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| QUOTE | First post-strike commute like ‘venturing into the unknown’: city
OTTAWA — Riders flocked back to their buses Monday morning on the first weekday commute since OC Transpo service resumed after an acrimonious 51-day strike.
By 6:30 a.m., routes like the 95 were reported to be jammed with passengers. And though the city had braced for a crush of cars at transit park & rides, by 8 a.m., most of those lots were still only half full, indicating many commuters were still steering clear of the buses.
The return of the buses did seem to ease the congestion on many of the major arteries. Ministry of Transportation traffic cameras showed traffic was flowing smoothly Monday morning on Highway 417 and drive times from Kanata seemed back to normal.
OC Transpo officials conceded they weren't sure what to expect when the first weekday crush of rush-hour commuters in 62 days descends on Ottawa’s partially restored transit system, but all seemed to be going smoothly Monday morning, Bob Denault, a supervisor with OC Transpo, told the Citizen.
Councillor Jan Harder, who last week warned riders to avoid the buses for a few day, also said the system seemed to be running smoothly Monday morning.
The city’s buses got rolling on the weekend for the first time since Dec. 9, the day before a bitter strike by 2,300 drivers and mechanics shut down service, creating hardship for thousands and sucking millions from the city’s economy.
Weekend service resumed without any serious snags, mechanical or human. But that was only the reduced Saturday-Sunday schedule, which involves fewer buses and picks up only a fraction of the passengers who ride from Monday to Friday.
The first real test comes Monday morning. The rush hour service that begins Monday, and is expected to last for the next two weeks or so, will only be operating at 70-per-cent capacity. That’s because not enough buses are mechanically fit to return to the road after the lengthy layoff.
“We’re really venturing into a bit of the unknown here,” city of Ottawa spokesman Michael FitzPatrick said Sunday.
“We’ve prepared as much as we can, I think. Now we have to wait to see what happens like everyone else.”
To maximize capacity, OC Transpo has decided to concentrate its service on the Transitway and major routes.
That means many of the express buses that link neighbourhoods to the Transitway, or take commuters directly downtown, will not be running for another week or two.
As a result, commuters are expected to flock to Transitway stations, especially the major stops with park-and-ride lots. If that’s the case, those lots will quickly fill up, creating the potential for chaos.
To deal with the expected overflow, OC Transpo has managed to secure extra parking space at seven privately owned malls and city-owned lots: at the Bayshore, St. Laurent and Place d’Orléans shopping centres, the Ray Friel complex, Mooney’s Bay, Lansdowne Park and the Nepean Sportsplex.
More could be added in the coming days, including at the Kanata Centrum, said Mr. FitzPatrick.
Transit officials are encouraging commuters to check online at octranspo.com for regular updates before they leave for work this morning.
“We hope to be able to tell them as close to real time as possible whether a park-and-ride lot is 60-per-cent full, or 80-per-cent full or completely full,” Mr. FitzPatrick said. “If they’re full, we’ll offer them alternatives.”
Ottawa radio stations will also be given frequent updates to be passed on to their listeners at home or those already on their way to Transitway stations.
To help avoid congestion and keep traffic moving, especially cars dropping people off at transit stations, police and OC Transpo security staff will be dispatched to park-and-ride lots and other locations around the city.
Mr. FitzPatrick said it’s possible, even likely, that fear of gridlock will keep many people away for the first few days.Then, the theory goes, if things appear to be going smoothly, they will return to transit later in the week, pushing the real crunch to Wednesday or Thursday.
“Who really knows?” he said. “All we can say for sure is everyone wants to get things moving as quickly and effectively as possible.” Last week, before the extra park-and-ride space was found, several suburban members of city council said they were encouraging their constituents to avoid taking the bus until it’s clear the kinks have been worked out.
“I’m going to be telling people who have a car not to take the bus until we get back up to full service,” Barrhaven Councillor Jan Harder said. “I don’t think we have the ability to handle this. It's going to be a nightmare at our park-and-rides.”
As the plan stands now, OC Transpo will put about 570 buses — two-thirds of the total fleet — on the road Monday, enough to provide rides for about 70 per cent of usual peak-period passengers, and 83 per cent of off-peak riders.
The rest of the buses, about 275 of them, are caught in a large backlog of tests and inspections that built up during the lengthy strike.
By next Monday, another 100 buses could be ready, enough to carry 78 per cent of usual peak-period ridership and 88 per cent of all-day demand.
Another 100 buses should be good to go on March 16, and the final 76 buses are expected to be roadworthy on April 6, when the system returns to full capacity.
Details of which routes are scheduled to return to service on which dates can be found on the transit company’s website.
The incremental startup offers at least one consolation for passengers.
Anyone with a regular December bus pass can ride free until the end of March, and those with EcoPasses or express passes can use them until the end of April.
Sunday, like the first day of service since the strike, seemed to go off without any serious problems. The number of bus breakdowns was normal, despite the long period of inactivity, and there were no incidents reported of nasty confrontations between drivers and the public, according to Mr. FitzPatrick and the police.
Even the feisty head of the Amalgamated Transit Union local 279, which represents the drivers, described the situation as “fantastic.”
“Everything is just great, even better than I expected,” André Cornellier said Sunday. “The public has been very respectful, and our drivers, I think, have made a real effort as well.”
And despite the potential for friction when weekday commuter service resumes Monday, Mr. Cornellier’s expects more of the same: “It’s gonna be good. People want to move on.”
As the service builds back to full capacity, the union and OC Transpo will prepare the documents that will lay out their positions for the arbitrators assigned to settle terms of the contract.
The sides have two months to submit their briefs to the three-person panel, made up of one member appointed by the federal government and one each chosen by the union and transit officials.
The panel is supposed to make its binding decisions within three months, likely by late June.
With files from Jake Rupert, Ottawa Citizen
© Copyright © The Ottawa Citizen |
Well, don't have any rush hour bus service in my area, so looks like I'm walking to Blair to catch me bus to school.....I wonder how many people have come back to riding transit.
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