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The City of Ottawa is announcing further cuts to O-Train service on evenings, days after it announced it will be reducing service during “non-peak” midday hours.
A Friday afternoon memo from Richard Holder, the city’s acting general manager of transit services, said trains would run on the Confederation Line every 10 minutes on weekday evenings from approximately 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., beginning Aug. 26. Currently, trains run every five minutes in that time span.
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Earlier in the week, the city announced it would be cutting train frequency to every 10 minutes from every five minutes currently during “non-peak” hours between approximately 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays.
Holder’s memo said trains ran at 57 per cent of capacity during peak times in the fall of 2023, and at 39 per cent of capacity during off-peak times.
This summer, trains have run at around 50 per cent of capacity during peak times and at 30 per cent during off-peak times, the memo said.
“Through these observations, we noticed that many trains were not even half-full during off-peak hours in both the fall and summer,” Holder’s memo said. “There is an opportunity to adjust off-peak service to align with demand, while minimizing disruptions to our customers.”
With the upcoming changes, trains are forecast to run at 61 per cent of capacity during peak hours and at 81 per cent of capacity at off-peak times.
“Comparing ridership from the previous fall to current summer ridership allows us to make reasonable predictions about ridership for the fall of 2024,” the memo said. “The adjustments leave a buffer to accommodate any additional ridership increases in both peak and off-peak ridership this fall.”
Holder said city staff would “monitor the system” at key stations such as Blair, Hurdman and Tunney’s Pasture, reviewing data from fare gates and customers.
“Should we see the need for more capacity, staff can respond quickly by putting more trains into service,” Holder’s memo said. “Our goal is always to deliver a sustainable transit network that makes best use of our available resources.”
An update on LRT ridership is to be provided to the transit commission in the fall, the memo added.
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