As the LRT’s new north-south line prepares to open, many Barrhaven transit users will still have to use buses and transfer to commute downtown.
During the Wednesday morning commute, Barrhaven councillors spoke with OC Transpo customers at the Fallowfield Park and Ride to find out what’s working and what’s not.
At around 7:30 a.m., there was a constant stream of commuters rushing to catch a bus. There were many riders already on buses passing through after having boarded further south.
Kaitlyn Edwards does this commute to downtown three days a week.
“I would say, different from before the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, they were a lot more of the express busses,” she told CTV News Ottawa.
“But still, it’s almost a lot quicker than going by car.”
Transit users say it has been busier since the end of summer, with students back to school and a mandated back-to-office three days a week for federal public servants.
Area councillors say there are days when some of the busses pulling into Fallowfield are already full, from picking up passengers earlier in their routes,
“By the time the 75 bus gets to Fallowfield Station, it is already at capacity. So, they have to wait one or two cycles of buses,” said Coun. David Hill
“I’ve had a number of concerns from residents, especially residents in Half Moon Bay, about the volumes on those buses.”
“There have been sometimes where people just can’t get on,” said Alyn Kenji Marsh, who was on his way downtown. He says his commute takes him about an hour.
“Ten-minute drive from my house in Barrhaven West, then about a half hour by bus, ten minutes by train and then another ten minute walk.”
Coun. Wilson Lo says concerns over commute times is one of the largest challenges he hears.
“You often hear regular transit users here say, it used to take me 35 minutes to get downtown and now it’s taking me an hour. So that’s 30 to 60 minutes lost every day to commuting.”
Both councillors gathered feedback from users.
“We’re going to share that with OC Transpo staff because we have been actively working on trying to improve this capacity,” Lo said.
“At this particular point, I’m actually quite pleased with the service. As for me, I know others are struggling, especially if you’re in the non-main areas,” said Debra Alivisatos, who commutes downtown.
She drives from four minutes away and parks at Fallowfield.
“Going in my area and waiting for a bus, sometimes I’ll have to wait 20 minutes. Sometimes I have to wait ten minutes, so it’s not as consistent. At least here I have the option of several buses,” Alivisatos said.
She would like to see the frequency of trains increased.
“I’d like to see maybe the trains a little bit more regular, like shorter times in between the trains, especially during peak hours.”
Others shared their concerns with the O-Train schedule. OC Transpo reduced the frequency of Line 1 service during non-peak hours last month, from every five minutes to every ten minutes, in an effort to save the system money.
“The trains are always late,” said a student who is commuting to uOttawa.
“The ten-minute gap does not correlate with the time schedule,” says another student, referring to the bus showing up at Tunney’s Pasture just as a train is leaving.
WHAT’S FASTER – DRIVING OR TAKING TRANSIT FROM BARRHAVEN TO DOWNTOWN?
CTV News Ottawa challenged Counc. Hill to an un-scientific race during Wednesday’s commute.
The plan? To commute from Fallowfield to City Hall.
CTV’s Peter Szperling drove from the Fallowfield’s Park and Ride, while Coun. Hill took transit. Both left at around 8:45 a.m. near the end of rush hour.
Coun. Hill boarded an express bus to Tunney’s Pasture, where he says he waited about five minutes for a train.
“I just missed one,” he said.
Although there are various routes to drive downtown, Szperling took Woodroffe Avenue to the Queensway, exiting at Metcalfe and headed north to City Hall.
CTV News arrived by car to the Lisgar Street side of City Hall at about 9:20. It took 34 minutes.
Coun. Hill says he managed to “clear his inbox” during the trip, however, he arrived at 9:40 a.m. – a full 20 minutes later.