FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE: Community forces Council to back down on discount fare increases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE: Hundreds of residents decry LRT service reductions
OTTAWA - Nearly 900 residents have sent emails to Mayor Sutcliffe and their councillors demanding the reversal of today's LRT service cuts.
The cuts were announced earlier this Summer by OC Transpo as a way to "save money" but Horizon Ottawa and residents are concerned that there will be major consquences including a dip in ridership when we should be focusing on increasing it.
According to Mayor Sutcliffe the number one reason transit is facing a financial crisis is the decrease in federal workers commuting to downtown. Instead of investing in improving our transit system to attract new riders, reduce traffic, and make our city more accessible for everyone, Sutcliffe has chosen to blame federal workers and higher levels of government, absolving himself of any responsibility.
"These cuts today, enacted only days before students return to school and a bit over a week until government workers are forced to the office are extremely shortsighted and serve no only to placate the Mayor's political base." said Sam Hersh, coordinator for Horizon Ottawa. "It doesn't make sense to spend billions of dollars on an LRT system to then cut service and drive people away from it."
At $4.6 billion, LRT Stage 2 is the city's largest investment with a cost that has ballooned over time due to project overruns among other things.
Just like the LRT, Sutcliffe has also cut service to busses, including a 3.5% service reduction which was the largest service cut since 2011. Sutcliffe also cut $47 million from the transit capital budget in the 2023 as the deficit continues to grow.
Along with Ottawa Transit Riders and Free Transit Ottawa, Horizon Ottawa is organizing members of the public to register as delegates to speak out in favour of reversing the new cuts at the next Transit Commission meeting on September 12th.
"While we agree that other levels of government must help, this transit crisis is one of the Mayor's own making." said Hersh. "Policies like these will decrease ridership and drive us further down that transit death spiral."
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For Media Inquiries:
Sam Hersh
613-663-7018
[email protected]
