IG news Update,
OC Transpo is reassigning dozens of buses to R1 service from regularly scheduled routes each day and reassigning LRT operators back to the buses to keep transit riders moving during the extended O-Train shutdown.
The R1 replacement bus service has been operating since July 17, when the light-rail transit service was abruptly taken out of service after an axle-bearing problem was discovered on a train during a routine inspection.
Thirty-six R1 buses are operating during peak periods, while OC Transpo is also using 12 buses during peak periods for the R1 Express route between downtown and Blair Station.
To ensure there are enough buses for R1 service, OC Transpo is redirecting buses from regularly scheduled routes to replacement bus service.
Troy Charter, director of transit service delivery and rail operations, said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa, “OC Transpo is closely monitoring the performance of the R1 bus replacement service and adding capacity where possible, while our system Balancing the resource impacts.”
“Staff are balancing how best to deploy resources to minimize impact on systems and provide our customers with the best possible experience.
“The decision to redirect resources is based on the potential impact on customers. For example, high-frequency trips are more likely to have trips that are not delivered than school routes, the first and last on a route trips, and on less frequent routes.”
Charter says that last week, OC Transpo’s public itinerary was updated to “address the active rescheduling of planned trips” on R1 service’s regular routes.
“The number of active reassignments varies by day, with 117 reassignments per weekday, 80 on Saturday and 84 on Sunday.”
The head of OC Transpo says that drivers are being appointed in the buses to provide more service.
“We’re lucky because it’s summer so ridership is a little slow,” Transit Services General Manager Renee Amilcar told CTV Morning Live on Wednesday morning.
“I’d like to thank all of our operators, who should normally be running the trains, that they have accepted to come and give us a big helping hand for the R1 Express – it’s great news for customers.”
Amilcar says OC Transpo will “continue to listen to customers” and will adjust R1 service during the LRT closure.
OC Transpo typically operates 7,725 trips per day during an average weekday.
OC Transpo provided CTV News Ottawa with details of bus trips not delivered during the first 13 days of the LRT shutdown, and planned trips reassigned to R1 that day.
Here’s a look at the number of planned OC Transpo bus trips canceled on the day of scheduled travel so that buses can be reassigned to R1 service.
- 18 July: 116 trips reassigned to R1
- 19 July: 154 trips reassigned to R1
- 20 July: 171 trips reassigned to R1
- 21 July: 210 trips reassigned to R1
- 22 July: 17 trips reassigned to R1
- July 23: 0 trips reassigned to R1
- July 24: 10 trips reassigned to R1
- July 25: 23 trips reassigned to R1
- 26 July: 12 trips reassigned to R1
- July 27: 4 trips reassigned to R1
- 28 July: 13 trips reassigned to R1
- July 29: 0 trips reassigned to R1
- July 30: 0 trips reassigned to R1
Here’s a look at the number of OC Transpo trips not delivered during the first 13 days after the LRT shutdown (not counting trips actively reassigned to R1)
- July 18: 339 trips not delivered
- July 19: 340 trips not delivered
- July 20: 391 trips canceled
- July 21: 372 trips canceled
- July 22: 123 trips not delivered
- July 23: 23 trips not delivered
- July 24: 274 trips not delivered
- July 25: 214 trips not delivered
- July 26: 242 trips not delivered
- July 27: 235 trips not delivered
- July 28: 299 trips not delivered
- July 29: 105 trips not delivered
- July 30: 63 trips not delivered
