OC Transpo to cut midday LRT service frequency

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OC Transpo will be reducing its O-Train service during “non-peak” hours, just weeks before federal employees are mandated to return to office three days a week.

Starting Aug. 26, the Confederation Line will run every 10 minutes between approximately 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays. Currently, the train runs every five minutes between 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Peak-period service will continue to be every five minutes, according to OC Transpo, though the transit agency did not specify the exact times.

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“The change in frequency will allow Line 1 to continue to offer sufficient capacity to meet off-peak ridership volumes,” says a memo from Richard Holder, the city’s acting general manager of transit services.

“This change will be closely monitored and, should there be an increase in ridership, adjustments can be made.”

The city announced the service reduction in a memo Monday afternoon, but news of the service cut was first accidentally published on OC Transpo’s website last week.

The post was quickly removed from the website, but a screenshot of the webpage was circulated widely on social media on Friday. The image showed an OC Transpo post that detailed the schedule cuts, and said the schedule change would save $1.635 million dollars per year. (OC Transpo’s operating budget for 2024 is nearly $770 million, and ran about a $50 million deficit for 2024.)

READ MORE: OC Transpo faces $49.8 million shortfall in 2024

When reached for comment Friday about the accidental announcement, city communications staff said the information was “inaccurate” and had not been approved.

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However, the leaked information on Friday was not inaccurate. The memo released Monday afternoon shared identical wording with the accidental post, save for the details about cost savings.

When the Ottawa Citizen asked city staff to explain why they had earlier denied the new policy, they said it was in draft format and it was “technically inaccurate” because it had not been yet approved.

Nathan Prier, the president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), which represents over 25,000 workers, denounced the service cut.

“The idea that the city can cut service 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. while still hoping federal public service workers will take transit and improve ridership sounds like a plan that’s destined to fail,” said Prier in a media statement.

Some federal public service workers get to work at 6 a.m. and head home before three, or others work 10 a.m. until six p.m., he said.

“Decreasing frequency is not the way to get people back on the LRT. The city should be improving services to make downtown more than an employment zone and that can only happen with reliable transit connecting us all during peak business hours.“

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Last spring, The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat announced an updated policy on remote work, requiring public servants to spend three days a week in the office by mid-September, with executives expected to be on-site four days a week.

READ MORE: Public servants will soon have to go to the office three days a week. Here’s what you need to know

Noah Vineberg, leader of the transit operators’ union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279, said the changes will cause “significant disruptions” to both riders and workers.

“As transit workers, we aim to provide the public with the best service we possibly can, this new proposal makes it harder to do that.”

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