April 11 Transit Commission Update

On April 11, we provided an update on our five-year road map progress, ridership, our scheduling process, and more!

If you didn’t get a chance to tune in, The Next Stop Blog is here to bring you up to speed on what you missed.

Five-Year Roadmap Progress Update

Our Five-Year Roadmap lays out a transparent, accountable and measurable path to guide how OC Transpo will modernize and deliver high service reliability, customer satisfaction and employee engagement over the next four years.

In the last year, OC Transpo has made progress in numerous key areas, including:

• Hiring 264 bus operators and 26 Para Transpo operators;
• Expanding O-Payment to accept credit cards in 2023 and expanding to accept debit in 2024;
• Improving service delivery and on-time performance;
• Renewing the Para Transpo minibus fleet, and
• Transitioning the diesel bus fleet to zero-emission vehicles.

This first annual update includes key performance indicators, targets for improvement on major strategic initiatives and six new strategic initiatives to reflect our evolving priorities.

Transit ridership update

Commission members heard that ridership reached 6.1 million customer-trips in February 2024. In March, O-Train Line 1 service delivery was 99.4 per cent. Conventional bus service delivery in March was 98.8 per cent which is the highest number staff have reported over the past 13 months.

Staff also provided an update on key Para Transpo ridership and service levels. In March 2024, Para Transpo ridership was at 70,600 total customer-trips.

2023 Light Rail Regulatory Monitor and Compliance Officer Annual Report Commission members received an update on the Regulatory Monitor and Compliance Officer’s (RMCO) 2023 annual compliance report. This report focused on inspection activities related to tunnels and the Communications-Based Train Control system (CBTC).

OC Transpo was found to be compliant with all eight regulatory inspections of the tunnel while Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM) was found to be compliant with five of the 10 elements and mostly conformant with the remaining five.

The RMCO also examined five elements related to OC Transpo’s inspections of the CBTC system and found four elements to be compliant, with one element regarding oversight activities as being mostly compliant. The report noted that OC Transpo has already taken actions to enhance its 2024 oversight plan.

Staff will continue to work with RTM to achieve full conformance. Staff will also ensure structured and timely follow-ups and that a list of remedial actions is developed and reviewed at regular meetings with the RMCO, RTM, Alstom and City staff.

Scheduling Process

Scheduling is an ongoing and continuous process that repeats for each of OC Transpo’s four service periods: winter, spring, summer, and fall. The scheduling process is important to provide the best service possible for customers and includes feedback from numerous sources, including bus operators and members of the public.

If you’ve ever wondered how buses are scheduled for service, check out the OC Transpo Scheduling Process report here.

What to expect next

In May, there will be a joint Transit Commission and Light Rail Sub-Committee meeting where an update will be provided on a number of important priorities, including updates on the axle bearing solution for Line 1, an update on Stage 2 LRT extension along with the status of activities required to open lines 2 and 4.An update will also be provided on the annual maintenance of Line 1 and on the Fare Compliance Initiative.

To find out more information about our latest update, you can watch the presentation here or read the reports discussed here.