Macy Laporte said she loves her new U-Pass. What she doesn’t love is feeling like a sardine in a tin can when she rides the 117 bus to school.
Like many Carleton students this fall, Laporte, a second-year architecture student, has encountered delays, crowding, and buses passing her because they are completely full.
“Now that we all have the U-Pass, everyone is taking the bus. It often passes me multiple times because it’s too full. It’s made me late for class.”
Laporte said she wants more buses running to and from Carleton to compensate for this increased ridership.
The top three Ottawa mayoral candidates all seemed to agree with Laporte during the mayoral debate Oct. 19 that the buses are overcrowded and something needs to be done Current mayor Larry O’Brien said there will be new extra hybrid buses starting next year, which should help.
Mayoral candidate Jim Watson said he is disappointed city council cancelled the contract to build the north-south light rail system, which could have helped with capacity issues.
Candidate Clive Doucet, currently a member of city council’s transit committee, said he thinks the crowding [on buses] is actually a good thing.
“Students should make the buses and O-train even more crowded. What that says to us is we don’t have enough capacity. This overcrowding is a great argument to expand our system,” he said.
Meera Chandler, vice-president (finance) of Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) said the union is working to get a student on the city’s transit committee.
Mike Aldrich, vice-president for the union representing bus drivers, said bus drivers have definitely noticed an increase in ridership because of the U-Pass, but OC Transpo hasn’t given the union any information regarding possible bus route improvement changes.
Laporte said she hopes OC Transpo will also listen to students’ concerns.
OC Transpo would not comment, stating they are not willing to answer any more student questions regarding the U-Pass.