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    1. Rail

    New lines on city of Ottawa’s O-Train show increased ridership

    Feb. 17, 2025
    The city’s transit committee received an overview report of the first four weeks of O-Train Lines 2 and 4 service showing increased ridership levels.
    Related To: City of Ottawa (OC Transpo)
    OC Transpo
    OC Transpo opens O-Train Lines 2 and 4
    OC Transpo opens O-Train Lines 2 and 4

    In the city of Ottawa, Canada, members of the city’s transit committee received an overview report of the first four weeks of O-Train Lines 2 and 4 service, with updates on 2024 ridership levels and the ongoing efforts to expand OC Transpo’s electric bus fleet including facility upgrades. 

    The city says O-Train Lines 2 and 4 launched with weekday service on Jan. 6, and expanded to six-day service on Jan. 25. Reports show that in the first four weeks of service, more than 300,000 customer trips were taken on Lines 2 and 4. The report also details park and ride usage has been high with significant capacity remaining for customers across all three lots at Greenboro, Leitrim and Bowesville stations. The city says that before launching a seven-day service, work will continue to focus on customer information systems, closing out remaining minor works and training activities to grow diesel rail operator availability. 

    The city says its transit committee learned that year-over-year, ridership increased by seven percent in 2024 with 67.9 million customer trips. The city of Ottawa notes improvements have been made to the reliability of Line 1 rail service, reaching 98.8 percent service delivery in 2024. In 2024, the 12-month average bus service delivery was 98 percent. Para Transpo ridership was more than 856,000 customer trips, which is 14 percent higher than 2023. 

    The report also showed that in 2024, the Transit app, the recommended app for OC Transpo customers, saw more than 71,000 downloads, over 113,000 average users per month and more than 21 million trips planned. 

    In January, the city says O-Payment readers were activated on Para Transpo minibuses, providing the option for customers to tap their card themselves and the first new six-meter (19.7 feet) minibus went into service, with five minibuses set to be received this year. 

    The committee also learned that OC Transpo recently welcomed four new zero-emission buses (ZEBs) into service, totaling eight ZEBs in the current fleet. An additional 22 ZEBs are anticipated to arrive by the end of March, followed by an additional 80 by Q1 2026, a further 124 by Q4 2026 and another 120 by Q3 2027. Garage retrofits and electrical infrastructure upgrades are underway to support the transition to zero-emission buses.