Councillors debate buying more diesel buses to help reliability

Anyone who takes public transit in Ottawa knows what it's like to wait for a bus that never comes or is late, which then results in a missed transfer. A quick scroll through social media reveals countless comments from frustrated commuters who say the problem appears to be worsening, not improving. 

In November, OC Transpo confirmed it delivered 97.8 per cent of its planned trips over a 12-month period, which was less than the 99.5 per cent target that was set. This, the transit organization said, is largely due to the lack of buses in service. 

On average, approximately 540 buses are in service daily, according to OC Transpo. But on most days, that number is about 20 buses less.

The city is awaiting the deployment of electric buses to help improve reliability. In 2023, the city announced a target of having 350 electric buses on the roads by the end of 2027; however, as of Jan. 1, only 37 are in service. 

Two suburban city councillors say the rollout has not been fast enough; Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill and neighbouring Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo is calling on the city to buy more diesel buses. 

Lo, who used to be an OC Transpo bus driver and then worked in communications for the organization, said the issue is that older vehicles need to be retired after hitting the end of their lifespan. In the early to mid-2000s, the city purchased approximately 600 new buses that are now in need of replacement.

“I made a motion at the transit committee back in November to reopen all of our options that are available. Before the motion, all our eggs were in that one proverbial basket of electric buses." Lo told the Lookout. 

“Even though the manufacturing delays were not exclusive to electric buses, there were a lot of delays that were exclusive to electric buses,” he continued. “I wanted to give staff the flexibility to ensure that we are procuring, first of all, the right vehicle, the best vehicle that we have for service, but also to help us get over this hump of service.”

Hill agrees. He said a bus trip on the former Route 95 would take Barrhaven residents from their community directly to downtown in about 40 minutes. However, it is now an hour long and includes a transfer to the LRT at Tunney’s Pasture. 

If such service trends continue, Hill said he believes it will further deter people from using public transit. 

OC Transpo reported 70.6 million total customer trips between October 2024 and October 2025 – a 3.9 per cent increase over the same period a year prior – but that's still far below pre-pandemic levels.

“If you are going to regularly take transit downtown, if you know the bus is supposed to pick you up at your house at, say, 6:45 a.m. and you show up five minutes early but your bus does not come, you are going to stop taking the bus pretty quickly,” he said. 

The issue, Hill said, is worse coming home. He said that late buses are creating an overflow during peak periods at Tunney’s Pasture for riders commuting on routes 74, 75, and 275. 

“That is simply a function of mathematics,” Hill said. 

Stittsville Coun. Glen Gower, who also chairs the city’s transit committee, called the shortage of buses “significant” but said he thinks electric buses are still the answer. 

“Whether we were to order electric buses today or diesel buses today, the time for procurement is about the same. We made a decision as council a few years ago to focus our fleet on electric, but we've also given OC Transpo staff that flexibility,” Gower told the Lookout. 

“To me, this is not really a question of electric or diesel, or whether we need to go diesel because we've had delays. This is a supply chain; larger industry issues that are causing a delay in delivery.”

In a statement earlier this week, the City said it will soon be on track, with 110 electric buses expected by April of this year and 234 by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, the union representing OC Transpo told CTV it was “haphazard to put all of the eggs in the electric bus basket” and said both drivers and riders are paying the price. 

After facing a few delays, the Stage 2 expansion of the LRT Confederation line is getting closer to finally opening. 

The eastern extension out to Trim Station in Orléans was initially scheduled to open in 2022, but the date was later pushed back to 2024. There was optimism that it could open before Christmas, but OC Transpo is now expecting it in the first quarter of this year. 

The western extensions, which extend out to Baseline Station at Algonquin College and Moodie Drive, are expected to be completed sometime in early 2027. 

When those stations come online, Gower said commuters will see buses transitioned to help with the shortage. Hill said he also expects travel times for many residents to decrease. 

“Right now, buses are commuting through normal rush hour traffic, which can throw the timings off, where you have delays and a lot of stuff with traffic,” he said. “Once the train is done, we won't have that issue. It will likely save 15 to 20 minutes off a regular commute downtown. It will be similar to the travel experience before 2019.”

There is also the possibility of a future Phase 3 light rail expansion out to Kanata, Stittsville and Barrhaven. When plans were initially tabled a decade ago, it was assumed that construction would have already broken ground by now. However, after repeated issues with the Line 1 opening and travel patterns changing during the COVID-19 pandemic, many elected officials began questioning whether it was still the right solution. 

Premier Doug Ford had also previously stated that the city would receive no further funding until Stages 1 and 2 were operating smoothly. 

The premier's tune changed, though, during last year's winter provincial election when he committed, while in Ottawa, to eventually building Phase 3. No clear timelines were ever specified, and it remains unclear what the final price tag will be. Initial estimates from a few years ago suggested that running LRT from Moodie Drive to Kanata would cost $2.5 billion. In contrast, the extension from Baseline Station to Barrhaven Town Centre would cost around $4 billion. 

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said Phase 3 was simply "unaffordable" in September 2023. 

Hill said he is still open to exploring the idea of extending light rail to Barrhaven. Still, his biggest priority is ensuring that transit is fast and reliable, regardless of the mode of transportation. 

“I think we need to demonstrate not only the procurement and engineering successes of Stage 2, but also that we've learned the lessons of the initial procurement for Stage 1,” the Barrhaven councillor said. 

Stittsville’s Gower is also still a supporter of the project, saying he hopes it is included as part of a future deal with Metrolinks. There are ongoing discussions between the city and province over the Ontario government taking over financial control of the city’s light rail system. 

“That would free up tens of millions of dollars every year that can be reinvested into buses, more frequent service and more capacity where we're seeing a high demand,” said Gower. “That's not going to happen in the next year, but I would say in the next two to five years, where it's realistic to think that that'll be completed and will really make a difference for riders.”