Carleton Transit Riders voiced student transit concerns to city council’s transit committee for the first time Monday morning, marking a milestone in the club’s goal of representing students as major transit stakeholders.
Brooke Anderson, the group’s president, said getting students to attend and participate in transit committee meetings was the goal from the beginning.
“Half of politics is showing up,” Anderson said.
“Almost every student I’ve spoken to has an OC Transpo horror story,” Anderson said in her delegation.
Anderson addressed the city’s 2026 draft budget in her speech, telling council, “raising fares for a service that isn’t getting better (won’t) raise the city money, it’s just going to drive away riders.”
She also said the city delays projects that would improve the transit system and ignores “simple solutions that work,” like bus lanes.
Anderson added that costs shouldn’t block progress.
“OC Transpo may not pay for itself right now, but I ask you this — do our roads pay for themselves?”
“It’s time to start looking at public transit as a service, not a business.”
Anderson concluded by saying there’s still hope for OC Transpo to recover.
“Many citizens think OC Transpo is a sinking ship — I cannot disagree more,” she said. “People want this ship righted, and it can be.”
Anderson added club members show up on behalf of the larger Carleton community, since the length of committee meetings and their “inconvenient” timing makes it hard for students to attend.
She said she missed a class for the meeting, but was glad to bring attention to student complaints, calling the experience nerve-wracking but exhilarating.
She said her speech was meant to convey that “students care a lot” about transit, citing the Carleton University Students’ Association’s 2024–2025 advocacy roadmap, in which nearly half the students consulted, listed transit as their top issue.
Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard asked Anderson which routes Carleton students are unhappy with. Anderson responded that complaints centred on routes 7, 10 and 111, which Menard said was “very helpful.”
River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington addressed Anderson’s complaint about delayed bus lane implementation, pointing out that Carling Avenue lanes are delayed until 2035 in the draft budget.
Kitchissippi Ward Coun. Jeff Leiper asked Anderson what she meant by “wanting transit to be better.”
“Better transit is fast, reliable and accessible,” she replied, highlighting reliability as a primary concern.
Anderson told the Charlatan that she appreciated the councillors’ questions, but she’s skeptical about how well they responded to her speech.
“You can’t judge how (councillors) take (your speech) by how they ask questions, you can only tell by how they vote,” Anderson said.
Anderson was one of two Carleton Transit Riders executives who attended the transit committee meeting, while others submitted speeches but were unable to attend.
Laura Shantz, a board member of Ottawa Transit Riders — of which Carleton Transit Riders is a branch — called the club’s participation in the meeting “an amazing initiative.”
Shantz added she’s excited about Carleton Transit Riders bringing new voices and perspectives to transit committee meetings.
“It’s super important to hear from students, because students are the number one customer group for OC Transpo,” Shantz said. “[Councillors] need to be listening.”
Anderson said Carleton Transit Riders plans to continue attending future meetings that fall outside of exam season.
She said she hopes participation will increase as the club expands its outreach, so that Carleton Transit Riders can become a “fixture” that councillors consider in their decision-making.
“(The councillors) know about us, they know that we’re paying attention,” she said.
“Soon, they’re going to start listening.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Featured image by Zayn Daureeawoo/the Charlatan.
