Tessera
Folgen

Better Transit Ottawa

@bettertransitottawa.ca

Let's make public transit in Ottawa better. bettertransitottawa.ca https://discord.gg/QXYP2SGbpk

92 Posts250 Follower23 Folgt
Rail Fans Canada@railfans.ca · 5d ago

O-Train Line 1 Fleet Update: Over the last 7 days, 53 unique trains were observed, equal to 85.5% of the full tracked fleet. Over the last 30 days, 56 unique trains were observed. 8 trains have not been seen for 15 or more days, and 9 trains returned to service this week after long absences.

BildBild
Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 3w ago

We're doing our first outdoor gathering of the year at the new Street Seats location in Chinatown! We will be meeting this Wednesday, at 7pm. Everyone is welcome to join us! It's a great opportunity to get to know some local members! See you there :) Info here : luma.com/0tv3zeul?tk=...

Outdoor Street Seats Gathering · Luma

Please note the change in date! Originally we planned for Friday the 17th, but that space is already going to be used for another event, so we've moved it to…

luma.com

Better Transit Ottawa@bettertransitottawa.ca · 4w ago

Last week, OC Transpo implemented huge service cuts on weekends OC Transpo says that "A summer preventative maintenance program” is a reason But, we’ve been tracking every bus in operation by OC Transpo for the past several months, and there is no significant decrease in buses used on the weekend

Free Transit Ottawa 🇨🇦@freetransitottawa.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"Cities encourage what they accommodate. Designing streets for cars ensures more driving. More bus lanes would make transit an attractive option, improve access to the city, lower emissions and save people money on the ever-soaring costs of car ownership." ottawacitizen.com/opinion/grov...

Grover: Dedicated bus lanes in Ottawa would be a win for everyone

Giving half the road to idle cars is bad for business, the climate and transit.

ottawacitizen.com

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 3mo ago

The City of Ottawa released a report regarding compensation for transit users. One of the main ways they identified to make the service better in the short term was transit priority measures, one of the cheapest ones identified was continuous bus lanes! This is cheap and easy, do it now!

Illustrative option A2 – Implement additional transit priority measures Some of the transit priority measures identified in the Transportation Master Plan – Part 2 (ACS2025-PDB-TP-0012), or measures identified through other work, could be introduced through one-time funding. To improve travel times and reduce variability of bus service, funding could be invested in transit priority measures, such as:Excerpt from the staff report : Continuous bus lanes, at $20,000 to $100,000 per kilometre, if done by lane conversion. As examples, continuous bus lanes through lane conversion are currently being studied for locations on Carling Avenue.
Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 4mo ago

Yesterday a last minute walk-on motion undid years of planning from city staff, which sought feedback from thousands of residents from all across the city. This makes people lose trust in our system. If you want to help plan to fix this, join us tonight at our monthly meeting. luma.com/u9c357ol

luma.com

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 4mo ago

Disappointment at council today. Council just passed a motion from Councillor Menard for the Bank Street bus lane study which will restrict bus lanes even further from staff's proposed 3 hours to 2 hours. This means we will get no data about how parking affects bus flow in the area.

Motion brought forth to council by Councillor Menard, which sought to restrict the bus lanes on Bank Street from 3 hours in each peak direction to 2 hours.
Sean Devine@seandevine9.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I’m just learning of this in the last half hour and trying to get a sense of what Council just passed. I’ve also reached out to Councillor Menard for more info. But certainly, this has caught many by surprise. There was no debate or discussion on this motion. 1/

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 4mo ago

Disappointment at council today. Council just passed a motion from Councillor Menard for the Bank Street bus lane study which will restrict bus lanes even further from staff's proposed 3 hours to 2 hours. This means we will get no data about how parking affects bus flow in the area.

Motion brought forth to council by Councillor Menard, which sought to restrict the bus lanes on Bank Street from 3 hours in each peak direction to 2 hours.
Better Transit Ottawa@bettertransitottawa.ca · 4mo ago

After 30+ people showed up to the Public Works commission last week in support of expanding bus lanes on Bank Street, City Council has now passed a motion to reduce the scope of the bus lanes even further This motion was passed with absolutely no debate Passed without a single question

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 4mo ago

Disappointment at council today. Council just passed a motion from Councillor Menard for the Bank Street bus lane study which will restrict bus lanes even further from staff's proposed 3 hours to 2 hours. This means we will get no data about how parking affects bus flow in the area.

Motion brought forth to council by Councillor Menard, which sought to restrict the bus lanes on Bank Street from 3 hours in each peak direction to 2 hours.
Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 4mo ago

Tomorrow City Council will discuss and vote on the final approval for the Bank Street bus lane pilot. We still think it is a huge mistake that the city took out their planned event day bus lanes. Every side seems to support this, here's Darrell Cox (BIA Executive Director) saying it's a great idea

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 4mo ago

Join us for our monthly meeting this upcoming Thursday, April 9th, at 6:15 pm, 400 Sparks Street. We'll be looking back on our campaign for bus lanes on Bank Street, planning for the upcoming election, and discussing upcoming future projects for the group! RSVP : luma.com/u9c357ol?tk=...

Monthly Meeting—April · Luma

Join us for our April monthly meeting, meet new people, learn about our priorities, and consider taking that first small step to get involved. All experience…

luma.com

Better Transit Ottawa@bettertransitottawa.ca · 4mo ago

Notice something special about last week? Last week had far fewer cancellations than other days. They even brought back the 255 trips cut from the schedule back in January. Almost no bus shortage How's this possible? This was because last week was March break, so no school routes were running.

Graph showing the cancellations and trips removed from the schedule since January over time. Last week had a major drop in missing trips
Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 5mo ago

It is unfortunate that even though the city staff running the study for Bank Street Bus Lanes agrees with us that bus lanes should be in effect longer, on weekends, should operate in both directions, and that they should be running on events is being stifled by a small minority of very loud voices.

Section of the city staff report for Bus Lanes on Bank Street that says "Ultimately, bus lane hours extending beyond these peak periods, and in the off-peak direction, are recommended, including during a greater number of Lansdowne events and on weekends."
Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 5mo ago

One concerning piece from the city's proposal for Bank Street bus lanes is that they seem to have removed large event bus lanes. Even though according to their own report, this is probably the most important time for bus lanes to be present. Please sign up to delegate for the March 30th meeting!

Text taken from the City of Ottawa's report for bus lanes on Bank Street with the following text : "Travel times are longest during major events, up to 18 minutes, when the high volume of buses, passenger drop-offs, staging, and increased pedestrian and vehicle activity affect both event attendees and other road users traveling through the corridor." The text "Travel times are longest during major events, up to 18 minutes" has been highlighted in yellowText from the City of Ottawa study on Bank Street reads : "During major events, parking demand within the study area exceeds supply, and this contributes to the large-scale adoption of transit by people travelling to major Lansdowne events." with the text : "large-scale adoption of transit by people travelling to major Lansdowne events." highlighted.Text from the City of Ottawa study reads : "At this time, the pilot is not envisioned to affect transit or road operations during major events at Lansdowne"The City of Ottawa's proposal during the open house in 2025 showing that they had intended for bus lanes to be in effect "in both directions during major events".
Better Transit Ottawa@bettertransitottawa.ca · 5mo ago

The current plan calls for changes not to take effect for more than a year from now (Summer 2027) This is unacceptable when we are facing a severe bus shortage and bus reliability crisis. Any bus wasted sitting in traffic means a bus cancelled elsewhere in the network.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 5mo ago

City staff has released the agenda for the PWIC March 30th meeting, where Bank Street Bus Lanes will be discussed (item 5.2). Please consider signing up to delegate in favour of expanding bus lanes further. On-street parking is extremely underused here and is standing in the way of real progress.

The number 6 bus is shown driving along Bank Street in front of a sign at the Mayfair Theatre. The sign reads "Mayfairtheatre.ca Support bus lanes on bank st Strongtownsottawa.ca"
Derrick Simpson@derricksimpson.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The Centretown Community Association has sent a letter suggesting changes and improvements to the Bank Street Transit Study. As the busiest bus corridor in Ottawa, Bank street needs to prioritize moving people over cars.

Dear Lise Guèvremont, While we are optimistic for the Bank Street Active Transportation and Transit Priority Feasibility Study, we believe the most recent public proposal does not go far enough to prioritize public transportation and move as many people as possible. The Centretown Community Association would like to make the following suggested changes to the Bank Street Transit Study: Bus lanes should be bi-directional whenever in use and the city should consider expanding the duration of active bus lanes. The number of 24/7 bus lane sections should be expanded. There should be more frequent use of transit priority signals throughout Bank Street. The definition of large events requiring bus lanes should be expanded to include events like 613flea and Ottawa Charge games. Signage should be improved to direct drivers to the 2nd Avenue parking garage. As OC Transpo faces reliability and confidence issues, we need to prioritize fast and reliable public transit. Bus lanes are a great way to reduce operating costs, speed up travel times, and increase the number of people that will ride the bus. We would also love to see the city lean into the pilot project aspect of the Bank Street Transit Study. Once implemented, we believe the project should be reviewed within the first six months with consideration taken to increase bus lane durations and to expand bus lane locations, including into Centretown. As the busiest bus corridor in the city, we need to be maximizing the efficiency of bus travel to ensure traffic flows smoothly and reliably. A reminder that the City’s own data collected outlined that 77% of respondents want more space for people outside of private vehicles on Bank Street. Thank you, Robert Dekker CCA President
Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 5mo ago

An amazing member of ours put together this graphic that really encapsulates perfectly the situation on Bank Street. There is only so much space available, and we must use it as efficiently as possible. Parking isn't that. Please sign up to delegate on March 30th in favour of bus lanes!

An OC Transpo #6 bus in a bus lane. Inside of the bus there are multiple people, each with a text showing what they're going to be doing. They say "Grabbing a bite to eat", "Going to Lansdowne", "Getting a haircut", "Bought groceries", and "Can finally fit on the bus". The final one was a user in a wheelchair. Beside the bus there is a single person in a truck in the regular travel lane. Pointing to him it says "Just driving through". They have a thought bubble coming out from their head saying "That bus lane is going to ruin local business!".
Better Transit Ottawa@bettertransitottawa.ca · 5mo ago

Last month, we presented data on the true severity of our bus cancellation crisis to Transit Committee The only way we're getting out of this is using our limited buses as efficiently as possible with - Emergency bus lanes on key corridors - Hiring and retaining the mechanics to fix our aging fleet

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 5mo ago

The city staff seem to have confirmed that the Bank Street study will be coming to PWIC on the 30th of March. We strongly urge anyone who is interested in pushing for a better solution to Bank Street to sign up to delegate! If you need help with signing up to delegate, we're more than happy to help!

Bild