Ottawa Transit Riders / Le groupe des usagers de transport en commun d'Ottawa

In recent years, there has been a tendency among bad faith politicians to put people opposed to specific services in charge of that service … someone who supports private school in charge of public education, someone beholden to private health insurance in charge of public healthcare, etc.

This, of course, leads to poor decisions, stagnation, and frustration.

During his campaign, Mayor Sutcliffe promised a “unifying vision” and an end to divisive tactics. The appointment of councillors to various commissions is the first test of his willingness to be a mayor of ALL residents of Ottawa.

The Ottawa Transit Riders is calling on the new mayor and city council to appoint people who value transit as a public service to the Transit Commission. A number of city councillors participated in the 2022 Transit Challenge, allowing them to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of our transit system. We need people who are looking for solutions.

The Ottawa Transit Riders reserves at least one seat on our Board of Directors to people who have lived experience using ParaTranspo as we feel that personal experience is essential to understanding the needs of ParaTranspo users. We call on the city of Ottawa to do the same – appoint at least one person who uses ParaTranspo to the Transit Commission.

The Ottawa Transit Riders believes that OC Transpo workers (the people on the ground) can provide valuable insight into transit issues and potential solutions. We ask the city to appoint one OC Transpo employee (not management) to sit on the Transit Commission.

Transit is in a downward spiral in this city, but there are many good councillors willing to work towards solutions.

Let’s hope the new mayor signals some hope for beleaguered transit riders.

Ces dernières années, les politiciens de mauvaise foi ont eu tendance à confier la responsabilité de services spécifiques à des personnes qui y sont opposées... un partisan de l'école privée responsable de l'enseignement public, un partisan de l'assurance maladie privée responsable des soins de santé publics, etc.

Cela conduit bien sûr à de mauvaises décisions, à la stagnation et à la frustration.

Pendant sa campagne, le maire Sutcliffe a promis une « vision unificatrice » et la fin des tactiques de division. La nomination des conseillers à diverses commissions est le premier test de sa volonté d'être un maire de TOUS les résidents d'Ottawa.

Le groupe des usagers du transport en commun d'Ottawa demande au nouveau maire et au conseil municipal de nommer à la Commission du transport en commun des personnes qui considèrent le transport en commun comme un service public. Un certain nombre de conseillers municipaux ont participé au Défi transport 2022, ce qui leur a permis de souligner les forces et les faiblesses de notre système de transport en commun. Nous avons besoin de personnes qui cherchent des solutions.

Le groupe des usagers du transport en commun d'Ottawa réserve au moins un siège au sein de leur conseil d'administration à des personnes qui ont une expérience vécue de l'utilisation de ParaTranspo, car nous estimons que l'expérience personnelle est essentielle pour comprendre les besoins des usagers de ParaTranspo. Nous demandons à la ville d'Ottawa de faire de même - nommer au moins une personne qui utilise le ParaTranspo à la Commission du transport en commun.

Le groupe des usagers du transport en commun d'Ottawa croit que les travailleurs d'OC Transpo (les gens sur le terrain) peuvent fournir un aperçu précieux des problèmes de transport en commun et des solutions possibles. Nous demandons à la Ville de nommer un employé d'OC Transpo (pas la direction) pour siéger à la Commission du transport en commun.

Le transport en commun est dans une spirale descendante dans cette ville, mais il y a beaucoup de bons conseillers qui sont prêts à travailler pour trouver des solutions.

Espérons que le nouveau maire donnera un peu d'espoir aux usagers du transport en commun.

It’s fair to say that the Ottawa Transit Riders had high hopes for the municipal election in 2022. So now that it is over, what do we do next?

First, there are a number of new city councillors to work with. We have reached out to all city councillors to indicate that our role in the city is to be the “voice of transit riders” and to say that we hope to work with councillors to improve service.

Second, we are planning to host transit forums in neighbourhoods across the city to discuss local needs. The first one will be in Kanata – keep an eye on this website for a schedule and location.

We will also hold online consultations as not everyone can attend these events in person.

Third, we intend to reach out to members through a survey and online meetings to get feedback on what our priorities should be in 2023. What are your pet peeves? Do you have ideas on how OC Transpo can improve service? Let us know. [email protected]

Et après?

Il est juste de dire que le groupe des usagers du transport en commun d'Ottawa avait de grands espoirs pour les élections municipales de 2022. Alors, maintenant que c'est terminé, que faisons-nous ensuite ?

Premièrement, il y a un certain nombre de nouveaux conseillers municipaux avec qui travailler. Nous avons contacté tous les conseillers municipaux pour indiquer que notre rôle dans la ville est d'être la « voix des usagers du transport en commun » et pour leur dire que nous espérons travailler avec les conseillers pour améliorer le service.

Deuxièmement, nous prévoyons d'organiser des forums sur le transport en commun dans les quartiers de la ville pour discuter des besoins locaux. Le premier aura lieu à Kanata – gardez un œil sur ce site Web pour connaître l'horaire et le lieu.

Nous organiserons également des consultations en ligne car tout le monde ne peut pas assister à ces événements en personne.

Troisièmement, nous avons l'intention de communiquer avec les membres par le biais d'un sondage et de réunions en ligne pour obtenir des commentaires sur ce que devraient être nos priorités en 2023. Quelles sont vos bêtes noires ? Avez-vous des idées sur la façon dont OC Transpo peut améliorer le service? Faites le nous savoir. [email protected]

* French to come *

Ottawa Transit Riders believes that we can have great transit in the City of Ottawa when we ensure that people can get where they go quickly, reliably and in an accessible manner. We want to see transit connections that offer these benefits with minimal disruption to the environment. Aligning rapid transit near people allows us to build smarter by creating transit-oriented development, encouraging walkability and reducing car dependence, as we need to do in order to minimize the effects of climate change. These are all goals that have been outlined in the City’s new Official Plan, and which we should be striving to achieve.

When it comes to the possible alignments for an east-end transitway, Ottawa Transit Riders believe that it is important to ensure transit is routed where riders are. We support the initial agreed-upon alignment that the City of Ottawa and National Capital Commission developed in 2013 which ensures that transit would be routed near riders in Blackburn Hamlet, and which would minimize threats to greenspace and farmland, particularly Mer Bleue. This alignment was also included in the Transportation Master Plan and other City planning documents.

Background: The City of Ottawa developed several proposed alignments after the 2013 consultation; these are not the initial agreed-upon alignment which the NCC supports. Of these options, we would be supportive of options that put rapid transit near people in Blackburn Hamlet (options 1 and 4). https://documents.ottawa.ca/sites/documents/files/brian_coburn_options_en.pdf 

The third Transit Challenge in Ottawa took place September 11th to 17th during the municipal election campaign.

How did it go?

First, it was very popular - a majority of candidates participated in the challenge. People in rural areas talked about lack of options; people in suburban areas talked about poor reliability, poor connections, and uncomfortable bus shelters.

At least two candidates organized races: Erin Coffin who is running in Kanata South (ward 23) versus Transit Chair Allan Hubley posted this video to YouTube showing her and her son taking the bus from Kanata Superstore to Tanger Outlets. They raced a friend who ran the same distance. Do you want to guess which method was faster?

Kevin Hua, running in Stittsville (ward 6) posted this video: Ottawa Transit Race where he rode the bus and a friend ran from Stittsville to Bells Corner. 

Here is the 2022 Transit Challenge report with more details.

We had so many great examples of people taking the challenge seriously that it was very hard to narrow down - our report could have been 20 pages long. We hope no-one takes offense that their favourite post did not make the cut!

Here some examples of Twitter posts.

It was disappointing that some decision-makers - Allan Hubley (Chair of the Transit Commission) and senior officials at OC Transpo (for example the new General Manager Renée Amilcar) did not respond or participate.

Their refusal to ride transit is very telling.

The Ottawa Transit Riders hopes that voters will consider candidates’ views on transit when they make their decision on October 24th. Transit is an essential service in Ottawa and good, reliable service benefits us all - even people who don’t use it.

How the Ottawa Transit Challenge continues to fall short of addressing PWD’s concerns

CBC: Transit challenge returns right in the middle of an election

Ottawa transit challenge returns, ahead of municipal election | Ottawa Morning with Robyn Bresnahan

And here's the final list of participants of the 2022 transit challenge! Note that three mayoral candidates have expressed support, though we recognize that it will prove difficult for them to do all their campaigning by transit given the gaps in our transit network...a problem in itself for municipal participation! Is it fair and democratic that you can't easily run for mayor unless you drive? / Et voici la liste finale des participants au défi transport 2022 ! Notez que trois candidats à la mairie ont exprimé leur soutien, bien que nous reconnaissions qu'il leur sera difficile de faire toute leur campagne en transport en commun étant donné les lacunes de notre réseau de transport en commun... un problème en soi pour la participation municipale ! Est-il juste et démocratique que vous ne puissiez pas facilement vous présenter à la mairie à moins de conduire et d'avoir accès à une voiture ?

While the turnout is quite good, we're disappointed to see that nobody from the city or OC Transpo wanted to even try for seven days. And extra disappointed that Allan Hubley, current chair of the transit commission, wasn't interested in participating. The people who make the decisions about our transit should be using the transit, don't you think? / Bien que le taux de participation soit assez bon, nous sommes déçus de voir que personne de la ville ou d'OC Transpo n'a voulu même essayer pendant sept jours. Et très déçus qu'Allan Hubley, actuel président de la commission des transports, n'ait pas voulu participer. Les personnes qui prennent les décisions concernant nos transports en commun devraient utiliser les transports en commun, ne pensez-vous pas ?

It’s BACK … time to take the Ottawa Transit Challenge.

The third Ottawa Transit Challenge is being organized by Ottawa Transit Riders. It is the first challenge since the pandemic started.

Click to sign up if you want: 

Transit Challenge sign up 

From Sunday, September 11th to September 17th, 2022, councillors, candidates, and key OC Transpo officials will be encouraged to use public transit for their transportation needs.

During this week, participants will be encouraged to use public transit for all their travels – taking kids to daycare, conducting their shopping, going to appointments, visiting friends – just like so many Ottawa residents who rely on public transit.

Participants are encouraged to tweet their experience using the hashtag #OttTransitChallenge2022.

Councillors and candidates are also encouraged to consider what good public transit means to constituents and neighbours with disabilities. Whether they are navigating sidewalks and inaccessible bus pads or using ParaTranspo, people with disabilities need good, reliable, accessible transit.

You don’t have to be invited to participate – please feel free to sign up or just tweet out sightings of councillors on transit. 

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C'est de retour ... il est temps de relever le Défi du transport en commun d'Ottawa.

Le troisième Défi du transport en commun d'Ottawa est organisé par le groupe des usagers du transport en commun d'Ottawa. C'est le premier défi depuis le début de la pandémie.

Cliquez pour vous inscrire si vous voulez : 

Inscription au Défi transport 

Du dimanche 11 septembre au 17 septembre 2022, les conseillers, les candidats et les principaux responsables d'OC Transpo seront encouragés à utiliser le transport en commun pour leurs besoins en transport.

Au cours de cette semaine, les participants seront encouragés à utiliser le transport en commun pour tous leurs déplacements - emmener les enfants à la garderie, faire leurs courses, se rendre à des rendez-vous, rendre visite à des amis - comme tant de résidents d'Ottawa qui comptent sur le transport en commun.

Les participants sont invités à tweeter leur expérience en utilisant le hashtag #OttDéfiTransport2022.

Les conseillers et les candidats sont également encouragés à tenir compte de ce que signifie un bon transport en commun pour les électeurs et les voisins handicapés. Qu'il s'agisse de se frayer un chemin sur les trottoirs, de se déplacer sur des aires de stationnement inaccessibles ou d'utiliser ParaTranspo, les personnes handicapées ont besoin d'un transport en commun de qualité, fiable et accessible.

Vous n'avez pas besoin d'être invité pour participer - n'hésitez pas à vous inscrire ou simplement à tweeter des apparitions de conseillers dans les transports en commun. 

Everyone’s talking about free transit these days. We’re in a climate emergency and getting people to use public transit is a good way to reduce our impact on the environment.

During the recent provincial election, all parties made promises about public transit – the PCs said that they would give $75 million to restore the Northlander passenger-rail system in northern Ontario. All the parties promised to invest in transit reliability and integrated transit fares in the GTA.

Here is an article about cities that offer free fare for all or some of their riders. Kirstin Pulles of Free Transit Ottawa is quoted.

No fare is fair: Should Ontario get on board with free transit? 

The mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu has said, “free public transportation is the single biggest step we could take toward economic mobility, racial equity, and climate justice.”

Here is an article where she explains her argument.

During appearance on Freakonomics Radio, Mayor Wu argues for free transit

Here is an article about the movement towards free transit in Ottawa. Laura Shantz, a board member of Ottawa Transit Riders and a candidate for Rideau-Vanier is quoted in this article.

Free Transit Ottawa has proposed making transit free for specific groups of people – they have a petition on their website advocating for free transit for people who receive Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program. Click here to sign the petition. 

Free transit movement making inroads, advocates say 

The amalgamated transit union (ATU) posted a well considered argument on their website in 2020.

Free Public Transit in Canada? 

Here’s an article about what cities have learned from experimenting with free transit.

The Case for Making Public Transit Free Everywhere 

Have you ever wanted to take your bike on an OC Transpo bus, but were nervous about loading and unloading it?

OC Transpo has listened to riders and is now offering a “rack n’roll” practice unit at Hurdman station. Come give it a try!

Avez-vous déjà voulu prendre votre vélo dans un autobus d'OC Transpo, mais vous étiez nerveux à l'idée de le charger et de le décharger ?

OC Transpo a écouté les usagers et offre maintenant un moyen de s'exercer à charger son vélo sur le support à la station Hurdman. Venez faire un essai !

Join us for an in-person event about transit

The Ottawa Transit Riders is organizing an in-person event to discuss transit and the upcoming election.

We are looking for volunteers to join an election working group to plan events in different neighbourhoods to bring transit issues to people’s attention. If you cannot attend this event, but are interested in volunteering, please email us at [email protected]

The event is planned for Saturday, July 9^th from 1-3 PM at Minto Park on Elgin (across from Jack Purcell CC).

Click here for details: People's Transit Forum in Minto Park 

With a municipal election coming in October, we want to make transit a major topic during the campaign – what do you want media asking candidates? What do you want candidates to promise? What brave, exciting new transit changes do you want to see with a new city council?

We will have speakers talking about free transit, accessible transit, the benefits of transit for young people and old …

Come and talk to current city councillors and candidates.

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Le groupe des usagers de transport en commun d'Ottawa organise un événement en personne pour discuter du transport en commun et l’élection qui aura lieu en octobre.

Nous recherchons des bénévoles pour se joindre à un groupe de travail électoral chargé de planifier des événements dans différents quartiers afin d'attirer l'attention des gens sur les problèmes de transport en commun. Si vous ne pouvez pas assister à cet événement, mais que vous êtes intéressé par le bénévolat, veuillez nous envoyer un courriel à [email protected]

L'événement est prévu le samedi 9 juillet de 13h à 15h au parc Minto sur Elgin (en face du Jack Purcell CC).

Cliquez ici pour plus de détails : People's Transit Forum in Minto Park 

À l'approche de l’élection municipale d'octobre, nous voulons faire du transport en commun un sujet majeur de la campagne. Que voulez-vous que les médias demandent aux candidats ? Que voulez-vous que les candidats promettent ? Quels changements courageux et excitants en matière de transport en commun voulez-vous voir avec un nouveau conseil municipal ?

Nous aurons un orateur qui parlera de la gratuité du transport en commun, un autre qui parlera de l'accessibilité du transport en commun, d'autres qui parleront des avantages du transport en commun pour les jeunes et les personnes âgées ...

Venez, rejoignez-nous pour parler aux conseillers municipaux actuels et aux candidats.

Traduit avec www.DeepL.com/Translator (version gratuite)

The LRT inquiry is happening and several members of the Ottawa Transit Riders have made face-to-face delegations or submitted comments in written form.

If you want to know more, click on this link Ottawa Light Rail Transit Commission 

For general enquiries or to submit any information relevant to the Commission's mandate, please contact [email protected]

Several of the people testifying about how the LRT fiasco affects public transit in Ottawa mentioned that the focus on the LRT has distracted city officials from dealing with other aspects of transit … especially accessible transit. People who use ParaTranspo have a long list of complaints … long waiting times to book, no same-day bookings, a limit on the number of trips people can take per day, dirty buses, noisy buses, curfews on holidays such as New Year’s, etc.

The problem is the LRT sucks up all the attention and resources! Journalists rush to interview people who miss exams because the train got stuck and councillors demand inquiries into the procurement of substandard trains. What about Para Transpo customers who have lost out on job opportunities or missed important medical appointments they’ve waited months to get? Listen to people who use accessible transit!

There’s never been enough capacity for the number of people who need to use this service and the buses currently in service are nearing the end of life, with no indication of a budget or timeline as to replace them. Listen to ParaTranspo users who want same-day booking and extended hours.

Let’s make the system more efficient so people leaving from the same location can share buses rather than use two parallel buses. Let’s be sensible about schedules and booking – if a hockey game goes into overtime, make sure that Para buses wait for their users rather than forcing people to leave a game early.

Yes, we need accountability for the LRT fiasco and yes, we need to improve service on buses throughout the system, but all too often, users of ParaTranspo are told to wait until other issues are addressed. (We’ll get to you eventually).

Enough is enough!

It’s about respect.