April 3, 2025: New Ways to Bus and Spring Service Change Starts April 27

The purpose of this memo is to provide the Mayor and Members of Council with an overview of the transit service changes happening on April 27, 2025, when OC Transpo launches the New Ways to Bus network.

The launch of the New Ways to Bus network has been timed to align with this year’s spring service change. Schedule adjustments take place four times a year – spring, summer, fall and winter – to adjust for holidays, construction activities and other service requirements.

New Ways to Bus

The New Ways to Bus route network launches on Sunday, April 27, and will be the largest bus service change in the City’s history, impacting most customers and bus routes. New Ways to Bus is a big step towards OC Transpo’s goal of increasing service reliability to 99.5%, improving connectivity to community hubs, and providing a sustainable network that meets the evolving needs of our customers. Changes include:

• New routes introduced
• Adjusted schedules and routings
• More accurate scheduled times on some segments of the network
• Some routes retired and replaced with alternative service
• Some routes shortened, extended, or divided
• Some routes renumbered
• Revised service for some middle schools and high schools
• Revised service to major destinations like hospitals, universities and colleges, and between Ottawa and Gatineau
• New connections with O-Train Lines 2 and 4

The most up-to-date New Ways to Bus information, including a network map, individual route maps and descriptions, and other resources, are available at octranspo.com. Customers are encouraged to visit octranspo.com/NewWaysToBus to learn how routes are changing across the city and create customized travel plans on the new network.

In the weeks leading up to April 27, customers may notice changes to bus stop and station signage as thousands of bus stops are updated to reflect the new bus routes that will be available at each stop.

To support the Mayor and Members of Council in sharing New Ways to Bus information with residents, an information kit including social media messages, a newsletter insert, graphics and key messages is available here.

Additional spring service adjustments

As warm weather returns, construction projects will ramp up across the city and will require adjustments to some bus routes. These adjustments include:

• Routes 5 and 45 for work at the entrance to Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
• Routes 6, 7, 19 and 20 for lifecycle renewal work and cycling modifications on the St. Patrick Street Bridge and the Porter Island Bridge.
• Routes 8 and 13 due to work around les Terrasses de la Chaudière.
• Route 11 for Stage 2-related watermain work between the future New Orchard Station and Ambleside Drive.
• Routes 41 and 92 for work on the Bank Street Reconstruction Project, in the vicinity of the Bank Street and Heron Road intersection.
• Route 48 for road, sewer and watermain work on Canterbury Avenue.
• Routes 61, 62, 63, 301, 303, 404 and 406 for closures of the Highway 417 westbound on-ramp at Pinecrest and westbound off-ramp at Richmond Road, to allow for construction related to Stage 2.
• Route 68 for work along Hazeldean Road between Irwin Gate and Castlefrank Road.
• Route 153 for hydro work at McEwen Avenue.
• Routes using Kichi Zībī Mīkan during weeknight and weekend detours associated with ongoing Stage 2 activities.

Details of all service adjustments for construction projects will be available on octranspo.com/alerts as they are confirmed.

Holiday service

Victoria Day: On Monday, May 19, service will run on a Sunday schedule for buses and all O-Train service. Regular Para Transpo bookings on May 19 will be cancelled, and customers requiring Para Transpo service can use My Para Transpo or call 613-560-5000 to schedule a trip.

Customer information

OC Transpo has several customer-friendly applications and tools to assist customers in accessing timely information about our service while on the go. These include texting 560560 for real-time bus schedule information, downloading the Transit app, checking transit information screens at many major stations, as well as visiting octranspo.com. Real-time information is also available by calling 613-560-1000 plus the bus stop number. Customers can visit octranspo.com or contact the OC Transpo Customer Service Centre at 613-560- 5000 for more information.