How do you move 1000 people into a city centre? 1 train, 20 buses or 650 personal vehicles (with a LOT of parking required!) HT @davidloisuned.bsky.social for the Spanish translation of one of my favourite graphics originally from Sydney. #CityMakingMath

Another reminder that the city is doing an open house TOMORROW about bus lanes on Bank Street. It will be at Blessed Sacrament Parish, 194 Fourth Avenue from 6:30 - 8:30 pm. Come help support 24/7 bus lanes on Bank! Info at the link below. engage.ottawa.ca/bank-street-...

It can't be stressed enough: this kind of city is MORE accessible, with MORE choices for everyone. Reducing the number of cars driven by people who don't need to drive leaves more space for mobility vehicles and reduces journey times. Cars are expensive!

"When transit is underfunded, it affects housing development, traffic congestion, affordability, and even job access [...] even if you don't personally take the train or bus, you still benefit from public transit."

The next three 7s are cancelled at the start of evening rush. This is an every day occurrence due to the lack of working buses to run the schedule we need. OC Transpo needs to order more buses to replace the over 15 year old fleet and hire enough mechanics to get the existing buses in service.

You’re invited to an open house about the Bank Street Active Transportation and Transit Priority Feasibility Study on Wednesday, September 24 at 7pm at Blessed Sacrament Parish, 194 Fourth Avenue. Learn more: https://bit.ly/46bquXL

"What if there were a technology that could help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and environmental degradation, while improving health, reducing social inequality and boosting the economy? There is, and this month it turns 200." www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Routes 6, 7 and 12 continue to see the highest number of trips cancelled. We don't have enough buses. Only 520 out of OC Transpo's 735 buses are on the road at any time; the rest are in the shop. Replacing old buses and expanding the fleet should be a priority. ottawacitizen.com/news/oc-tran...

The fundamental issue facing OC Transpo is that riders, rightly, don't think the service is worth paying for. Late buses, longer commutes, and a world class train down every few weeks. Fining people $260 for refusing to pay the $4 fare won't fix that. www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/artic...

Transit-oriented development isn't just urban planning - it's social justice. Good transit access should be a right, not a luxury good.

Without very good transit, there will be very bad traffic. The city's own projections into 2046 show high population growth concentrated in the suburbs. That's a lot of cars on the road without a good transit network (i.e. a frequent, functional LRT with reliable local bus connections).

A very important step on the road to free transit for those who need it the most. What will be crucial for accessibility is an easy to navigate application process, which Ottawa's low income EquiPass is not. www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...

Today, the city’s Finance + Corporate Services Committee voted for a budget direction that could increase the police levy up to 6.5% and raise transit fares up to 7.5%. Meanwhile, the city departments that work to address homelessness and poverty are being told they can only have a 2.9% increase.

Perhaps you could have a word with Ottawa, our capital city which could lead but chooses to lag behind everyone else on #climateaction. @cape-acme.bsky.social @horizonottawa.bsky.social @scan-ottawa.bsky.social @forourkidsog.bsky.social @freetransitottawa.bsky.social www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

I'd like to correct CBCs numbers, OC Transpo forecasting an $11M deficit after we account for the $36M hole staff purposely punched into the budget hoping the Prov/Feds would make up the difference of at the direction of Council.

Entirely preventable. The City and OC Transpo spent the last five years making bus service worse, putting more cars on the road and emissions in the air. Now city hall is forcing its own staff back to the office with no reliable transit option. We deserve better. www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/artic...

I’m with Jeff. If we haven’t made the proper investments to ensure fast and frequent transit, this will just add more cars to the road and increase congestion in Centretown. Also: hybrid work arrangements are good for parents and caregivers—often women. Trust people to work where they do it best.

"Making life more affordable, reducing the number of vehicles produced and those on the roads, thereby reducing environmental harm, are all good for the community, for our welfare and the welfare of our neighbours." canadiancatholicnews.ca/public-trans...

Instead of investing in future riders, the city is pushing teens away from transit by hiking youth fares. Other cities are seeing massive gains in ridership by making youth transit discounted or free - so why aren’t we? Send an email today: www.horizonottawa.ca/save_youth_t...

Another fare hike and more obfuscation from the mayor about transit funding. LRT expansion and new electric buses are great, but they do not make for good service. That requires a functional bus network, which was just cut. We are paying a lot for subpar service. www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/artic...

Terrible public transit forces people into car ownership whether they can afford it or not. Owning a car costs $16,000 a year of which $3-4,000 is insurance. Now hundreds of Ottawa drivers are citing the high cost of living as reason for not renewing their insurance. www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/artic...

More frequency and expanding off-peak service to benefit shift workers - what a concept! Imagine if New Ways to Bus did this instead of cutting service to the bone. www.thewhig.com/news/local-n...

Ottawa has been blanketed with wildfire smoke multiple times this summer. Providing free bus and train service during those days would be an easy way to offset air pollution by reducing traffic emissions — which account for about 2.2 million tonnes of GHGs each year. www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

This iconic Fabian Todorovic cartoon is still one of the best I’ve seen at illustrating the remarkable amount of space we surrender to cars, leaving little space left for everyone and everything else. The text added later makes the bonus point that many drivers still manage to complain about it.

A brilliant quote from this article by Kim Siever: "Transit, like visiting one’s family doctor, should be free to the end user. Punishing transit users by demanding that they pay to use a public service is unfair, especially when, for some people, it is their only transportation option."

The city is finally considering bus lanes in the Glebe! It's long overdue. Some businesses want to maintain street parking, but it's locking Bank St in the past - and buses in traffic! #ottawa

"It's demoralizing. It's frustrating. It's draining. It makes me reconsider transit." said OC Transpo user François Lavigne. We couldn't have put it better ourselves.

OCTranspo seems to be actively discouraging users. Bluesfest detours mean no buses serving Portage after 4pm. But the app isn't updated, the website shows "real time" arrivals that don't arrive. Only if you happen to see the poster do you understand.

I would love to see this for #OCtranspo: $15.75 for unlimited weekend travel on STM buses/metro between 4 p.m. on Friday and 5 a.m. on Monday. We do have 2-for-1 day passes on weekends. But not needing someone to share the fare with and 61 hours is not only a great deal, it encourages off-peak use.

Once you consider insurance, gas, and maintenance, if good policy can help a family live with one car instead of two, it is like giving that family another ~$22k/year in annual income.

“First they cut it, then they criticize it, then they privatize it.” We hear over and over how Ottawa is struggling to fund transit while road-widening projects, Lansdowne and the police budget never want for cash. City hall has been running bus service into the ground for 15 years.

"People who depend on cars to get around are more likely to feel lonely and disconnected than those who have access to good public transport, a UK study has found" www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Here’s some common sense for you. If you want or need to drive in cities, your problem isn’t people choosing walking, biking & public transit because of smart, safe infrastructure. It’s all those people being forced to drive big cars instead, stuck in traffic in front of you. #TheTRUTHaboutTraffic

This is really important. The main thing that makes it hard to achieve integrated nature and green in cities isn’t density of buildings or density of people — it's density of cars. And the more well-designed and integrated density of people & buildings you achieve, the fewer cars you need or want.

We would like to see train service returned to more routes, so more people can experience everything Canada has to offer: www.toronto.com/things-to-do...

New York City transit workers and Zohran Mamdani have joined the chorus of support for free transit!

Transit should be cheaper than driving, but in the bay area transit is way more expensive Me and my partner spent $49.05 on transit today: - $11.85 on Muni - $10.00 on AC Transit - $27.20 on BART While my friends with cars spent $17.39: - $8.00 toll - $5.52 gas - $3.87 AAA amortized maintenance

A fantastic quote from this article - “Free transit is hands-down the best way to prevent fare evasion,” said by Nathan Bird, a member of the Victoria Transit Riders Union.

Mark your calendar now and please get in touch if you or your group are able to help.

“First they cut it, then they criticize it, then they privatize it.” We hear over and over how Ottawa is struggling to fund transit while road-widening projects, Lansdowne and the police budget never want for cash. City hall has been running bus service into the ground for 15 years.

The best way to combat “car brain,” IMO, is to commute by foot, bike, or bus, often. If you can’t, you live in a poorly planned neighbourhood & you should point that out time & again to your city representatives. The community failed you in letting your neighbourhood develop in such a terrible way.

The Glebe has a survey out - take a moment to tell them your opinion on public transit: form.jotform.com/FBM_Planning... @freetransitottawa.bsky.social @horizonottawa.bsky.social

100%. The “balanced” approach is simply the adherence to a status quo that will only get worse as the population grows and transit remains under-supported. And the TMP we’re set to approve next week perpetuates more of this.

Ottawa is a failed city. Getting anywhere in a reasonable amount of time is effectively impossible. I have no idea how emergency vehicles are coping with this. @mayormarksutcliffe.bsky.social @lainejohnson.bsky.social @timtierney.ca @seandevine9.bsky.social @arieltroster.com

Today it took 20 minutes to get down Elgin and another 50 to get to Bells Corners by car. A balanced approach to our transportation network gets us all nowhere fast. We need to shift our investments to give people who want to get out of cars a real choice. Show me who is happy moving around Ottawa.

"The most serious harm is not caused by the strike, but by chronic underfunding and outsourcing. The discomforts of our travels stem from ever increasing subway breakdowns and frequently decreasing bus service." www.journaldemontreal.com/2025/06/13/g...

« En réalité, l’atteinte la plus grave aux usagers n’est pas causée par la grève, mais par le sous-financement chronique et la sous-traitance. L’inconfort de nos déplacements découle de pannes de métro toujours plus fréquentes et de passages d’autobus souvent moins fréquents. »

Oh, FFS. I don't need an OC Transpo hat, I need a transit system that takes me where I need to go when I need to get there. THAT will increase fares. Same with this fight over the Market: if I have to drive there, it's a destination trip, and I'm there for one thing -- no walk-in business from me.

In the @OttawaCitizen — what if I was in charge of writing the job description for the new OC Transpo head? ottawacitizen.com/opinion/oc-t...

Ottawa City Council is not powerless in the face extreme wildfire smoke. Indeed, they are actively responsible for the car dependency and urban sprawl driving the climate crisis in the first place. Every city must rise to the occassion on climate action. ottawacitizen.com/opinion/grov...