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

Written by Sally Thomas, Para Ambassador

As part of Ottawa Transit Riders’ Para Transpo Challenge, I reached out to General Manager of Transit Service Renée Amilcar and her team. After some negotiations we decided to meet at City Hall on May 7. Initially, Mme Amilcar asked if her whole team could accompany us on the trip. I politely explained that there are several ambassadors involved in the initiative and her team was invited to reach out to others individually.

Blessed with good weather, I wheeled to City Hall to meet with Jason Ashton, Program Manager of OC Transpo ahead of our ride. Jason is new to the position and did not attend our meeting in the fall. We had a good conversation about what our needs are and what his role would be in working with us.

It took us almost a full hour from our pickup time to when we were dropped off, to go from City Hall to St. Laurent Shopping Centre. Renée joined us only two minutes before our scheduled pickup time and shortly thereafter shared with us that she had to be back at City Hall for a 4:00 meeting; news to both Jason and me, as she had initially cleared her afternoon. After 10 minutes of waiting, Renée wanted to know where the bus was. Took the opportunity to point out that according to their own metrics, Para is not even late until they are thirty minutes past your pickup time. We got one of the newer drivers and had a pickup on the way to our destination. We spent eight minutes looking for the other customer. Renée pointed out the obvious that waiting for people for that long isn’t fair to customers and slows the service down. Once on the bus, the other passenger eventually figured out who Renée was and brought up many other issues for her as someone with a visual impairment. I do not know what they were because they spoke in French.

Our bus on the way back was more than 30 minutes late, which gave us time to discuss the ParaParity needs more broadly. Not surprisingly, Renée was non-committal on anything, but agreed that Para users should have the flexibility of booking rides based on when they want to arrive at their destination and not just when they want to leave. She also related that in Montreal, their system gives people a 10-minute warning that their rides are on the way. That should decrease the times people are not ready and waiting.

I got a lot more commitment from Jason than I did Renée herself. I look forward to keeping in touch with him. 

Who ELSE has taken the 2024 Para Transpo Challenge?

More and more city councillors are taking the challenge. We are pleased to see Ariel Troster, Catherine Kitts, Steve Desroches participating.

Still one more week for the mayor and city councillors to participate in our challenge.

As many people have heard, St Laurent station was closed for a few days due to concern about the roofing tiles. The station has since re-opened.

Here are some recent articles about the situation:

Water infiltration in St. Laurent tunnel prompted closure for investigation, repairs

Evidence of corrosion and concrete delamination in St. Laurent O-Train tunnel: Amilcar

OC Transpo still can't say what's causing the leaks plaguing LRT stations

This year, the Ottawa Transit Riders is trying something new for our transit challenge – we’re calling on all city councillors and senior OC Transpo executives to take a ride on Para Transpo with an Ambassador.

Media are welcome too!

This week, Para Ambassador (and disability rights advocate) Terrie Meehan took CBC journalist Amanda Putz on Para Transpo. Their interview can be heard here:

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-100/clip/16067463

Kudos to Glen Gower and Marty Carr who have taken multiple trips!

We are also very pleased that OC Transpo manager Renée Amilcar participated.

So far, these people have participated:

Glen Gower

Marty Carr

Joel Harden

Renée Amilcar

Wilson Lo

Don’t see your city councillor here? Drop them an email to remind them that they should take advantage of this opportunity to learn more abut Para Transpo.

Mayor and City Councillors | City of Ottawa

Would you like to meet members of the Ottawa Transit Riders in person? Would you like to help staff a table at one of our events and talk about transit (that’s always fun!).

Here is a list of upcoming events where we will have a table. Please swing by to say “hello”.

New dates and events will be added as we confirm.

You may remember that last year, participants and spectators of the Ottawa Marathon were rather shocked that the LRT did not start operating until 8am, a full hour after the race began. This meant that people were forced to use other means to get around, on a day when traffic is horrific.

We always like to give credit where credit is due so let’s acknowledge that OC Transpo learned a valuable lesson from the criticism.

This year, the LRT will start in plenty of time to give people the option of taking public transit to the race.

Ottawa LRT Line 1 service starting early on Ottawa Marathon day

Whether you attend the Marathon or not, you can breath a sigh of relief at this decision to encourage people to leave their cars at home on a day that is legendary for traffic woes.

Do you remember the city recruiting volunteers for its transit advisory board? We promoted it on our website hoping that some passionate transit advocates would be selected.

Well, we still don’t know who was selected, but many members of the Ottawa Transit Riders, including board members and advocates for Para Transpo received rejection letters this week. It seems that the city does not want people who speak up about transit – they are likely looking for yes-men (yes-people?).

Democracy is about more than voting every few years – it’s a system where ordinary citizens can express opinions and advocate for their causes.

It’s frustrating that city council sees people who care about the city as adversaries, rather than as allies.

Citizen representatives get boot from transit commission

Vous souvenez-vous que la ville a recruté des bénévoles pour son comité consultatif sur les transports en commun ? Nous en avons fait la promotion sur notre site Web en espérant que des défenseurs passionnés du transport en commun seraient sélectionnés.

Nous ne savons toujours pas qui a été choisi, mais de nombreux membres du groupe des usagers de transport en commun d'Ottawa, y compris des membres du conseil d'administration et des défenseurs de Para Transpo, ont reçu des lettres de refus cette semaine. Il semble que la ville ne veuille pas de personnes qui s'expriment sur le transport en commun - elle cherche plutôt des béni-oui-oui.

La démocratie, c'est plus qu'un simple vote à quelques années d'intervalle - c'est un système dans lequel les citoyens ordinaires peuvent exprimer leurs opinions et défendre leurs causes.

Il est frustrant que le conseil municipal considère les personnes qui s'intéressent à la ville comme des adversaires plutôt que comme des alliés.

Remember the Ottawa Transit Challenge where Ottawa Transit Riders asked city councillors to use transit for a week?

Well, we’re doing it again, but with a twist.

Today, we launched a new challenge, asking the mayor and city councillors to take a ride with Para Ambassadors on Para Transpo. The Para Transpo Challenge will take place from March 28th to May 31st (end of National AccessAbility week).

Why, you ask?

Because these are the people who make all sorts of decisions about transit and it seems important that they know a little about the service that they are talking about.

Did you know that people who use ParaTranspo have to book their rides at least 24 hours in advance? That means no spontaneous drinks with friends; no taking advantage of last-minute tickets to an event …

Did you know that if you cancel a booking, you may have to justify your decision?

Did you know that Para users can’t specify what time they want to be dropped off so they end up guessing (and wasting time)?

Did you know that OC Transpo considers Para Transpo to be “on-time” if they arrive within a 30 minute window?

We hope that city councillors take advantage of this opportunity to speak one-on-one with Para users. It’s a great way to get to know residents who get around the city by a different mode.

We hope that journalists join in the Challenge - email the Ottawa Transit Riders if you want to participate.

As for the rest of us, follow this blog to see who has taken the challenge and what they noticed.

Encourage your own councillor to participate - a more accessible city is a better city to live in and we’re hopeful that this (relatively) new city council can make some meaningful improvements.

On Saturday, March 16^th, MPP Joel Harden will hold a Community Canvass, starting at McNabb Park (180 Percy street) from 11:30 to 1:30.

After that, he will hold a Transit Townhall at McNabb at 2:30 PM.

For details on both events, go to his website at Day of Action Events - Joel Harden

The Provincial government has a role to play in supporting public transit – come and talk to Joel about what you want to see in our city.

Le samedi 16 mars, le député provincial Joel Harden fera du porte-à-porte dans la collectivité, en commençant par le parc McNabb (180, rue Percy), de 11 h 30 à 13 h 30.

Ensuite, il tiendra une assemblée publique sur le transport en commun au centre communautaire de McNabb à 14 h 30.

Pour plus d'informations sur ces deux événements, consultez son site web.

Le gouvernement provincial a un rôle à jouer dans le soutien au transport en commun - venez parler à Joel de ce que vous voulez voir dans notre ville.

Do you use Para Transpo?

Are you frustrated with issues like scheduling?

Do you wish that city councillors understood the concerns of people who use Para Transpo?

Do you have ideas on how to improve service?

The Ottawa Transit Riders are looking for people who use Para Transpo to act as Para Ambassadors for an upcoming transit challenge from March to June.

Would you like to participate? Contact [email protected] for details.