FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE: Community forces Council to back down on discount fare increases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE: Community Organizations, Transit Workers Decry Surprise LRT Service Cuts
OTTAWA - Community organizations and transit workers are raising concerns around proposed plans from OC Transpo to cut service on its LRT line during off-peak hours as a way to “save money.”
The proposed cuts or “schedule changes”, leaked in a tweet, will see LRT trains run every 10 minutes instead of every five during the week from 9 AM to 3PM, what OC Transpo considers to be off-peak hours. The changes are scheduled to begin on August 26th, just two weeks before federal government workers are forced back to the office and days before students are scheduled to return.
“This new change and proposed cut will cause significant service disruptions for riders as well as the thousands of members we represent.” said Noah Vineberg, newly-elected President of ATU 279, Ottawa’s transit union local. “As transit workers, we aim to provide the public with the best service we possibly can, this new proposal makes it harder to do that.”
The changes will lead to even more missed connections for passengers on already infrequent bus routes at Tunneys, Hurdman and Blair, among others, especially for people running errands, going to work or getting to appointments in the middle of the day. It also ignores the fact that many office workers often work 6am-2pm, or even 10am-6pm.
“The idea that the city can cut service 9AM -3PM while still hoping federal public service workers will take transit and improve ridership sounds like a plan that’s destined to fail,” said Nathan Prier, President of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) which represents over 25,000 workers. “Many federal public service workers get to work at 6am and head home before 3, or others work 10 to 6. Decreasing frequency is not the way to get people back on the LRT. The city should be improving services to make downtown more than an employment zone and that can only happen with reliable transit connecting us all during peak business hours.“
Instead of moving to cut service during off-peak hours, other cities have increased them to great success seeing ridership increase beyond or close to pre-pandemic levels.
"This city seems to be actively discouraging people from using public transit. With fewer 9-5 workers commuting, the logical move would be to improve service in the off-peak hours — so the thousands of people driving during the day or evening can make the switch to transit,” said Nick Grover, of Free Transit Ottawa. “Edmonton, Calgary and our sister capital Washington, DC have surpassed their pre-pandemic ridership with these exact investments."
This change is part of a pattern of cuts since Mayor Mark Sutcliffe came into office. During the last budget, Sutcliffe championed and ultimately passed a transit budget that saw the biggest cuts since 2011, cutting 74,000 hours or 3.5% of total service.
Other alternative methods to fund our transit system — including raising the transit levy, reallocating millions from the road widening budget, and raising parking rates — have been ignored in favor of more brazen cuts.
“Mark Sutcliffe came into office claiming he was going to “fix the LRT” while continuing to do everything he can to stifle it. How can he justify these cuts to LRT service only weeks before federal government workers and students return to the downtown core?” said Ethan Smith-Johnson, a Board member with Horizon Ottawa. “Looking to other cities, we know what the solutions are - and it isn’t endlessly cutting an already weak transit system. We need a vision that sees transit as a vital part of city infrastructure and we need it yesterday.”
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For Media Inquiries:
Sam Hersh
613-663-7018
[email protected]
Nick Grover
[email protected]
