Advocacy groups and community members met at the Ottawa Public Library’s Sunnyside branch on Sept. 28 to discuss transit issues along one of Ottawa’s biggest transit corridors: Bank Street.
Free Transit Ottawa, a community group advocating for free transit in Ottawa, organized the forum amid discussions around the redevelopment of a section of Bank Street, between Highway 417 and the Rideau Canal.
The city has proposed several options for redevelopment, some of which include bus lanes and bike lanes. The city is organizing an open house for further community engagement in January or February.
In the meeting, community members discussed problems with Ottawa’s public transit and raised potential solutions.
“Bad transit is bad for everybody,” said Nick Grover, a member of Free Transit Ottawa.
“It’s mostly bad for the people who rely on the bus because this determines our right to the city,” he added. “Our ability to get to jobs, to get to school, to get to job interviews, services, to see friends, to see parts of the city that we don’t directly live in without transit.”
Grover also highlighted the financial disadvantages of a “bad” transit system for those who don’t take the bus.
“If someone is forced to drive, as drivers can attest, it can cost you about $16,000 a year to own and operate a vehicle,” he said. “That’s money you’re spending because transit is lousy. It costs the city a lot of money to maintain roads, widen roads, subsidize parking, not to mention all the carbon emissions that come with a car-centred city.”
Participants added sticky notes to posters with issues that most concerned them.
One potential remedy included making transit free in Ottawa.
Participants cited the cost of charging fares, including the technology, policing and bureaucracy required to accept, enforce and process fares, as a primary reason for doing so.
When asked how the city could finance a free transit system, Grover suggested options like higher property taxes. He also suggested redistributing costs from elsewhere in the budget, like the money spent on widening and repairing roads.
Another group discussed how more frequent bus service and better scheduling could reduce overcrowding, improve accessibility and increase ridership.
Nitin Datta, a business agent with the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents OC Transpo operators, said bus schedules are often unrealistic for drivers to follow.
“It’s providing you a schedule where you can’t make it from A to B, so as you start your trip, you’re already running 15 minutes late,” he said.
Kallioinen noted a persistent issue for students is that they often travel at off-peak times. Class schedules, medical appointments, jobs and social engagements usually don’t follow a 9-to-5 schedule, he said.
Kallioinen also explained the connection between housing affordability and transit for students.
He said for students to get to class on time, they need to be able to commute by transit within 30 or 40 minutes, which limits them to a small radius around campus that typically offers more expensive housing.
“A lack of transit in these suburban routes limits where students can live, it drives up rent prices because it forces students to live in specific areas, so landlords know students have to live there, so the rent is ridiculous,” Kallioinen said.
Kallioinen said the opening of the O-Train Line 2 and the return of five-minute service on Line 1 are the most urgent solutions for students. More frequent buses in off-peak hours to prevent overcrowding and improve reliability are also important, he said.
Members of Free Transit Ottawa passed around a sign-up sheet for a new committee on improving transit.
Grover said he hopes the committee will generate more solutions and advocacy for city councillors to make meaningful transit changes.
Featured image by Grace Huntley/The Charlatan.
