Adam: Cutting OC Transpo train service now makes very little sense (2024)

When Ottawa Council resumes sitting on Wednesday after the summer break, the session will be dominated by discussions of the 2025 budget. What council does with next year’s property taxes will be closely watched.

But given how important transit will be in those budget discussions, the first order of business must be a review of OC Transpo’s decision to cut non-peak train services, which has already gone into effect.

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Normally, the trains run every five minutes between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m., and that service remains unchanged. But from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, service frequency will go from every five minutes to 10 minutes on the Confederation Line, in order to save $1.6 million. Evening service will also be reduced. It is not a massive change, but it is surprising that OC Transpo is cutting service just when public servants are set to return to their offices three days a week, which would potentially boost ridership.

OC Transpo says the announcement earlier this month of the cuts will allow returning students and federal employees enough time to prepare. But why now, when OC Transpo is desperate for riders?

OC Transpo, which is expected to rack up a $49.8 million deficit this year, is certainly right to make every effort to save as much money as it can, given its precarious finances. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has sounded the alarm about LRT cost overruns due to the pandemic, and the resulting loss in ridership as federal employees worked from home.

Sutcliffe says downtown ridership as a result fell by 36 per cent, costing OC Transpo $36 million in lost fare revenue. Cumulatively, OC Transpo is facing an annual operating shortfall of $140 million for the next three years.

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Of course, OC Transpo is not alone in this predicament. Public transit agencies in cities such as Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver and Calgary, are all facing significant revenue shortfalls. Without help, Sutcliffe says, Ottawa’s transit levy could go up 37 per cent, a hike that would translate into a seven per cent property tax increase for residents. Under the circ*mstances, if trains are running empty in non-peak hours, it makes sense for OC Transpo to reduce services and save money.

The problem, however, is the timing of the decision, which council must scrutinize. September could well be a turning point for the struggling public transit agency, with students, many of whom use transit, returning to class for the fall semester. Even more important, federal public servants are set to return to their downtown offices in September, likely increasing ridership. So why is OC Transpo reducing service at this time?

“The idea that the city can cut service 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. while still hoping federal public service workers will take transit and improve ridership, sounds like a plan that’s destined to fail,” says Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, which represents more than 25,000 federal employees. “Decreasing frequency (of service) is not the way to get people back on the LRT.” He is right.

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It seems to me that it would have made more sense to wait a few months and gauge the impact of the return to offices in order to get an accurate picture of the level of service required, before making service reductions. OC Transpo may have good reasons for deciding to make cuts at this time (a decision of city staff) but these haven’t been articulated publicly. Why the rush to make the cut now? What would be lost if the city waited a few months?

Council needs to ask questions to ensure staff have made the right decision. If not, the changes must be suspended until the end of fall to get a better picture of ridership numbers — then to properly plan for the future.

Mohammed Adam is an Ottawa journalist and commentator. Reach him at nylamiles48@gmail.com

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