How return-to-office rules for public servants have impacted Ottawa transit, business one month in

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Just a few months ago, Charlene Kolenosky’s pub on Sparks Street struggled to fill tables at lunch time on weekdays. But that is changing.

Her eatery, Office Resto Pub, along with many businesses in the downtown core that cater to public servants, has been barely holding on. And help has been on the way for them ever since many government workers were forced to return to offices in person for at least three days a week, starting in early September.

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Kolenosky said her pub has experienced a 25 per cent boost in business since the new return-to-office rules were implemented.

“Hopefully we can get more people back,” she said. 

Foot traffic has been up all along Sparks Street since public servants have had to increase their office presence, according to the Sparks Street BIA.

Kevin McHale, the BIA’s executive director, said foot traffic has been up 12 per cent this fall from the spring and up 24 per cent from last year.

“We are still down 32 per cent from 2019 but the numbers are slowly tracking in a positive direction,” McHale said in an email.

Ottawa’s public transit system, which has not seen a full rebound in ridership to pre-pandemic levels and is facing a $120-million shortfall, has also seen encouraging growth since early September.

OC Transpo has had increases in fare sales, ridership and park-and-ride use in September, compared to the same period last year, according to Transit General Manager Renée Amilcar. And overall ridership has hit 78 per cent of what it was before COVID.

“It’s not a surprise September is one of our busiest months with students going back to school and many returning to the workplace,” Amilcar said at a Transit Commission meeting on Oct. 10. “This September we welcomed the feds workers as well.”

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According to Amilcar, weekday bus boardings were up 4 per cent, with weekday O-Train Line 1 boardings up 11 per cent. Para Transpo ridership was up 14 per cent.

The number of vehicles parked in park-and-ride lots increased by 12 per cent. Adult, senior, EquiPass and Community Pass fare sales were up 24 per cent, with single-ride fares up 27 per cent.

“We are very encouraged by these early indications and so happy to see people were back,” Amilcar said, noting that final September 2024 ridership numbers would be shared at the next transit commission meeting.

But even before the return-to-office changes, it seemed like things were trending in the right direction. OC Transpo officials also said that in the 12-month period ending in August 2024, ridership was up 11 per cent from the year before.

When asked about how September ridership and revenue data compared to OC Transpo’s projections, which are based on pre-COVID numbers, Amilcar said it was “a little bit too early” to tell.

Meanwhile, drivers have endured brutal traffic on roads in and around Ottawa, particularly during rush hour.

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According to the City of Ottawa, traffic was up at two of three major bridge crossings in September compared to the same time last year.

The Champlain Bridge saw a 15 per cent increase and the Macdonald Cartier Bridge saw a 8 per cent increase. The Portage Bridge, however, saw a 14 per cent decrease.

Longer commutes have been one of a number of reasons many federal public servants and the unions that represent them have been fighting the new return-to-office rules. The Public Service Alliance of Canada, the largest of the public sector unions, has filed a challenge of the rules in Federal Court.

The rules require all staff employed under the Treasury Board to work on-site a minimum of three days a week. For executives, the expectation is that they work in the office four days a week. As of June, that included more than 282,000 workers, of the more than 367,000 working for the federal government.

While the federal government hasn’t cited helping downtown businesses as a reason that it changed the rules, the increased presence of those workers has been a lifeline for retail and restaurants in the downtown core.

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Kolenosky said her pub still hasn’t seen pre-pandemic levels of business, but it’s been much more busy during its lunch hour between Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“It’s much better,” said Kolenosky, who said she had to cut staff levels at lunch from three to one person due to the decrease in business. “Any numbers rising are good.”

Kolenosky said she’d like to see government workers back downtown five days a week as she and other businesses in the area need them to survive.

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