Orléans East-Cumberland candidates talk transit, transportation and other priorities for the east end

Amid continued concerns over bus reliability, the Trim Road LRT extension and worsening traffic and congestion in the east end of the city, it's no surprise that transportation is top of mind for many voters in Ward 1, Orléans East–Cumberland, and it's one that all seven candidates for councillor have plans to address.

With the municipal election now less than a month away, voters across the city continue to deliberate over who they will choose to represent them as mayor, school trustees, and city councillors. Some may have already made their decision and participated in advance voting, while others await more details and confirmation before marking their "X" on the ballot.

In the east end, community associations have been busy organizing Q&A sessions for candidates, working to ensure residents' top concerns are addressed and prioritized in platform promises. Many of those questions revolve around transit, traffic, roads and transportation.

"Transit is, I think, probably the thing we hear most often. If it's not the thing that people care most about, it's definitely what they talk about the most when asked," Rob Attrell, an urbanism consultant and board member of the Convent Glen Orléans Wood Community Association, told the Lookout. 

"And what I find surprising is that a lot of people, whether they've had their commute, or they've given up on transit for their commute, and they're now driving downtown and having a hard time parking… People actually really seem to be lamenting the loss of what has generally been considered pretty good transit."

Attrell has been helping organize candidate Q&As through the Convent Glen Orléans Wood Community Association (CGOWCA). Although his community falls within Ward 2, he says many of the issues residents face are less specific to the ward and affect most east-end residents—including those in Ward 1.

"Whether it's buses not showing up on time or just the routes not quite being well optimized, people are just finding their commute either a lot less reliable or just taking a lot longer," Attrell explained. "Even if they've technically given up on transit potentially in favour of driving, they're at least open to the idea that if transit got better again, or that more options were available, they'd pretty much instantly consider going back."

The extension of the Line 1 LRT is one of the biggest changes coming to Orléans. Currently, the LRT runs as far east as Blair Station, but the extension will push rail service another 12.5 kilometres through Orléans to Trim Station. The line was originally scheduled to open in 2022, but has been slowed by mechanical and engineering delays. 

Pre-trial running for the train is set to begin in early October, but staff have not provided a firm schedule or an update on when the line will open.

Meanwhile, residents are also avoiding or struggling to navigate bus routes in the wake of the city's New Ways to Bus campaign, which rolled out in April 2025 and overhauled previous bus routes and systems. Ottawa's auditor general has since released an assessment finding that management relied on outdated data to plan routes and schedules and prioritized cutting costs over efficiency and reliability. 

The audit also found OC Transpo lacked enough buses to operate a healthy fleet.

And aside from public transit, the east end's road networks and infrastructure have struggled to 

keep pace with ongoing population growth and development, leading to increased congestion and traffic regardless of the mode of transportation commuters choose.

"The biggest issue that we face in Orléans is crossing the Greenbelt, and that's because there's really only two ways for almost everyone in Orléans to do that, driving, that would be the highway and then Innis Road, and so both of those face a lot of congestion," explained Attrell. "Those are the spots where you're definitely going to be backed up… But if we have a transit system and an LRT that are working well, you know that really does relieve a lot of that congestion."

While most city councillors and candidates in Ward 1—and indeed across Ottawa–agree that traffic and public transit are major problems, they have varying ideas of how to address them. And beyond that, many additional promises and priorities that, together with their transportation platforms, they hope will earn them the seat.