Recently, it was announced that, yet again, our transit system is facing a significant deficit: this fiscal year alone, the shortfall will be almost $50 million due to unrealistic estimates set forth by city staff. Read MoreOC Transpo riders are suffering the consequences of a growing budget hole.
OC Transpo riders are suffering the consequences of a growing budget hole.
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Recently, it was announced that, yet again, our transit system is facing a significant deficit: this fiscal year alone, the shortfall will be almost $50 million due to unrealistic estimates set forth by city staff.
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I think it’s fair to say that the crisis our transit system is currently in is not fully the fault of our current mayor.
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He inherited a scandal-ridden LRT system wrought with multiple technical issues and a bus system that had been cut so significantly that reliability levels were already at record lows.
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But that is where my generosity ends.
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Sutcliffe ran for mayor promising to “fix transit.” Three years in, the system is worse than ever, and the gaping budget hole continues to grow.
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Since taking office, year after year, he has presented a budget with big cuts to transit. In the last two years, the budget has included a significant rise in fares across the board, especially for some of the most vulnerable system users such as youth and seniors.
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On top of fare hikes and budget cuts, the mayor has made other decisions that have made transit worse for everyday riders. The “New Ways to Bus” initiative, supposedly intended to streamline service, has left suburban commuters worse off, forcing many to take longer, less direct routes or face inconvenient transfers.
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Meanwhile, the decision to lengthen LRT headways during off-peak hours from five to 10 minutes has further reduced service reliability, discouraging people from choosing transit at all. Together, these moves amount to a mayor more focused on cost-cutting than on building a functional, dependable transit network.
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With his latest budget directions, Sutcliffe is signalling more of the same. He is asking for a very modest property tax increase while still pushing for fare hikes and freezing investment in transit service improvements. At the same time, other areas, particularly policing, continue to see outsized increases, suggesting that the priorities are out of step with what Ottawa residents actually need.
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The consequences are clear. Longer wait times, more crowded buses and stagnating ridership are the new normal. Transit, which should be the backbone of a livable and equitable city, is being treated as an afterthought. Meanwhile, the mayor’s insistence on blaming higher levels of government for Ottawa’s shortcomings rings hollow while residents are left footing the bill for mismanagement and missed opportunities.
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If we want to see a functional, reliable and accessible transit system, the city needs real investment and leadership that prioritizes service over optics. Raising fares while cutting service is not leadership; it’s a slow erosion of a system that people rely on every day.
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