Bus Schedule To Be Reduced In Storm
This is a release from the City of Ottawa:
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Mayor and Members of Council,
OC Transpo is implementing a Severe Storm Schedule for buses beginning Thursday, February 13, due to the current severe winter storm forecast for Ottawa. The Severe Storm Schedule does not apply to O-Train service, which will run on a normal schedule.
A Severe Storm Schedule for buses is implemented on weekdays when 31 centimetres or more of snow is predicted to fall or under other severe weather conditions. Further to the communications sent to Mayor and Members of Council by the Public Works department, there is a significant weather event that is forecasted to result in snow accumulations of up to 40 centimetres. Due to these severe conditions, a Severe Storm Schedule is being implemented. This is the first time a Severe Storm Schedule has been implemented in the city since the plan was introduced in 2022.
What this means for our customers starting on Thursday, February 13:
Bus service will follow a reduced schedule in order to provide safer and more reliable service during the winter storm and to allow the entire network to recover more quickly.
Most routes in the network will be affected by these schedule adjustments. Many routes will have reduced frequencies and modified trip times, and select routes will not run.
Customers are strongly encouraged to use the Travel Planner, double-check their route before they travel and expect delays.
Many articulated buses will be replaced with 40-foot and double-decker buses to improve service reliability.
O-Train and Para Transpo service levels will not be reduced, but customers should still plan ahead, expect delays and exercise increased caution when boarding and exiting vehicles and at bus stops and station platforms.
OC Transpo is informing customers of bus schedule changes due to severe weather through regular updates on all customer communication channels, including octranspo.com, the 560560 text service, a public service announcement, social media posts and signage at bus stops. Customers can also use OC Transpo’s Travel Planner to see how their trip will change while the Severe Storm Schedule is in effect.
Further information about our Severe Storm Schedule is found on octranspo.com.
We anticipate regular service will resume on Friday morning, February 14. An update will be provided to Council.
Renée Amilcar
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So, people who depend on OC Transpo to get around town are expected to stand outside during a blizzard for longer than normal? After they’ve just been stuck paying higher fares? Smart move for an organization that is supposed to provide a service to the residents of the city. I wonder why ridership is down?
This is, of course, how the bright lights at OC Transpo and the City work to get more cars off the road during a storm, making it safer for all … NOT!
OC Transpo drivers are trained and experienced in winter driving including how to drive in and after a storm such as this. Instead of trying to clear the roads of vehicles of all sizes and leaving the difficult driving to the experts, they would rather pull the people who know what they’re doing and fill up the roads with people whose experience with these types of conditions is very limited.
Now that makes all kinds of sense, doesn’t it?
I completely understand them taking the articulated buses out of service since they have problems with both hills and turns in heavy snow or slippery conditions. That doesn’t justify reducing or cancelling service on virtually every route in the city. News flash: Some people don’t have the option of staying home and, for some of those people, neither would you want them staying home. Do you want your grandmother to have her support staff there in her long-term care home? How about staff at our hospitals? The workers at your grocery store or gas station? Many of those people are dependent on the transit system, such as it is, to get to and from work. Remember how we called them heroes during the pandemic? Those same heroes will be trying to get to work tomorrow in spite of the weather.
And how does our mayor feel about people being told to work from home? Hard to put in your five days a week at the office when you can’t get there. Wasn’t he the guy who was saying OC Transpo needs people to be forced to work in the office? Seems that only lasts until it’s inconvenient for the transit system to convey you to and from said office. It’s one thing for the transit system to need you but quite another story when the shoe’s on the other foot and you need a bus.
If the transit system can’t operate in the snow, maybe they should move it somewhere that doesn’t have these challenges. I hear there’s not much snow in Florida this time of year. On the other hand, they could work on developing a service that can be operated in the conditions that exist in this city.
More BS from the City and OC Transpo. 8;25 pm on Wednesday and I just went to the OC Transpo website. The Travel Planner is down.
I thought they were already running on a severe storm schedule given how few buses show up now. What I didn’t see in the memo is that some bus stops are out of service. There are already 7 on the list, which affects about 22 bus routes.
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