Here's where OC Transpo's 40 unretired buses are going
City wants to boost service, cover for missing or late runs
After Mayor Jim Watson announced 40 retired buses were coming back into service two weeks ago, the city has revealed what routes the buses will cover.
A "furious" Watson announced several fixes at the beginning of the month for Ottawa's problem-plagued transit system — largely due to a faltering LRT system.
In addition to the 40 buses, Watson also pledged $3.5 million to be added to OC Transpo's budget to boost service levels.
Although Watson alluded to routes such as the 39, 257 and 75, the city didn't reveal what exact routes the 40 buses would cover, even leaving some councillors in the dark.
On Friday the city sent a memo detailing what routes are getting extra buses.
"We are assigning some buses to stand by at key locations, so that our supervisory staff are able to dispatch them to replace regularly-scheduled trips that are missing or late," said Ottawa's transportation services general manager John Manconi in the memo.
"We are assigning some buses to provide supplementary trips on routes that have had consistent reliability issues or that have had consistent reports or observations of crowding," particularly to the park and ride lots at Eagleson and Fallowfield station, he added.