OC Transpo's fall changes steer passengers to LRT
Fall bus schedule starting Sunday includes changes to 24 routes
OC Transpo's new fall schedule comes with changes to two dozen routes, the final tweaks before the launch of the city's new light rail system.
The schedule came into effect Sunday.
Routes running through Orléans, Vanier, Overbrook and downtown are being directed toward LRT stations, most of which are doubling now as Transitway stops.
Route 12 will probe further into downtown Ottawa after complaints from people living east of the core.
The changeover to fall means more frequent stops along school routes and others that saw reduced service during the summer months, as well as the end of routes such as the 139 to Petrie Island and 185 to the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum.
Here are some other highlights:
Downtown
- Route 11 is being shortened, ending at Elgin and Queen streets at its east end and at Lincoln Fields to the west.
- Routes 6, 7, 11, 12, 16 and 19 will move from Wellington, Albert and Slater streets to Queen Street, where the new Parliament Station will open near Bank Street, once Queen Street construction ends.
- Routes 17 and 18 will also connect to Parliament Station.
- Route 4 to Carleton University becomes the 10, but will follow the same route.
Orléans
- Routes 32, 34 and 38 will run all day to Blair Station.
- Route 134 will be replaced by Route 34.
- Route 131 will no longer travel north of Highway 174. Route 138 will connect Place d'Orléans to the Saint-Louis Residence.
Overbrook and Vanier
- The aforementioned route 12 connecting Blair station to downtown through Vanier stops at Metcalfe Street, not Bank Street.
- The city says routes 18 and 19 will connect more directly with St-Laurent station.
- New route 20 will run to the Montfort Hospital and Richelieu-Vanier Community Centre.
Other
- Route 106 has been shortened to end at the Riverside hospital, not Hurdman station.
- Route 107, which replaces the O-Train when it's out of service, will now be named R2. This is either short for "Line 2 Replacement" or a homage to the cute droid from Star Wars.
Once the trains are running, more changes will be coming to steer bus commuters toward light rail stations such as Tunney's Pasture, Blair and Hurdman.