Breakdowns causing more delays for Para Transpo users

Para Transpo users are being warned to expect continuing delays over the holidays as the transit service grapples with a rash of breakdowns in its minibus fleet.

In a memo issued Thursday morning, Ottawa's manager of transit services Renée Amilcar wrote that the shortage of vehicles used to transport passengers with disabilities has led to an increase in wait times. It's expected the service delays could take two weeks to "stabilize."

"These older vehicles require additional repairs that are often more complex and take longer to complete" she said.

Para Transpo is now relying on taxis and vans to save the dwindling number of available minibuses for riders who specifically require them, Amilcar said. 

Para Transpo users angry

Ruth Anderson-Hurst has been forced to take an accessible taxi instead of a bus, despite a medical note that states she's only able to take a minibus. She said she's waited up to two and a half hours for a ride.

"I'm outraged," she said. "It's isolating. It keeps us in our home. You can't book a doctor's appointment because you can't tell the doctor, 'Listen, I'll be there between 12 and 2 [p.m.].'

"Just going to get groceries, becomes an impossible task."

Anderson-Hurst said it's especially frustrating that OC Transpo appears to be focusing on its regular transit service, but not on Para Transpo users.

"Why are we expendable? Why are the disabled, the poor kid on the block, that can't get to their appointments and can't work ... and yet it's OK to be concerned about able-bodied people. How about being concerned about all of us?" she asked.

The city is also bringing in outside help to deal with the repair backlog and get the buses back in service, Amilcar said.

According to Pat Scrimgeour, OC Transpo's director of transit customer systems, that includes asking other communities to borrow their minibuses for temporary use.

New buses on the way

OC Transpo is set to acquire between 90 and 100 new minibuses in the new year — to replace the current fleet — but Scrimgeour said the new buses won't have much effect on service levels.

"The the new buses by themselves won't make any of those improvements," he said. "Those are the kind of improvements that we've been talking to the community of customers about, and we want to do things that are the best for them."

The lack of reliable service has a huge effect on those who rely on it, said Kyle Humphrey, founder of No Such Thing as Can't, an initiative that aims to help break down barriers for people living with disabilities.

"It's not OK that people continue to have to to book based on a pickup time that may or may not be fulfilled," he said.

Amilcar said a vehicle replacement program was postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic due to low ridership. New minibuses are due to arrive next year, she said.

At a transit commission meeting in June, the city said it had 80 Para Transpo minibuses in service, and that they were on average more than a year past their lifecycle expectancy.

As of the end of October, Para Transpo has provided between 67,000 and 78,000 rides per month in 2024.