One month of 'no-charge transit' to compensate OC Transpo riders would cost $15 million

One month of free transit to compensate riders for disruptions caused by the O-Train shutdown this summer would cost an estimated $15 million, but the head of the transit service warns there is no money to offer "no-charge transit" this fall.

"I don't have the money now to do it," Renee Amilcar, Transit Services general manager, told the Transit Commission on Thursday.

Now, two councillors are proposing other options to win back customers following the 28-day LRT shutdown in July and August following the axle-bearing issue.

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Transit Commission chair Glen Gower wants the city to explore free LRT service on the Trillium Line when it opens later this year, while Coun. Shawn Menard wants the city to explore offering free transit on "high-volume" bus routes.

Some councillors and transit riders have called on the city to provide no-charge transit or a refund on July/August transit passes after the shutdown of the Confederation Line, and the resulting single-car service.

Amilcar told the Transit Commission that staff has "analyzed all options" to offer customers no-charge transit, and it would cost $15 million for one month.

OC Transpo is projecting a $40.8 million deficit in 2023, with fare revenues projected to be $12.3 million below budget this year.

The 28-day LRT shutdown hit OC Transpo revenues, as ridership dropped during the O-Train disruption. Statistics show ridership was 400,000 trips below forecast in July, while there was a $2.7 million shortfall in fare revenue during the month.

A report for the finance and corporate services committee warned OC Transpo is facing a projected $35 million fare revenue shortfall in 2024.

Amilcar says the "dropped ridership significantly impacts our revenue," and OC Transpo is already trying to address funding gaps this year before taking into account possible free transit.

"I want to be able to stabilize our finances to be able to improve the reliability of our service," Amilcar said.

"As a GM of transit, this is the most important thing that I can offer to the transit users with the taxpayers' dollars."

Coun. Menard introduced a direction to staff to review the associated costs and revenue impacts of providing six months of free transit on "high-volume routes on congested major arteries" as compensation for the recent LRT shutdown, specifically Bank Street, Hazeldean Road, St. Joseph Boulevard, Montreal Road and Carling Avenue. 

"I hope that we can comeback with something that allows for some compensation for riders, and this would be a much less expensive way of doing that while still piloting something that could be successful in our city," Menard said.

Gower has asked staff to look at offering free transit on the new Trillium Line when it opens between Bayview Station and Riverside South.

"What I asked staff to do was estimate the cost of a free train service when Line 2 and Line 4 open if we are looking at any compensation it is due to the issues with train service in the summer and I think it should be linked to train service," Gower said.

The city of Ottawa is banking on the federal and Ontario governments providing funding to cover $39 million of the budget shortfall, but Amilcar is "not optimistic" a cheque will be sent to City Hall.

"I wish that we would receive something from (provincial or federal) government," Amilcar said. "But in the meantime, we don’t have a choice so we have put in place mitigation measures and we are continuing to work with the team to make sure we can close this year’s budget without any deficit."

OC Transpo made the abrupt call to stop all service on the Confederation Line in the middle of the afternoon commute on July 17 and promptly closed the system. The call was made after excess grease was found on one of the wheel hub assemblies of a train during a routine inspection. It was later revealed that the issue was similar to the problem linked to the derailment in August 2021.

Over the course of the four weeks the system was offline, officials announced a plan to completely redesign the wheel hub assemblies on the train, a stricter maintenance regime, and work to adjust some of the rails on the tight curves throughout the line, particularly in the east end.

Partial service resumed Aug. 8, with end-to-end service on the line resuming Aug. 14; however, OC Transpo has only been running single-car trains—half the usual capacity—in order to prevent too many vehicles from reaching the new threshold for replacing axles every 60,000 kilometres.

Since then, OC Transpo has brought back some limited double-car service during peak periods as riders complained of packed platforms and trains in recent days as tens of thousands of students get back to classrooms and lecture halls. Parallel bus support continues to run from the east end.

Ridership

OC Transpo ridership continues to lag below forecasts this year, but officials are optimistic about ridership with the return of back-to-school and work.

Data shows 3.9 million customers used OC Transpo buses and the O-Train in July, below the 4.3 million forecast.  There were 4.6 million passengers in June, slightly below the 4.7 million forecast.

"We are seeing good signs in the first few days of September," Pat Scrimgeour, director of transit customer systems and planning, said.

On Sept. 7, there were 101,630 customer trips on Line 1.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said that's the highest ridership on a weekday since last November.

Bus operator recruitment

OC Transpo has hired 260 new bus operators so far in 2023, and the first ever "all-women bus operator training class" is now underway.

The Transit Commission received an update on bus operator recruitment, as the service looks to address bus cancellations and driver shortages.

Statistics showed 28 to 29 per cent of all bus trips were cancelled in July due to bus operators not being available.

OC Transpo director of transit bus operations and maintenance Jim Greer says of the 260 new bus operators hired, 141 have graduated and are on the road. The next class of 60 new recruits begins in the fall.

"I'm pleased to share that we have an all women class scheduled. For the first time ever, an all women-bus operator training class is in progress and will be led by all-woman trainers."

Top 3 bus route cancellations

New statistics show the number of bus trips cancelled increased during the LRT shut down in July.

The Transit Commission was told 98 per cent of trips were delivered between July 1 and 16, while 95.7 per cent of trips were cancelled between July 17 and 31.

On an average weekday in July, 257 out of 7,965 scheduled trips were not cancelled.

The following three routes had the most trips cancelled in July

• Line 2 Replacement Bus – 343 trips cancelled
• Route 11 – 313 trips cancelled
• Route 6 – 287 routes cancelled

Also on the agenda are plans to try to bring ridership back to pre-pandemic levels, including a proposed subscription-type discount for hybrid workers. It could include discounted fares and travel credits purchased in advance; for example, 12 trips over the span of 14 days, in place of buying a monthly pass.

OC Transpo's financial situation was also on the agenda. The transit system is the most significant financial challenge the city is facing as the 2024 budget process begins. The 2023 budget included a $39-million hole, and fare revenues are expected to remain below average into next year. Meanwhile, fares and the transit levy are set to rise 2.5 per cent next year.

OC Transpo is looking at "optimizing" bus routes across the system, and a report prepared for the finance and corporate services committee said staff are also continuing a service review to "reduce spending" in 2024. Transit advocates fear there will be bus route cuts, which, combined with increasing fare prices, could stymie efforts to grow ridership on the beleaguered transit system. 

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Leah Larocque