Transpo employs approximately 167 mechanics and 33 apprentices within the Transit Bus Operations and Maintenance Services department who provide 24/7 service across four garages. 

A recent investigation by Ottawa’s auditor general found the number of licenced mechanics working at OC Transpo has been decreasing since 2018, putting additional pressure on its ability to maintain the bus fleet.

The investigation was launched after a complaint to the fraud and waste hotline alleged apprentices were working on safety critical systems, such as brakes, without supervision.

"During the investigation, we observed that there is no formal documentation outlining specific responsibilities and expectations for apprentice supervision,” the report states.

“In our detailed testing, we found that apprentices are not consistently evidenced as being supervised as jobs that require an inspection check sheet are not always being signed off by a licensed 310T mechanic before the bus goes back into service.”

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Ted Raymond with Peter Szperling