OC Transpo fall service starts Sept. 4

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)

OC Transpo says its fall schedule will begin Sept. 4, with several adjustments to school routes among the changes.

A memo from Transit Services general manager Renée Amilcar outlines the major service changes riders can expect this fall.

This comes as OC Transpo has been experiences a high level of trip cancellations this summer. While the union representing drivers warns the issue will get worse in the fall as more people use public transit to get to and from school, OC Transpo staff say they are hiring and will be prepared for the fall. 

Among the adjustments are new trips in routes 99, 110, and 170 to accommodate workers at the Amazon warehouse on Citigate Drive in Barrhaven. Routes 15, 615 and 616 will be reinstated on Montreal Road between Vanier Parkway and St. Laurent Boulevard and Route 20 will revert to its regular routing on Granville Street and Alfred Street.

Summer service reductions will end on routes 56, 57, and the O-Train Line 2 replacement bus route serving Carleton University. Service will also be stepped up on Route 25 serving La Cité.

Sept. 5 will be the final day for the season service on Route 25 to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Route 139 to Petrie Island, and Rout 185 to the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum.

Detours will continue on routes 57, 61, 62, 63, 74, 75, and 87 on weekends through Oct. 10 for NCC Bike Days.

A bulk of the changes are for 600-series school routes, which will resume in the fall. Amilcar says several adjustments have been made based on ridership levels and new school routes have been added at the request of the school boards.

NEW ROUTES

• St. Francis Xavier High School – New school Route 693 will be introduced to provide service from the Blossom Park area.
• École secondaire publique Louis Riel – Route 28 morning trips will be extended to start at Hurdman Station and will be numbered as new Route 628.

ADJUSTMENTS

• New short trips will be added on Route 75 between St. Joseph’s High School and the Minto Recreational Complex;
• Select trips on Routes 99 will be extended between Barrhaven Centre and St. Joseph’s High School; and,
• New trips extending to St. Joseph’s High School will be added on Route 170.
• New trips extending to St. Matthew High School will be added on Routes 32 and 34.
• New trips will be added to service A.Y. Jackson High School (Routes 110, 161 and 168), Earl of March Secondary School (Routes 62, 161, 168 and 664), Gloucester High School (Route 28), Immaculata High School (Routes 5, 7, 15, 16, 55 and 56), St. Francis Xavier High School (Routes 99, 278 and 299) and St. Matthew High School (Routes 131 and 221).

SERVICE REDUCTIONS

Service levels will be reduced on each of the following school routes to better match ridership levels. Sufficient capacity will remain to accommodate the expected ridership.

• Bell High School (Routes 88 and 665),
• Colonel By Secondary School and Gloucester High School (Route 24),
• École secondaire publique De La Salle (Route 602),
• Hillcrest High School (Route 649),
• Collège catholique Mer Bleue (Route 634),
• Merivale High School (Route 80),
• École secondaire publique Omer-Deslauriers (Route 689),
• École secondaire publique Pierre-de-Blois (Route 99),
• St. Patrick’s High School (Route 92), and
• St. Paul High School (Route 88).

HOLIDAY CHEDULES THIS FALL

• Labour Day, Sept. 5: Sunday schedule. O-Train Line 1 will be open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Line 2 bus service will run 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
• National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Sept. 30: Weekday schedule. O-Train Line 1 will be open 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. Line 2 bus service will run 5:30 a.m. to 12 a.m.
• Thanksgiving, Oct. 10: Sunday schedule. O-Train Line 1 will be open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Line 2 bus service will run 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
• Remembrance Day, Nov. 11: Weekday schedule. O-Train Line 1 will be open 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. Line 2 bus service will run 5:30 a.m. to 12 a.m.