Transit troubles top concern as city prepares to table budget

The City of Ottawa tables its 2020 spending planson Wednesday, and no part of the budget is expected to face as much scrutiny or pressure as the moneydirected atthebeleaguered transit system.

Faced with angry riderswhose commutes have gottenworse since the arrival of LRT, Mayor Jim Watson and transit commission chair Allan Hubleysuddenly announcedFriday that 40 more OC Transpobuses would goback onthe road this week.

• 'Furious' mayor announces emergency transit fix

The buses will be assigned to busy routes having capacity problems, including the 39 in Orlans and 75 in the south areas formerly travelled by the workhorse No. 95 bus and the 257 to Kanata.

The mayor said he directed transportation manager John Manconi to use $3.5 million from the 2019 reserves to pay for the extra bus service, but it is unclear whether the changes were intended forthe 2020 budgetand weresimply sped up for November and December.

Buses chronically unreliable

Councillors are hearing residents demandbetter bus service far beyond the LRT corridor or its busy transfer stations, however.

• Advocacy group gets earful from bus riders frustrated by LRT

"[Light rail]is one piece of the puzzle, and we're forgetting about ... all those people who never come downtownwho rely on the bus to get around," said Bay wardCoun. Theresa Kavanagh,who sits on the transit commission.

Imagine waiting for a friend who's always late. Are you going to stay friends with them?- Coun. Theresa Kavanagh

Kavanagh said residents have told her their buses now come less often since the big switchover to light rail on Oct. 6, and they still can't count on themto show up on time.

"Imagine waiting for a friend who's always late," Kavanagh said. "Are you going to stay friends with them?"

Fare increase Jan. 1

Bus reliability is also River ward Coun. RileyBrockington's top priority, buthe doesn't think OC Transpo can simplyput money towardthe problem without first figuring out why buses go off-schedule.

If financial fixes are needed, he thinksOC Transpomay need to shift money from other projects. After all, fares still need to rise2.5 per cent on Jan. 1as planned, Brockington said.

"There's not a lot of wiggle room. It's not like there are giant pots of money that we can draw on," said Brockington.

Transit chair Allan Hubleyagreesthe city needs to increase fares for thesecond time in three months. That's because the city wants to make buses more reliable in 2020, as well as creatingnew bus routes within suburbs and improving service for Para Transpo riders.

"If [the fare increase]doesn't happen, we can't do those three priorities," said Hubley.

The city's operating budget for transit totals about $575 million, of which nearly $200 million comes from fares, $300 million from property taxes, and the rest from other sources.

OC Transpo and Para Transpo have some 3,000 employees.

Keeping Stage 2 on track

But the city isn'tjust struggling to fix problems fortransit riders today. Staff have also had to rearrange thebudget so the city can affordto buildStage 2 of light rail.

The plan to payfor the $4.7-billion projectwaspartly predicated on receiving a doubling of gas tax revenues from Ontario. Former Premier Kathleen Wynne made that promise, which current Premier Doug Ford then overturned.

The city hasalready awarded contractsfor Stage 2,and construction is underway.

"You have a big hole in the plan,"city treasurer Marian Simulik explained to the finance and economic developmentcommittee which is overseeing the project, not transit commission in September.

• City wrestles with 3% tax cap as budget pressure builds

To fill that $36-million annual hole and keep the Stage 2 plan intact, the city will use taxes that were intended tofix roads and other infrastructure.

Those projects, in turn,could be paid for using a one-time infusion of federal gas tax revenuesover the next three years.