Ottawa Community News: Residents push for better Orléans transit service

A small, but dedicated group of advocates braved frigid temperatures at the Trim Road Park-n-Ride on March 22 in an effort to get better transit service to Orléans suburbs.

 

The group gathered signatures from transit riders during the morning commute in an effort to get the feeder buses into their local neighbourhoods to run later into the evening.

 

The group was part of the Association of Communities for Reform Now. Patricia Cholmondeley, who heads up the Orléans chapter of the poverty advocacy group, says her local route, the 30 — which runs from Albert Street to the her neighbourhood — stops running around midnight.

 

While Cholmondeley is a senior and no longer has to worry about shift work, she said going out for the evening almost always means a night on a friends couch, since she can’t afford the cab ride back to her place once the bus stops running.

 

The group of five were only able to brave the sub-zero temperatures for 45 minutes, but they managed to get 20 signatures, she said.

 

“People were very willing to sign,” she said. “A lot of people want the local routes to run later.”

 

The feeder buses that are served by the 94, 95 and 91 all end early, which unfairly targets students and other low income riders who are employed in shift work, or simply want a night on the town.

 

“We have a lot of students, who have to work, or if they want to go out, their parents have to pick them up,” Cholmondeley said, adding that Orléans is home to some international students who want to experience what the city has to offer, but get frustrated with early end times on local bus routes.

 

The group plans to plead their case with the local councillors.

 

Innes Coun. Jody Mitic said he sympathises, and is willing to work with OC Transpo and residents on a creative solution if one is to be found.

 

“Unfortunately, OC Transpo is a numbers game,” he said. “But if the demand is there, it’s possible that a solution could be worked out.”

 

Mitic said the light rail extension to Trim Road should help with concerns such as the one expressed by ACORN. The Trim Road extension of the Stage 2 LRT plan is set to be completed in 2022.

 

Cholmondeley said ACORN will return to the transit station once the weather warms up more to get more signatures.

 

It was a busy week for ACORN in Ottawa, as the group also held a march to reduce NSF fees at banks and a demonstration at a Caldwell Avenue Ottawa Community Housing building to make a case for landlord licensing.

 

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Article by Jennifer McIntosh for Ottawa Community News