Riders Condemn New Ways To Bus

This is part of the discussion from a Stittsville mother’s Facebook page:

• Let’s talk OC Transpo buses … I’ll set the Groundhog Day scene: Currently, my youngest (Algonquin student first day back of 3rd year) is trying to get home from Lincoln Fields using the ‘express’ bus.
  The above mentioned 262 drives off as he’s chasing it – fyi it’s parked outside of another bus and not in line. The next 262 doesn’t come for another hour?
  As a matter of fact there is only one 30min interval that the 262 Fernbank runs from Lincoln Fields and that’s 1622 -1650 … then it doesn’t come again until 1743. So, the backup is the 61 that includes the 20min walk home from the bus stop.
  Make. It. Make. Sense.
  There’s no bus on Westridge when the 262 is not running.
  The price of bus fare went up.
  Public transportation was taken from our taxes and raised separately.
  They’ve mashed people together and truncating bus schedules.
  Do they want people to use the bus?
  They should run the 262 every 30min like it was and add one or two more intervals to get people home under 2hrs.
  I’m done venting.
• My niece goes to Algonquin from Stittsville and bus service is a nightmare. Yesterday it took her 3 hours to get home. I understand your frustration.
• I think I say this every time….but Glen Gower’s going to fix it! Remember, he ran on transit in 2018! HE JUST NEEDS MORE TIME.
  We’ve heard so many untruths. Like the LRT is going to fix all our problems.
  This city couldn’t organize a drunk fest while sitting inside a bar.
• Terrible and they send a small bus this morning during peak time 7a.m. It’s so packed people are standing the whole way to Tunneys on the highway. Ridiculous. Do they understand customer needs….no
• You’re preaching to the choir. Bus service in the morning and afternoon is dreadful. That’s also if the bus shows up at Tunney’s in the afternoon. The 3:07 bus is typically late and from there, the 3:37 bus is almost always cancelled which means people waiting at Tunney’s until the 4:07 which is a single bus (non-articulating) and it’s always jam packed. There’s no real solution. I’ve been riding the bus for a few years now and it’s just a reality.
• This is nothing new. I went to Algonquin many years ago and it took anywhere from 1-4 hours to get there or get home. And sometimes I had to get a cab from Centrum because I couldn’t get any further than that. I ended up buying a parking pass and driving.
• My daughter spends about 4 hours a day on the bus to go to school, It’s pretty nutty. This excludes walking to and from the stop if she can’t get the express on Westridge.
• I can’t imagine the stress it is on college and university students. At least once of the 2x a week i use oc the bus that runs to my area “every 30 minutes ” shows up once every 1.5 hrs at Tunneys pasture..my ride home is often 2 hrs, 2 buses and a train. Its very discouraging but I pay the price in time to save on gas and parking.
• The hour spacing between buses for the 262 is sad. What is worse is it is never on time and therefore you actually are waiting much longer. Please send in your feedback. I spoke to them in depth on this and the more people that complain regarding a route the better chance of them making a change. I know it is probably a slim chance, but best to try. https://www.octranspo.com/en/customer-feedback/
• Algonquin was the worst for my kids to get to. My youngest started at Ottawa U and even with a number of bus options once he finally gets to Eagleson park and ride it’s still 2 buses, a train and 90 minutes one way. Gotta say I don’t blame him for switching that 8am class to a 5pm class. At least on that day I can pick him up at 7.

This submission is courtesy of Donna Mulvihill

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