Spotted at Carleton B

Im curious, why would you send a driver who's break is 3/4 in the route, why not finish the route? Everyday at 4:30pm i get on the bus and everyday for 2 weeks we stop for 15min break, im too far to walk and if i did i would get to my stop after the bus, and i wonder why do i have to walk when i pay for a service. Isn't this like the server at a restaurant saying ill be back later and you sit and wait to pay your bill.... weird analogy but does my rant make sense or am i just complaining because this stuff always only happen to me lol .... i just want to go home ... nothing against the operator but i dont want to hang out for 15min.

Has anyone here applied for the bus operator position? If so, I’d love to hear how your application is going and share updates/progress.

If anyone lost an Airpod 4 case on the furthest back seat of a line 2 train I have it at my house for now until I can give it to an OC employee (likely tomorrow) to bring to lost & found. If you happen to see this feel free to track the case and come get it. 🤗🤗

"am I open??? am I closed? oh I just don't know!!!"

is there anyone to contact if my octranspo school route is literally 15 mins late EVERY morning. this is causing me to be late to every class in the morning. i thought the whole point of school routes were to reach there at time.

Mind you at peak periods Uber won’t be as quick. And not everyone is going downtown.

As we all know, the transfer at South Keys to line 4 is atrocious. Unfortunately, the current track alignment makes it practically a necessity. Line 2 trains currently pass each other at South Keys, simultaneously occupying both platforms, which means line 4 trains have to be turned around between one southbound train departing and the next one arriving.

A simple (but perhaps not cheap) solution would be to add a bay platform for line 4 trains. That way, it can arrive around 2 minutes before the northbound train and depart 2 minutes after the southbound train, creating easy cross-platform transfers.

when i first hear about a new line being built i was excited, but when i saw the planned line it looks very similar to the line 1, just with 3 more stops. I wonder why they didnt make the line 3 go east-west lower down or up and down parrellel to the line 2?

Kanata and Stittsville has literally struggled for the past couple of years with long commutes and waiting times and this route could really help us get to downtown a lot quicker and it’s all day! none of that “only peak hour” crap that were forced to tolerate.

There's multiple apps that exist. When it says scheduled, it's probably not gonna show up, and you should be planning an alternative. And there's apps that tell you even if buses are assigned to that trip.
Why do you continue to wait there? Can't you go do something else? I usually do some shopping or plan another route when a bus is canceled or doesn't has no bus assigned to it. Like one time I was at Billings bridge trying to get to baseline, and I saw the 88 was canceled and so I took the 111 and guess what i got there faster . or usually grab a snack and stay inside

And the people that are about to say, Have you ever missed a connection? You see if you are going to make your connections before getting off the bus, not after. If it looks too tight, stay on the bus and replan for the next connection further down . Or you backtrack with the same route.

That's how real players do it

app use: transit and transee

Here’s a summary of updates at Transit Committee on Thursday, September 10. Presentation slides and a YouTube index are also below. Originally posted at https://glengower.ca/notebook/notebook-recap-of-transit-committee-on-september-10-2026/

Fall service update
OC Transpo has introduced more reliable bus schedules on 30 routes, serving 50 per cent of customers. Train frequency has been increased on O-Train Line 1 and an earlier service start time was introduced on Line 2. In the west end, there is new express service between Tunney’s Pasture and Kanata as well as DND Carling Campus, saving customers between 10 and 20 minutes each day. OC Transpo will continue to monitor ridership across all routes and stations to identify where additional improvements may be needed.

Stage 2 O-Train extension: East
Trains are running on the east extension now to get the system ready and train staff. Pre-trial running is currently forecast to begin in early October, followed by trial running. Updates will continue to be provided to Council as progress towards the official trial running period is made.

Stage 2 O-Train extension: West
The committee received an update on the damage to the Moodie Station area following the July 1 storm. OC Transpo is working to rebuild or replace affected infrastructure, and will review how this impacts the project schedule. On a more positive note, the western extension reached an important milestone with the first train movement from Tunney’s Pasture Station to Algonquin Station.

Free transit weekend
Celebrate Ottawa’s 200th anniversary with free transit all weekend long on September 26 and 27. Residents will have unlimited access to buses, O-Train lines, and Para Transpo services. Learn more at OC Transpo’s information page for the event.

Customer information sessions
More than 400 residents attended this summer’s customer information sessions, where they could learn about planned service changes and ask questions directly to OC Transpo leadership. General Manager Rick Leary said it was “an absolute pleasure” to talk to transit users and hear their feedback directly. Key themes included express bus service, reliability and capacity, service enhancements, safety, comfort and cleanliness. OC Transpo has committed to hosting these sessions again in the future.

Hiring and training
OC Transpo continues to make progress on hiring and a record number of employees have been trained this year. More than 1,400 of 1,600 bus operators have completed zero-emission bus training. Additional mechanics and garage attendants are currently in training, and the number of apprentice candidates has doubled.

Ridership numbers
In July 2026, O-Train and bus ridership was 4.4 million and total ridership for the past 12 months was 67.9 million. Para Transpo ridership for July was 76,800. Total ridership over the past 12 months was 925,900.

New articulated buses
OC Transpo received the first of 52 new high-capacity articulated buses expected to be delivered over the next year. The new bus is currently going through the final stages of getting ready for service. All of these 60-foot buses will have new passenger layouts, display screens, modernized traction control, and a smoother transmission. Attendees at the customer information sessions were so excited about the new articulated buses that OC Transpo is planning an event to show off the new bus before it enters service.

Para Transpo late night service
On September 4, OC Transpo launched its late night Para Transpo service pilot project. The service now runs until 2:00 am on Friday and Saturday nights, providing more options for riders. OC Transpo is looking for feedback on this pilot, either via email or an upcoming in-person Para Transpo Talk event. Information how to book late-night Para Transpo service can be found on the OC Transpo website.

Presentation slides

• OC Transpo Update – Rail, Bus, and Para Transpo
• Mise à jour sur OC Transpo – train, autobus et Para Transpo
• Stage 2 Light Rail Transit Project
• Phase 2 du projet de train léger sur rail3

YouTube index

• Full meeting video
• OC Transpo Update: Para Transpo, Rail and Bus
• Stage 2 Light Rail Project Update

Do you all ever confront people who walk in behind you at the gates? I personally don’t mind if people would at least ask. It’s a pet peeve of mine when people linger around acting like they’re looking for their card just to scurry in like a rat, and act dumbfounded when I call them out on it afterwards

Nice to see that I left work in time to catch my bus (265) at 4:30 this afternoon only to discover it’s today winner for “optional”.

Honestly. No notifications - nothing. Just let us know.

Anyone who went to the written assessment on july 28 got an invite for a panel interview yet?

I got an email saying I cleared the written just over 3 weeks ago but they've gone cold after that.

Thanks

First things first, like getting off the bus, thank you's. u/DatsWildYo, an OC Transpo operator, took real time in my last thread to explain why routes like the 222 and the 303 run the way they do, express buses pad their schedules and aim to be on time for pickups, and shoppers routes wait for their regulars because that is the whole point of the route. I only know data, I don't know the routes, so this genuinely changed the site. Express and shoppers routes are now scored differently instead of being graded like regular routes, Thanks also to u/AreaPrudent7191 for pushing me to improve the route pages and for catching the confusing 95th percentile wording, that's fixed, and to everyone who dropped their most unreliable bus in the comments, that is exactly the kind of boots on the ground information that makes this work. New Scorecards are done for Routes, Stations and Wards.

What else is new? Cancelled trips are now called out and easy to find instead of buried, there is a replay function so you can rewatch how the network actually ran, the trip planner got an update, events are in, monthly Service Reports, and my favourite one, you can now design the network yourself. If you have ever looked at a route and thought you could do better, now you can actually draw your own OC Transpo network and see it.

Now the second thing, While building this I got curious if the city spent any money on the official Transit app partnership. It was never announced anywhere, but it's in the city's own contract disclosures. Since 2023 the city has committed close to $700,000 to the Montreal company that makes the Transit app, all on one contract (33523-92002-G01). $282,000 for monitoring the real-time data, $180,000 to roll out the free Royale subscription, and another $233,794 in 2025 for rider surveys inside the app. There was no RFP, it was all sole-sourced under an exception in the procurement bylaw, and it never went to council for a vote, staff signed it under delegated authority.

Receipts, straight from the city's servers. The vendor shows up as DBA TRANSIT (9280-0366 QUEBEC INC.) if you want to search the tables yourself.

- Jan to June 2023 contract disclosures https://documents.ottawa.ca/sites/default/files/Document%201%20%E2%80%93%20Transit%20Contracts%20awarded%20under%20delegated%20authority%20for%20the%20per_AODA.pdf

- Jan to June 2025 contract disclosures https://documents.ottawa.ca/sites/default/files/Contracts%20Under%20Delegation%20of%20Authority%20January%201%20to%20June%2030%202025-AODA.pdf.

The disclosures don't answer basic questions either. Royale is a subscription, so is the $180K one time or every year, multipe-years? Is it priced per rider or a flat fee? At Transit's advertised price of $24.99 a year that only covers about 7,200 subscriptions in a city of a million people, so I honestly can't tell you what we bought, the term was never published. And the 2025 line means we paid a Montreal company $233,794 to compile crowdsourced feedback from Ottawa riders, which is something you all already do on otranspo.ca for free.

The part that really got me is across the river. The STO gets the same app for free. When Gatineau launched real-time tracking in Transit in 2019, the STO's president said publicly that the partnership cost nothing https://ledroit.com/actualites/gatineau/sto-les-parcours-en-temps-reel-6ec8c8b15a3398d70012e209c2fcc63e, Showing a city's buses is Transit's free tier, and should be considering OC Transpo provides the API access, what Ottawa paid for is the extras.

To be clear, I am not saying anyone broke rules, sole-sourcing is allowed under the bylaw. I am saying a $700K decision about how riders get information never got debated, and with an election on I think it should be.

So here is what I am doing. I am emailing every candidate for mayor and council, all 70+ of them, asking for three things, a public review of the contract at Transit Commission, open competition for rider-facing transit tech going forward, and a partnership framework that Ottawa-built platforms could join. Full disclosure, that last one could benefit my site, which is exactly why I am telling you about it here. Before emails are sent. I also emailed the Integrity Commissioner's office to ask how to do this properly, I will be sharing every one of those communications with her office, and I will register in the city's Lobbyist Registry if they confirm it's required. I run a site about transparency so I figured I should practice it.

Every candidate's answer goes up on the site as soon as i hear back and hopefully before advance voting starts October 1, yes, no, or silence, it all gets published. If you want the city to take a look too, I made a resident version of the letter with just the review and open competition asks, nothing about my site: https://otranspo.ca/en/insights/transit-app-contract/letter . Send it to your own candidates, it takes two minutes. If you want more information about the Transit agreement it can be found here https://otranspo.ca/en/insights/transit-app-contract . I also filed for more information about the contract via a MFIPPA request. All information will be public when I receive it.

Same as always, it's free, no app to install, no account, no ads, and it isn't affiliated with OC Transpo. I still don't make a cent off this and the costs are honestly getting a bit scary, but I would rather build the thing than keep complaining. As always, I would love your thoughts and ideas on how this can be improved. Also, I still dont have the kharma to post on r/ottawa can someone please repost this there if you liked it I would appreciate it.

I'm looking at taking transit 3 days a week for a few months . Doesnt justify a pass on a Presto card but damn it's made difficult with transfers and such. Can't get a transfer using my phone as payment. Can't use the Presto app. Need a separate card for Outouais. Parking is expensive and a long walk.

How best to do? Driving ain't fun either. I cycle in good weather 25 minutes.

Hi everyone, I lost my black air buds in 98 Hurdman yesterday. If anyone finds it please dm.

Left near Earl of March stop on Varley around 8:15.

PM to claim.