Transit funding a key issue for Ottawa residents

The Apr. 28 federal election cycle has been dominated by heavy topics that have weighed on voters’ minds, such as the Trump tariffs, housing and the opioid crisis. However, for many Ottawa citizens, there’s another issue on their minds: transit.

Public transportation in Ottawa has been in the limelight in recent months, with the opening of the LRT Line 2 expansion and the controversial “New Ways to Bus” initiative, a massive rerouting of a majority of the city’s transit routes.

The federal government pledged $180 million to Ottawa’s city transit over 10 years back in February as part of the Canadian Public Transit Fund, the largest public transit investment in Canadian history.

Still, some city councillors, such as Riley Brockington from River Ward, say the federal government hasn’t done enough.

“The federal government has been reluctant to contribute to operating expenses for some time,” Brockington said. “Historically, they have contributed to the capital side of capital projects. They contributed funds to purchasing e-buses a couple of years ago which was appreciated. But what public transit agencies have struggled with is to balance our budget.”

“We need sustained funding for operational purposes for many, many years,” Brockington continued.

Nick Grover, an urbanism advocate from Free Transit Ottawa, agrees that operating costs have been ignored. However, he feels that the city needs to shoulder more responsibility.

“At the end of the day, the City of Ottawa is responsible for providing functional transit and I'm a bit tired of them invoking the need for cash from upper levels of government as an excuse to let OC Transpo rot,” Grover said in an email statement.

Free Transit Ottawa has outlined a plan for how the city can fund transit and make it free for citizens. Among the suggestions are reallocating road widening funds, increasing the Uber and Lyft surcharges and increasing parking rates.

“The real issue in Ottawa is that our transit system was designed for 9-5ers; the city has done nothing to pivot to everyone else who travels outside those hours,” Grover said.

“Making service frequent, convenient, and reliable is the only way to draw new riders and get cars off the road.”

We reached out to Councillor Glen Gower, who heads the transit committee, however, he was unavailable for comment at this time.

Thoughts from federal candidates

One thing federal candidates can agree on is that transit is still something their constituents are concerned about.

Liberal candidates, such as Kanata’s incumbent Jenna Sudds, have stated that they believe in the importance of transit.

“From Kanata to Stittsville, Bells Corners to Carp, our community pays its fair share in taxes and deserves access to the transit system that it helps fund.” Sudds said in an email statement. “That’s why, if re-elected, I will continue to collaborate with all levels of government to ensure our riders benefit from a reliable and effective transit system.”

Sudds played a significant role in the $180 million investment, joining Ottawa South incumbent David McGuinty and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe during its announcement back in February.

Sudds says that if the Liberals are ousted from power, these kinds of investments could be few and far between.

“That’s always the risk with a Conservative government — you know they will make cuts to the services you care about, you just never know to what end,” Sudds said.

Blair Turner, who is running on the Conservative ticket for Ottawa South, says that the city needs to determine the future of its transit before funding commitments can be made.

“Is the old model of funnelling workers downtown from the suburbs on weekdays still the best transit model for Ottawa,” Turner said in an email statement. “Should the system offer more flexibility instead of having fixed routes that run empty for much of the day? Is future expansion of the LRT warranted? How can the city make public transit attractive again?”

“We won't know if more federal funding is necessary until we have answers to those and other questions.”

Turner says he has faith in Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and is pleased that the Line 2 expansion has run fairly smoothly. 

The NDP has been arguably the most vocal party on public transportation, with many candidates making it a focus of their platforms. One such candidate is Tristan Oliff, who is running for the Ottawa-Vanier-Gloucester ward.

“Public transit is so deeply integrated into so many elements of people’s lives in the city,” Oliff said. “It’s connected to how we reduce congestion, it’s related to how people seek better work further around the city, it’s connected to our circular economy here supporting local businesses and it’s deeply connected to climate change.”

Oliff says he rides the 14 bus to work, and will take the 12 bus and O-Train to return home.

“The 14 is consistently jam-packed, especially in the mornings and the afternoons with students,” Oliff said. “It’s difficult, and that has wrap-around effects. It reduces faith in transit and it impacts local businesses there as well.”

“I can tell being on that bus route that it just consistently sort of feels left behind, and I wonder, why are they not getting a caseworker or someone from OC Transpo to try to ride all the different bus routes in the morning and have a look at where things are at.” 

Oliff says he believes that the federal government should prioritize investing in transit.

“It is the job of the federal government, with issues like this that involve jurisdictional collaboration, to ensure, through funding, that standards are being met.” 

Oliff says that collaboration is key, as functional transit needs all levels to have all hands on deck.

“It’s a two-sided equation,” Oliff said. “One is that the federal government is doing its due diligence to make sure that funding is not just stop-gap or reactive, but is proactively investing in something that we know needs to be an important part of our future.”

“On the flip side, our municipalities have to be responsible and strategic with how they’re using those funds, so the focus is towards the needs of the people.”