Introduction
Long-Term Strategy
Short-Term Strategy

A. Targets
B. Working Groups to improve operations
C. Route structure
D. Capital improvements
E. Accessible transit
F. Safety and security issues
G. Marketing
H. Customer complaints process
I.  Role of the Commission

Key Recommendations

Long-term strategy
Five Year Plan
Process

Introduction

OC Transpo has long been recognized as a leader in the public transit field. Its ridership levels are the highest among mid-sized North American cities, and its innovative Transitways have allowed the cost-effective introduction of rapid transit services throughout the region. However the last decade has seen this position erode as ridership has declined, and operating costs have risen as a result of a variety of factors explored at length in our previous reports. Some of these factors, such as the aging of the population and the changing nature of work are beyond local control and influence. Other factors, such as the reduced significance of employment in the downtown core and the growth of suburban business parks and low density housing have been subject to local government influence, but also respond to economic imperatives. Some other factors have been directly within the control of OC Transpo and the regional and provincial governments, particularly the reduced public funding, deteriorating bus fleet, and increasing costs of providing public transit services.

These factors contributed to strife between OC Transpo and its workers, demoralized the workforce, resulting in poorer customer service, less service reliability and, ultimately a loss of confidence in OC Transpo's ability to meet community needs. The ability of OC Transpo to meet the ambitious targets for increased transit which the Regional Official Plan is based on were questioned. If these targets are not met, the transportation components of the Official Plan will not work, and over time, the level of congestion on roadways will increase dramatically. The region will be forced to invest far more money in additional roadway capacity, with serious impacts on many communities and the quality of life in the region. This study was commissioned to review OC Transpo's operations, determine what would be required to ensure the Official Plan ridership targets can be met, and to determine what improvements in OC Transpo's operations are possible.

There have been many changes at OC Transpo over the course of the study, including significant changes in senior management positions. There has been a strong commitment from both the unions and management to recognize the shortcomings of the system and to implement change and improvements as quickly as possible. The level of co-operation, and the commitment to consultation between the unions and management has improved dramatically. This has begun to change the attitude and commitment of staff throughout the organization. While many employees retain some cynicism that real change will not occur or be sustained, more and more are willing to take the chance that improvements really are possible, and to commit their time, and more importantly, to invest some faith, that progress will occur.

These developments have contributed to changing the nature of this study. The appointment of an outside consulting organization, the establishment of a Steering Committee without senior management representation, and the focus early in the study on determining what had gone wrong and needed to be fixed, left many at OC Transpo with the feeling that the study was being done "to them". The changes outlined above have led staff throughout the organization to embrace the study process and ensure it was being done "with them". The result is that this report will not contain a long list of detailed operational changes that OC Transpo must implement. The involvement of management, the unions and staff has allowed the process to move further. A general consensus has emerged on most of what must be done, and the processes already underway are designed to flesh out and implement these changes. In fact many steps have already been taken to address issues that have emerged in the study.

There are many challenges that remain. The "Long-Term Strategy" chapter of this document recognizes that OC Transpo does not have the power to achieve the Official Plan targets alone. It will require the support and assistance of the Region, both in providing adequate funding for capital and operating requirements, and in adopting the planning, transportation and regulatory approaches required for a positive environment for transit operations. It will also require the assistance of the federal and provincial governments in providing appropriate taxing authority and a supportive, transit friendly economic environment to achieve success.

The steps that are completely within OC Transpo's sole control will also not be easy to achieve. They will require continuing commitment to the goals of providing economic, dependable, customer-friendly service from all levels and components of the organization. They will require a willingness from employees throughout the organization to change the way they have done things for many, many years—a lot to ask. They will require some effective leadership, from both management and the unions, and a recognition and acceptance that a stronger, larger, more efficient and more effective organization is in both their interests. They must each be realistic in what they seek and expect in return for the changes that must be made.

While these are significant hurdles, impressive progress has been achieved to date, and there is no reason the progress cannot be continued and sustained. Doing so will require OC Transpo to focus on two factors—customer service and service reliability. If the Commission is unable to provide the resources necessary to provide all desirable services reliably, OC Transpo must cut routes or services, starting with the least used, until it can ensure the services it does attempt to provide can be delivered reliably.

This is the third report from the OC Transpo Comprehensive review. The "Backgrounder", published in June, 1998 provided an outline of the history of OC Transpo and its performance, and an understanding of the industry and its role in the community. The "Strategies for Change" issued in September, 1998 outlined various approaches that could be taken to improve OC Transpo and invited discussion on those alternatives. This final report does not repeat much of the information or discussion provided in these documents, and the reader should consult them as well to develop a full picture.

Long-Term Strategy

The long-term objectives for OC Transpo support the policies of the Region's Official Plan (OP) and Transportation Master Plan (TMP) to reduce Ottawa-Carleton's dependency on private automobile use and promote more environmentally friendly modes of transportation.

To meet these objectives, the Region has adopted regional modal share targets that would significantly increase the proportion of trips made by more sustainable transportation modes and reduce dependence on automobile travel.

The TMP peak hour modal share target for public transit indicates an increase from 15.2% in 1995 to no less than 20% by 2021. The 20% transit target is a significant increase. Combined with the projected development growth for the Region, the transit modal share target translates to a 73% increase in transit person-trips in the afternoon peak hour, and an increase in annual ridership from 70 million in 1997 to 125 million in 2021.

The 20% transit modal share target and the 73% increase in ridership is ambitious and represents a substantial challenge. It comes when OC Transpo and many transit agencies across North America have been experiencing significant ridership declines, attributable to high suburban growth, job declines in central areas, changes in demographics and the nature of work, the relatively low cost to operate an automobile, and cutbacks in transit funding, among others.

Achieving a 73% ridership increase in light of present conditions will require major changes to improve the competitive position of transit relative to the auto and significant financial investments and commitments. In particular, the suburban trip market must be targeted as almost half of all new jobs and about 70% of new population projected in the Official Plan are located outside of the Greenbelt. As well, the aging of the population will see a significant decrease in the proportion of the population made up of young people and students (15 to 24) who are traditionally the heaviest transit users, and a greater proportion of older adults who will require more customized and specialized services.

To explore ways for the Region to achieve the modal split target, we developed, analyzed and assessed five "strategy packages" representing various combinations of capital expansion, service increases, transit supportive policies and a series of efficiency and effectiveness initiatives. The packages were evaluated in terms of ridership, costs, revenues, environmental impacts and related factors. The consultation process included a series of discussions and meetings with senior staff of OC Transpo and RMOC and two public meetings to provide input and feedback on the strategy packages.

The recommended long-term strategy requires a strong commitment on the part of RMOC and OC Transpo and the cooperation of the provincial and federal governments to ensure that the initiatives and policies are implemented and followed through to their fruition. The strategy emphasizes three key principles:

Full costs and auto user charges.

Market driven and customer oriented services.

Transit priority network.

Each of these are described briefly in the sections below.

The full cost of operating and accommodating the automobile and the additional cost to develop land at low suburban densities are not captured by present user charges, resulting in infrastructure costs that exceed the taxes, levies and user charges collected. This results in hidden subsidies that favour the private automobile and auto-oriented development. This situation must be eliminated if transit is to become competitive. Although transit services are also subsidized, these expenditures also help auto users by keeping peak hour traffic moving.

An auto user pay policy should shift more of the costs of transportation from the property tax to auto users in such forms as fuel taxes, vehicle registration surcharges, driver license surcharges, parking and road tolls comparable to the transit fares—a form of user pay—now paid by Transit users. These initiatives require provincial approval. The desired approach, which has already been put in place by B.C. and Québec would be to have the province dedicate about 3¢/litre of its gas tax revenues collected within the RMOC boundaries for transit/transportation use by RMOC. Ideally, a matching grant could be negotiated with the federal government, thus providing about $52M/year for transportation long-term capital costs.

Parking supply and pricing can also be used to discourage the use of the private car. For example, a levy could be charged for long-term commuter parking. This levy could raise about $21M/year for the transit/transportation program. Maximum parking standards for various land uses for all area municipalities should also be considered.

The property tax support of transit is currently limited to properties within the "Urban Transit Area" (the "UTA). This tends to force OC Transpo to serve all areas of the UTA whether transit is the most cost-effective transportation solution or not, and deprives areas such as Stittsville, which is outside the UTA, of appropriate service. It also results in a shift in who pays when transit expenditures are increased to decrease road construction expenditures. This practice should be revised.

Transit supportive land use—more compact, mixed use development would support higher levels of transit use, shorten average trip distances, and emphasize walking and cycling. The Region requires economic incentives to promote development in areas that can be served by public transit. These incentives could include location or use-specific development charges, property taxes and utility surcharges.

As development occurs beyond the Greenbelt, concentrating it into transit-supportive centres and corridors, including balanced residential and employment opportunities, would also help to limit sprawl, protect farmland, reduce commuting distances and times and provide a more livable efficient urban form.

Finally, more creative marketing and pricing schemes and loyalty programs, similar to frequent flyer incentives, can differentiate fares based on trip length and frequency of use. The use of smart card systems can relate use and cost more effectively.

2. Market driven and customer oriented services

Transit cannot be all things to all people and it is necessary for OC Transpo to give priority to key markets and provide effective services to them. Emphasis must be placed on providing a dependable basic system, supplemented with targeted services emphasizing speed and convenience in markets where transit can compete with the private automobile. The long-term strategy will involve changes to the route structure which would include:

The development of an effective base network providing priority service on major arteries to address suburban trip patterns and to serve cross-town trips not necessarily oriented to the Central areas.

More community oriented services that provide feeder service to/from the base network and transitway stations.

More express and limited stop services to major activity and employment centres located in suburban locations.

A second feature of the service strategy is to accommodate the travel needs of an aging population and an increasing number of persons with disabilities with an integrated fixed route/paratransit system. Low floor, accessible buses, accessible light rail vehicles, accessible transitway stations and paratransit services designed to feed into the conventional system will promote the integration and efficient use of the fixed route and paratransit services.

A third feature of the service strategy is a transit priority network for all of the bus routes comprising the base network. It will be phased in over time and will give preferential treatment to transit. This faster and more reliable service can be achieved through traffic signal pre-emption, responsive signal phasing, queue jump lanes, reserved bus lanes, automatic vehicle location and control and advanced passenger information.

Enhanced passenger information systems provide pre-trip information to plan a trip, bus arrival time at stops, next stop information, and other data. This will complement the "560" telephone system and traditional transit shelter maps, printed schedules, ride guides, etc.

The long-term strategy also includes the promotion of eight major transit centres—Hurdman, Billings Bridge, Baseline, St. Laurent, South Keys, Bayshore, Kanata Town Centre, Place d'Orleans—and the establishment of secondary transit centres at Barrhaven, Blair, Lebreton and other locations.

Eight new park-and-ride facilities will be located primarily at transitway locations.

The long-term strategy includes a recommendation for an accelerated fleet replacement schedule with low floor buses, that include air conditioning, more extensive use of articulated buses and interior configurations to increase available seating.

3. Transit priority network

An effective grid network of high frequency, reliable bus routes supported by transit priority measures, real-time passenger information systems and control strategies are required to improve user convenience, especially in the rapidly growing suburban market. A transit priority network is an essential complement to the transitway system. Together they would provide a complete package of quality service and information to raise the profile of transit and attract new ridership.

While growth is mainly in the suburbs, the Central Area and other areas served by the transitway system will remain OC Transpo's core market and it is essential that the transitway system be improved and extended to serve and expand this market. Improvements recommended include larger transit shelters on Albert and Slater, heated shelters where possible and related streetscape changes, expansion of the transitway to accommodate the Region's growth projections, and the introduction of a light-rail transit (LRT) system. The LRT would operate at a relatively low cost and be part of the grid network of systems, fully integrated in terms of fares and schedules. The pilot project CPR corridor line is planned to be in operation by August 2000 and will extend from a new Bayview station on the West Transitway west of Lebreton Station to Greenboro Station on the Southwest Transitway. It will serve Carleton University, Confederation Heights and Dows Lake.

The Official Plan includes a second LRT line for long-range implementation extending from the Train Station in the east and following the CNR rail line to Greenboro Station and then west to Kanata. The line will serve the areas of high employment concentration in Kanata, the various business parks and general suburban travel.

4. Capital costs

The estimated capital cost for the long-term transit improvement strategy (in 1998 dollars) includes $1,041 million for bus fleet expansion and bus replacement as described above, $411 million for the transitway system extensions, $175 million for the two LRT lines, $33 million for park and ride facilities, $120 million for transit priority measures on arterial roads and smart system elements and $50 million for garage expansion and rehabilitation. The largest capital expenditure over the planning period will be the replacement of buses as they reach the end of their useful design life (estimated at 12 years) and for expansion of the bus fleet to accommodate the growth in ridership.

The average capital cost over the planning period is $79.6 million per year for the recommended strategy. This is significantly more than the $50 million per year raised for capital projects in 1998, and points to the need for user pay initiatives. While it would be preferred to defer some of this spending to later in the program, the need to catch up for low levels of capital investment through the 1990's, particularly the fleet renewal imperatives, will require capital spending of approximately $80 million per year even in the short term. It is therefore essential that the new revenue sources be developed as soon as possible. All costs are preliminary and are presented for discussion purposes only. The map on page 10 illustrates the proposed changes.

5. Summary of impacts

The recommended strategy is estimated to achieve the 20% transit modal split target, resulting in an estimated annual ridership of 125 million trips. Through route restructuring and various efficiency initiatives, it is estimated that the performance of OC Transpo can be improved. However, given the large increase in transit trip-making, operating costs will increase significantly over the planning period.

It is emphasized again that achieving the increased ridership targets is an ambitious undertaking, the success of which is essential to achieving a more sustainable, liveable Region. This will require all parts of the major, integrated program of policies, capital expansion and service improvements described above. Omitting any component of the long-term strategy would seriously weaken the ability to achieve the ridership targets and other benefits called for in the Official Plan.

If the recommended user pay policies are introduced, annual revenues may be generated in the order of $94 million or more by 2021. This would reduce the total annual property tax subsidy for operating and capital to about $55 million in 2021, which compares favourably to the $109 million total subsidy in 1997.

If the user pay dedicated revenue sources and pricing to moderate the growth of auto travel demand are not forthcoming early on, and if location-specific development charges are not introduced soon, transit's competitive position would be doubly weakened: through continuing subsidization of auto travel and urban sprawl, auto-dependent development; and through the loss of dedicated revenue to fund the transit improvement program. In turn, if insufficient funding is available for the full capital program, the timing of the transitway extensions and other service improvements would have to be deferred until beyond 2021. Under a reduced program, while the capital costs could be reduced by about $400 million, the required increases in transit coverage, speed, reliability, service quality and cost-efficiency would not occur fully during the planning period, and the targeted ridership increases might not be achieved. The reduced program also assumes new buses will last in service for 14 years without need for a substantial rebuild, which is unrealistic.

Turning a "downward spiral" into an upward surge of service, ridership and financial performance will require early and sustained implementation of all parts of the strategy.

Short-Term Strategy

This section sets out the key elements of a five year operational strategy and plan for OC Transpo. It is designed as a suitable final step to achieving the long-term strategy, and also focuses on approaches to improving day-to-day operations. The "Strategies for Change" document released in September, 1998 outlined a variety of possible approaches to improving OC Transpo operations over the next five years. These options subsequently received considerable discussion and analysis and resulted in the recommended strategy discussed below.

The Steering Committee provided one key direction in reviewing the Strategies for Change Report as follows:

The Objective of the Comprehensive Review is that OC Transpo strive to be "The Best of the Best", to aggressively pursue increased use of transit in Ottawa-Carleton and to be as cost-effective as possible. In doing so, it is the Steering Committee's stated goal to achieve these objectives by working together, within the OC Transpo organization. It is our intention not to contract out.

This decision was taken in the context of a commitment by management and the unions to adopt, and strive to achieve, specific performance targets that will ensure OC Transpo is the "Best of the Best", both in terms of ridership and in terms of financial performance and efficiency. These commitments are essential if the targets set out below are to be achieved. Although ridership targets can be met in the short term by simply spending more money, sustained growth will only be supported by the public, by Council and by senior governments when it is demonstrably cost-effective.

A. Targets

The Official Plan calls for increasing OC Transpo's ridership from 108 annual rides per capita to 155 rides per capita by the year 2021. In this context, a five year target of 120 rides per capita would be challenging, but achievable, and would establish a trend that is consistent with achieving the long-term target. Given the anticipated growth in population, achieving this target will require an increase of 18% in total rides to almost 85 million in the year 2003, or growth of 3.5% per year on average.

The cost-effectiveness of OC Transpo's operation is summed up in three indicators:

The number of riders per hour of bus service provided.

The cost of providing that hour of bus service.

The average fare charged per passenger.

OC Transpo carried 36.6 passengers per hour of bus service in 1997 but only achieved 35.4 passengers per hour in 1998. A target of 37 passengers per hour of bus service provided in 2003 will be a challenge, but its attainment will ensure an efficient use of the available resources. To achieve this target OC Transpo must maximize service in areas where demand is high while reducing it when and where demand is low.

It cost OC Transpo $71.46 to put a bus on the road for an hour in 1997 and its 1998 budget expected a cost of $72.73 per hour, an increase roughly in line with the rate of inflation. The recommended target for 2003 is $67.59 per hour measured in 1997 dollars assuming the recommended mix of regular and articulated buses. We arrived at this figure by considering the lowest costs achieved by OC Transpo historically, the maximum savings that might be possible if services were contracted out, and the lowest cost achieved by other mid-sized transit systems. The target will need to be adjusted for inflation.

Average fare levels rose 22% faster than inflation in the last ten years, contributing to the ridership decline. Fares are expected to decrease modestly in 1998, from $1.14 to $1.13 as a result of the introduction of the deep discount tickets. Although free fares have received some discussion publicly, the cost of a fully free system would not be reflected in ridership, and could lead to some abuse of the system through undesirable behaviours. However selected discounts aimed at specific target markets will result in some increased ridership, and with the introduction of smart cards, this will be manageable administratively. A target fare level of $1.10 per ride (1997$) would be fiscally responsible, while leaving room for creative marketing initiatives. OC Transpo should review these targets periodically based on the latest available data.

Achieving these targets will entail that the tax dollars required to support public transit operations over the five year period are committed. However it should be noted that some early investments will be required to achieve the targets. While some of the investment must be in capital items (e.g., new buses, improved transit priorities, etc. as discussed below), other investments must be made in the operating budget. For example, improving service reliability will require providing more relaxed schedules, which will reduce "efficiency" in the short term, although in the mid-term it will increase ridership and measured efficiency. An investment in marketing, improved customer relations and better complaint handling is required in the short term to boost ridership and enhance confidence in the system. These investments will be justified as the system and ridership expand, but will result in increased costs per hour of service in the short term.

B. Working Groups to improve operations

The "Strategies for Change" document outlined the short-term opportunities to improve service reliability, customer relations, employee working conditions and efficiency. The details of these aspects of the short-term strategy are being developed by Working Groups that include employees, management and union representatives. Five Working Groups have been established to date and a sixth group—to address Facilities Maintenance will begin work in early February.

Working Groups were established for two reasons:

Employees and management of OC Transpo have the best understanding of problems that need to be addressed.

Employees, management and unions working together can help develop solutions to problems that are practical and acceptable to those who will have to implement them.

The Working Groups are in various stages of designing new approaches to transit service delivery. A brief summary of issues being addressed by each of the groups follows. In addition, references to the preliminary findings and/or recommendations of some of the Working Groups are contained in the body of the report.

Internal Communications Working Group
Working together in a team setting will require a change in corporate culture and full endorsement from top management. This working group identified the need for training at all levels accompanied by an increased accountability for communicating effectively. The group pinpointed the need to simplify the communications process and communicate more directly through a reduction in "filters" (e.g., allow Operators to communicate directly with Security). The group is considering the best ways to keep all employees informed of the implications of the many changes underway, such as the integration of finance and human resource functions with the RMOC. In addition, the group is recommending the creation of an internal communications position to ensure the delivery of timely and pertinent information to all OC Transpo employees.

Driver Empowerment Working Group
This group consists of operators, supervisors, security and union representatives who will redraft the Operator Handbook, redefine the Operator and Supervisory roles and clearly define accountability. The redrafting of the Handbook allowed many "hot" issues to be discussed openly. Some time was spent debating solutions, but this well-invested time will aid in resolving future issues. The group has completed their first revision of the Handbook which is to be reviewed by management and the union before final review and recommendation by the Working Group.

Operator Booking System Working Group
The Operator Booking System Working Group was established to make recommendations for improving the current systems for allocating work to drivers that would be presented to union and management for negotiation. To date, the Group has identified problems with the system, looked at what other transit authorities are doing and identified design features. They plan to ask for interim feedback from all Operators and then to run "dummy" run combinations to see the impact of options before making any final recommendations.

A broad range of features for a new system has been identified. The desired outcome is to consider all ideas and end up with a system that treats all Operators more equitably. The philosophy that "I put up with it so you have to" has been recognized as inappropriate in today's environment.

Route Scheduling Working Group
The working group on Route Scheduling reviewed the running times, routing, and loading factors for routes 118 and 97 in an effort to develop a standard process that could be applied to review any route when necessary. The review process included Operators and Supervisors from the route, scheduling staff as well as union and management representatives. The on-street operational experiences of the drivers and supervisors are then married with the data collected through the Automated Passenger Counting system. The product is a mutually agreeable and realistic running time that can then be implemented in the next booking. This will improve service reliability and reduce stress on drivers.

As a result of the work done on routes 118 and 97, the working group arrived at the conclusion that there was a need to be flexible in the establishment of running times; that different times might need to be established for the same route based on time of day, day of week, loading factors at that specific time, vehicle type, stops and driving conditions along the route.

Further work needs to be done before other routes are tackled. This work includes:

Developing a clear definition of recovery and lay-over time.

Undertaking a joint union management education process so that Operators understand the importance of recovery time and how taking the full recovery time when running late can affect customer satisfaction and ridership levels.

Agreeing on an acceptable recovery time that will provide Operators, in most instances, with sufficient time to obtain some relief from the pressures of the road.

Maintenance Working Group
This group has identified maintenance problems, established priorities and are addressing the issues related to stores. The interim recommendations relating to stores are to establish an express lane and a tool tag system. In addition, the Group has recommended the establishment of an interdisciplinary group to integrate the new fleet as efficiently as possible. While the Working Group can do much to address many of the minor roadblocks to efficient work flow, a work flow analysis and reengineering of processes in conjunction with the implementation of the SAP system is required.

A Working Group involving only planning department staff, two representatives from Operations and consultants was established to examine the complex issue of route structure. The results of their deliberations are provided in the next section.

C. Route structure

The transit system currently consists of a hierarchy of routes that brings most urban residents within 400 metres of a transit route. The strength of the system is the route structure which provides basic region-wide mobility for residents, local services for communities, and express services for commuters. The transitway and base routes in the main travel corridors, the community services supporting these routes, and the extensive express bus network throughout the region are the main reasons for the transit system's high ridership when compared to similar sized cities in North America.

While transit ridership has been declining for some time, it is the stretching of services, not the structure of the services, that is the main cause of the decline. Fiscal constraints have limited the ability of OC Transpo to respond effectively to changing market conditions. It has expanded its route network in the suburbs to keep pace with the decentralization of population and employment, but has had to offset the increased service hours and costs by stretching its services in the older more established parts of the service area where ridership is highest. As a result, the transit routes have become more circuitous, the transit services have become less frequent, and running times have become tighter and more difficult to control over the years. It makes sense in lower density communities to focus service on the heavily used (but still expensive) peak and express services rather than lightly used all day services.

Improvements required include:

Strengthened grid base network—Straighter routes operating the length of arterial roads connecting the major activity centres; less complex route structures; and, better access to major activity/ employment centres outside the downtown core. These routes will run all day, every day.

Improved connectivity—Reduce passenger waiting and transfer connection times.

Improved community circulation—Combine regular and peak period routes to provide higher frequency service, introduce shorter routes that provide better circulation to/from local activities and feed into the base network. In the peak period, some of the local buses will head downtown becoming "express services".

More express/limited stop services to suburban employment centres—The downtown express services are underutilized in the reverse direction and could be used to provide more frequent express/limited stop services to suburban employment centres.

Enhanced service design guidelines—Minimum service standards for bus frequency, cost recovery, targets and loading standards for base, local and express routes ensuring service goes where it will have the greatest benefit. The minimum cost recovery ratios will be increased, which will reduce some local services to make more resources available for the base network and express services.

Changed interlining practices—Interlining of regular routes needs to be reduced during core periods (off-peak) when schedule adherence is critical, and increased for express and peak period routes to provide better services to the suburban areas, and to reduce deadheading (driving an empty bus).

A map showing how these improvements may be achieved in a new route structure over the next five years is available. The individual bus route changes will be subject to further public participation as they are implemented.

Improvement of OC Transpo's aging fleet is a first priority for capital improvements. OC Transpo should plan on a 6-year average bus life given current bus technologies as compared to the 14-year average age of the fleet in 1997. OC Transpo has already accelerated its planned bus purchases in response to this need. The Service Plan will require about 900 buses by 2003 if the ridership increases occur. To make the bus fleet accessible, all future purchases should be low floor buses to facilitate boarding and alighting of passengers. Standard low floor buses have about 80% of the capacity of standard high floor buses, so about 20% more buses would need to be purchased to handle the anticipated loads if standard buses are used. To maintain productivity levels, about half the fleet will need to be low floor articulated buses which have about 40% more capacity than standard buses. The majority of the articulated buses will be required for the transitway, base and express services. Changes to the garages will also be required to accommodate the new buses.

Based on Canada's recent commitments in the Kyoto Agreement any reduction in emissions for OC Transpo would be beneficial in realizing the goals set out in this agreement. As a fuel based industry, public transit has an opportunity to reduce Canada's emissions if newer fuels and technologies can be applied to existing operations. The conversion to alternative fuels such as Compressed Natural Gas is one initiative that is suggested. However, CNG does have extra costs for things such as fueling/defueling stations, training for mechanics, additional staff to operate the facilities because of the explosive nature of the gas, and the construction or modification of maintenance facilities to meet current hazardous materials standards. The operation of CNG vehicles has also been problematic. Some transit systems report additional breakdowns, poor acceleration, and reliability as compared to diesel vehicles. Industry experts point to the diesel hybrid as the most promising initiative in emission reduction without sacrificing operational performance. Any decision to proceed with a new fuel or technology will have costs, both the initial capital outlay and other hidden costs, that will have to be weighted against the perceived contribution to environmental responsibility.

Transit priority network. Reduced congestion and lower operating costs for transit vehicles can be achieved by phasing in a transit priority network. The highest volume routes will initially be designated as "smart" routes operating in "smart" corridors that will receive various physical and operational measures to gain preferential treatment relative to the automobile. The following key projects should be realized:

West Transitway—The construction of the Bayshore Station is now underway and physical improvements and bus priority measures will be required to give transitway routes direct access to the station from the existing shoulder bus lanes on the Queensway.

Southwest Transitway/Woodroffe Avenue—The transitway should be extended to the CN railway line, Woodroffe Avenue widened and the new lanes used as bus priority lanes from the CN line to Fallowfield Road.

Reserved Bus Lanes/HOV—These are lanes to accommodate bus and High Occupancy Vehicles in areas of high traffic congestion. The following priority corridors for reserved lanes are proposed for short-term implementation:

Baseline/Heron Road from Greenbank to Data Centre Road.

Carling Avenue from Pinecrest to Bronson Avenue.

Park and Ride Facilities. Expansion of park-and-ride facilities would strengthen this role and provide a cost-effective means of building transit demand in new development areas where the demand is too low or service too costly to support high quality transit services. The highest priority new facility would be constructed at Fallowfield and Eagleson.

Albert and Slater Streetscape Improvements. Implementation of streetscape improvements recommended in the proposal includes a new transitway station at the Rideau Centre and improved facilities and amenities for passengers at stations, with widened sidewalks (through narrowing of the roadway), trees, street furniture, decorative sidewalk paving and advanced passenger information.

Recent advances in the effective use of information technology for transit, often referred to as 'smart systems' have provided relatively low cost means for increasing and sustaining ridership. OC Transpo has already begun to implement smart system enhancements. An action plan to cover the next five years has been developed and addresses:

Electronic fare collection—A single "smart" card could replace paper tickets and passes, as well as reduce the volume of cash and paper transfers used. The new fare system would make OC Transpo more convenient to use, should reduce operating costs and create the basis for improved fare coordination with Société de Transport de l'Outouais. Perhaps most important, the improved fare system would have the flexibility to support a wide array of potential customer loyalty programs and market segmentation based fare policies, providing critical tools which have the potential to increase ridership.

Fleet operations management—A modern vehicle location monitoring system would be more cost-effective to operate than OC Transpo's current system, would support the Para Transpo fleet, and would provide the basis for improvements in on-time performance, through real-time fleet location information. For the Service Plan as a minimum, the Global Positioning System-based improvements to the AVLC system needs to be applied to all transitway and base network buses to improve schedule adherence on the major high-frequency routes.

Passenger information—Enhancements to OC Transpo's current techniques for communicating passenger information, including the "560" telephone information system, the website and the station displays will be made. In general, additional information will be provided to passengers before and during their trips at an expanded range of locations. The station displays will provide ongoing updates to passengers about expected arrival times while they are waiting at major stations and terminals. A variable sign indicating the estimated time of arrival (similar to the London "Countdown" system) is the preferred approach. A system to advise passengers along Slater and Albert of the expected order of bus arrivals is also required.

Traffic signal priority—Along certain routes, buses tend to get behind schedule by unpredictable traffic delays. Adjustments to the traffic signals, to provide the green a bit early or hold the green a little longer can be essential in restoring on-time performance. Sophisticated techniques can be implemented to not only detect when transit vehicles are approaching these intersections, but to determine which transit vehicles are most in need of priority and how priority can be provided while minimizing delays to general traffic.

The five year plan for implementing this comprehensive set of enhancements involves capital expenditure estimated at approximately $20 million. While this is a significant cost, the expected benefits of smart systems for increasing ridership, improving performance and reducing operating costs, would in fact be difficult if not impossible to duplicate through conventional transit improvements.

E. Accessible transit

Ridership on Para Transpo has grown by over 60% since 1990 and pressures to increase service are expected to continue with the aging of society and as persons with disabilities become increasingly integrated into mainstream society. The objective for transit accessibility is to accommodate the growing demand by older adults and persons with a disability, while containing costs and providing mobility to all customers in a fiscally responsible manner. OC Transpo can address this challenge by better integrating fixed route and paratransit systems rather than operating two separate systems as it now does.

Over 70% of Para Transpo registrants are classified as ambulatory, some of whom would be able to use the fixed route service if an accessible infrastructure were in place. This would require an integrated system that removes the physical and psychological barriers to fixed route transit use and encourages its use through:

Low floor accessible buses on fixed routes.

The implementation of fully accessible Transitway stations.

Travel training for Para Transpo registrants to inform them of the accessibility features and how to plan trips and use the fixed route system.

Economic incentives and pricing policy including:

Fare Incentive Programs—These programs offer reduced fares on an ongoing basis or as special promotions to encourage individuals to use fixed route rather than Para Transpo service. For example, a concession fare for older adults on conventional transit services which would not be honoured on Para Transpo.

Premium Fares for Premium Service—These programs permit the charging of a premium fare, something greater than the standard Para Transpo fare, for specialized transit services outside of prescribed guidelines or service levels. For example, Para Transpo services provided on a client specific basis to agencies or organizations.

Simplified Fare Collection—Includes vouchers, IDs, passes, and other fare collection programs targeted specifically to persons with disabilities who may have difficulty with the standard fare payment system or to simplify the process of transferring between conventional transit and Para Transpo services.

Co-ordination of operator training and disability / sensitivity awareness.

An eligibility/certification process that recognizes the Para Transpo and fixed-route customer as one integrated market. Revised eligibility and certification processes would enable decisions to be made on whether an individual uses paratransit or fixed route transit on a trip by trip basis depending on the individual's functional (physical) disability and trip origins and destinations. Trip by trip eligiblity could be applied to anyone who has some ability to use fixed route service.

A basic system of paratransit services to complement the Base Network of fixed routes, designed to serve persons unable to use the accessible fixed route system. Services could have scheduled meets with Transitway services to improve productivity.

A family of services consisting of community routes, route deviation services, local routes and sedans/accessible taxis.

An administrative framework that includes a mandate of 'managing the mobility' of the elderly and disabled community, coordinating Para Transpo and other community services.

While many of the demand management opportunities may be implemented within a five-year timeframe, the implementation of an appropriate accessible infrastructure must be viewed as an evolutionary or staged process with required capital assets, including accessible vehicle acquisition, being completed over a longer period of time.

F. Safety and security issues

In recent years, issues of safety and security have become increasingly important to both passengers and OC Transpo employees. Many of these concerns are being addressed by OC Transpo management and security personnel and have resulted in positive initiatives. Most of OC Transpo's concerns are not unique and are, in fact, common to those of other North American transit authorities. These concerns have been dealt with using a variety of methods and configurations in different metropolitan areas, with some methods having greater success than others. It should be pointed out, however, that not all security measures will be cost effective for OC Transpo. The current fiscal reality will place certain restraints on expectations.

To its credit, OC Transpo has an existing complement of well trained security personnel who deliver a wide range of services. In spite of this fact, comments from system users clearly point out that they would like to see a greater security presence on the Transitway.

New programs and initiatives will succeed if new and creative staffing arrangements are implemented. One such initiative would be to use existing field staff (e.g., inspectors, maintenance and customer service staff) to provide the maximum possible uniformed presence at transitway stations in the evening. An increase in the security base itself will also be required. Creative initiatives such as these, would allow OC Transpo's high caliber security personnel to concentrate on important duties, programs and community initiatives.

Another element identified as critical to the security strategy is the maximum visibility of security equipment. Examples of this equipment include closed-circuit video equipment, mirrors located in difficult-to-see locations within transit stations, security and safety signage, and informational pamphlets dealing with security issues that are in rider-accessible areas of the transit system. A thorough review of the application of CCVE technology throughout the Transitway should be conducted. This review should delineate the system design, technology, integration, communications, centralized monitoring and response components, changes to staffing-levels, scheduling adjustments, as well as an acquisition and operational roll-out plan.

Greater use of CCVE technology is included in the current technology plan. This plan should be initiated and must be supplemented by a serious consideration of centralized monitoring, assessment and dispatch. Effective signage needs to be developed, directing riders' attention to the presence of CCVE equipment at each site.

Of all the possible security measures which can be applied, the most consistently successful include proactive, community-based interactive programs coupled with the consistent application of accepted Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles.

The community education and awareness process is a critical component of effective security and safety programs and should be the principal role of all security and supervisory personnel. Community-based interactive programs enhance the customer-service focus through uniformed officer interaction with, and education of, the system's user population. OC Transpo should ensure all Municipal Law Enforcement Officers and other on-street staff are provided with cross-cultural and non-violent conflict resolution training. A non-violent conflict resolution component should also be included in the operator orientation and training process.

With respect to CPTED principles, their application combines a series of interdependent disciplines designed to maximize protection to individuals, without creating a "Fort Knox" environment. OC Transpo requires a Safety Audit using these principles to identify potential oversights in and around Transitway stations. OC Transpo must also ensure that CPTED principles are considered in the design and construction of future Transitway and Light Rail Transit Station.

Lighting is also a primary deterrent to criminal activity. OC Transpo should conduct a comprehensive review of lighting and safety requirements at Transitway stations and develop a formalized, consistent and auditable process of reporting lighting defects.

We also looked at the problem of operator assault. Although OC Transpo collects statistical information, such critical information must be reported and recorded in a consistent manner in order to provide clear evidence of the level and nature of the problems faced by Operators as well as customers. Such critical information will allow it to address the concerns of Operators and their families, as well as those of the ridership, more efficiently and effectively.

As mentioned earlier, many community concerns have been addressed by OC Transpo management and security personnel and have resulted in positive initiatives. However, current security measures may not be sufficiently publicized. OC Transpo could implement an awareness campaign to advertise current security measures (e.g., the presence of e-phones). These and other programs could involve the dissemination of information on buses, in transit stations and in Park & Ride locations, and should be supplemented by specific information on OC Transpo's security programs, activities and contact numbers in the Ottawa-Carleton Transportation Internet web site.

G. Marketing

OC Transpo's ridership growth objectives for the period from 1998 to 2003 are quite ambitious. Achievement of this growth will be heavily reliant on a revitalized transit service. However, unless a greater proportion of the regions' residents buy in to OC Transpo's new commitment to service quality and customer focus these efforts will be wasted.

Marketing and customer service activities will play a critical role in making riders and potential riders aware of the new service approach, building a stronger image for the transit service, and providing incentives and support for trial use and commitment. At the same time, however, marketing and customer service activities can only bring potential riders to a bus stop or transitway station; they can only be retained if their ride experience (including access and waiting time and transfers) matches up to the service promises made in OC Transpo's communications and marketing. In other words, riders' expectations must be matched, or exceeded, by their actual experience.

In consultation with OC Transpo staff most directly involved in the management of marketing and customer service activities, we identified the most critically important marketing initiatives:

Definition of a desired market image or positioning for the OC Transpo transit service.

Formulation of a set of guidelines to ensure this Market Identity is established and reinforced in all external communications.

A multi-level marketing campaign to communicate details of major changes flowing from the comprehensive review; initiated in advance of the introduction of the changes and featuring a combination of television and press advertising plus supporting direct marketing and on-bus information distribution.

Regular direct marketing campaigns aimed at building ridership retention and growth.

Ongoing communications both internally (employees, unions) and externally (media, RMOC councillors and administration, key interest groups) to improve the understanding of what OC Transpo is doing and foster a more balanced external depiction of the transit service.

An enhanced role for customer service centres and vendors—focused on information dissemination and guidance to customers as well as ticket and pass sales.

Additional marketing and communications resources within the Marketing and Customer Service group, covering:

Additional marketing management and coordination resources to work with an established advertising agency of record.

The creation of a business development function staffed with "account managers" responsible for developing and maintaining business relationships with key intermediaries that generate the reasons for people to use the transit system—the vendor network, major employers (especially those experiencing rapid growth), shopping centres, educational institutions, major event managers, the local tourism and convention sector, and so on.

Creation of a dedicated marketing communications function responsible for key stakeholder and media relations, including internal marketing communications.

H. Customer complaints process

OC Transpo's Customer Service group is the principal point of receipt and reply to customer complaints and commendations. The group receives about 30,000 calls per year of which about 7,000 are formally logged and coded as customer complaints. This gives an incidence rate of about 10 complaints per 100,000 rides; a level that is comparable with similar transit services in Canada.

The group aims to resolve as many complaints as possible at the point of first contact. However, a significant proportion have to be forwarded to either Transport Operations or Planning for investigation and explanation. The majority are either Service Delivery, Personnel or Safety related. Delays in resolving complaints are mostly due to:

Dependence on a paper-based manual system for distributing details of complaints and the explanations.

Time required to identify drivers who may be the subject of the complaint or who were in the best position to provide an explanation.

Conflicting demands on supervisors' time. Supervisors carry out a lot of the follow-up investigations once drivers have been identified. Finding and arranging to meet a driver can be quite time consuming.

Currently, the majority of complaints are completed within 10-14 days, which compares unfavourably with OC Transpo's expectations and the turnaround in other transit organizations, e.g., Winnipeg resolves about 80% of complaints in a week to ten days, and Calgary resolves about 80% within 48 hours. Amongst the personnel most closely involved with the complaints handling process within OC Transpo the consensus is that complaints should be resolved within five days but that the current system, combined with resource limitations, means that ten days is realistic.

Key actions initiated or required to improve the turnaround time on complaints:

Introduction of an electronic forms system to eliminate the need for hard copy reports and manual distribution, which will minimize the time between a complaint being logged and it "arriving" at the point in the organization where it can be investigated. Work on the development of this system is underway. It will also provide investigators with the ability to group complaints in different ways (e.g., by route number and time, by location, etc.) to facilitate identification and investigations of more systemic problems.

Additional resources in the Customer Service group to facilitate the logging and forwarding of complaints, and to aggregate and monitor trends in the volume and mix of complaints, and times taken for their resolution.

Quicker ways of identifying and following up with drivers.

Increased supervisory time allocated to complaint investigation, either through changes in the roles of supervisors or increases in supervisory resources.

Systems for flagging complaints that have not been resolved within OC Transpo's target times, to ensure that they are not left "sitting" when a staff member involved in an investigation goes on leave or is on sick leave.

Utilization of information gained from other improvements in system management and tracking, such as the use of GPS, to make more information available to Customer Service personnel and thus able to handle more complaints at the time they are received, identify network weaknesses that are contributing to complaints, and identify buses and operators that are the subject of complaints.

Provision of information to supervisors so that they can determine if a driver complaint is a repeat or serial offence.

Regular senior management review of trends in the types and nature of complaints received—to identify needs for changes to services and/or schedules—and the number of complaints that are over the target turnaround time.

I. Role of the Commission

The Commission represents the taxpayer and should be in a position to ensure OC Transpo provides value for the funds provided. The Commission also represents the transit customers, and must be able to ensure adequate service is provided. In the past, the Commission has often tried to micro-manage the provision of service, restricting the ability of OC Transpo to respond to changing market needs and financial resources. It has also played a role in the collective bargaining process that has affected the ability of labour and management to achieve appropriate agreements.

The role of the Commission in the future should be to:

Approve the budget and related service goals that will provide a basis to evaluate management's success in operating OC Transpo. This would include the determination of the financial contribution the Region will make, the ridership target, the hours of service OC Transpo will deliver, the average fares to be collected, and the priorities for capital expenditures.

Approve the policy framework, including the fare policy and the Service Design Guidelines used to determine what services will be provided, but not the individual routes or schedules.

Monitor the performance of OC Transpo relative to the budget and service goals approved through the review of regular reports.

Approve contracts where they exceed the level of delegated authority. In the case of labour contracts, the Commission should be involved in approving the mandate for management and again to approve the negotiated agreement.

Individual Commissioners, each elected members of Council, do not have a role in the management of OC Transpo, but do have a role in the operations. The key elements of this role are:

They should expect and receive prompt, accurate response to enquires, suggestions and complaints they forward on behalf of their constituents,

They should be included in the community consultation process, particularly on service design issues of local significance, and have their input valued as useful spokespersons for their constituents' needs. This does not imply that they should have the authority to direct that services be provided that are not warranted.

They should be invited to assist in service promotion and ridership building, particularly in helping establish new services and build the ridership required to retain services that might fall below expected performance guidelines.

That OC Transpo focus, in both the short term and the long term, on achieving improved service reliability and attentive customer service, and refrain from providing more service than it can provide reliably.

That the capital improvements outlined in the Regional Official Plan for transit improvements be implemented, with the emphasis in early years on the transit priority improvements and bus/HOV lane implementation. It is important to maintain exclusive use of the transitway for buses, however consideration should be given to extending the use of new arterial priority lanes to all vehicles with three or more passengers.

That OC Transpo continue moving to make its fixed route system accessible as the key strategy for public transportation services for the disabled, with continued Para Transpo services aimed at serving those who cannot use the accessible fixed route system.

That bus fleet renewal be considered a priority, to improve reliability, meet the needs of the disabled, reduce maintenance costs, and meet customer service level expectations.

That the Region, in cooperation with other municipalities, request that the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada provide the Region with access to auto user charge revenues.

That the Region request the provincial government to empower it through enabling legislation to apply parking surcharges and use the revenue as a funding source for its transit/transportation program.

That the Region press the federal government to eliminate the "taxable benefit" status of employer subsidized bus passes, or to treat employer provided parking as a taxable benefit.

That in the next review of the Official Plan, consideration be given to adjusting the staging of growth outside the Greenbelt to reflect the success each of the urban communities has in implementing transit-friendly development.

That RMOC press for one-tier governance of land use and transportation planning, and in the meantime one or more Task Forces be set up, with appropriate representation from the Region, Area Municipalities and OC Transpo, tasked with achieving early and continuing action towards more transit-supportive land use including:

location-specific and density-related Regional Development Charges (RDCs), and other development incentives to encourage transit supportive development.

transit supportive parking policies.

development approval process improvements to ensure transit priorities are achieved.

That Council consider options for reforming the Urban Transit Area (UTA), including:

phasing out the UTA, with transit funding shifting to the regional levy.

extending the UTA to include Stittsville.

including transitway and transit related roadway capital improvements on the regional levy rather the UTA levy.

including the costs of park and ride lots and related service in the regional levy rather than the UTA levy.

That the Region undertake a modest public information program with community associations to inform them that more people in their neighbourhoods does not necessarily mean high-rise construction and, in fact could lead to a reversal of declining population and help support existing community services such as schools, sports teams and community centres.

That OC Transpo encourage and support industry pressure on bus and parts manufacturers for higher quality, longer lasting buses and parts.

Five Year Plan

That the Commission, management, unions and employee associations agree to work together to achieve the following targets by the year 2003:

Ridership of 120 rides per capita (an 11.1% increase), or 84 million annual rides (a 19% increase)

Carrying 37 passengers per hour of service (a 4.5% increase)

Reducing average hourly operating costs to $65.01 per 40 foot bus hour and $74.53 per articulated bus hour, measured in 1997 dollars (a 7.1% decrease). This target assumes fleet renewal will proceed, and that the new generation of low floor buses will have maintenance costs comparable to the older buses once the "bugs" have been worked out, and may therefore require longer than 5 years to fully achieve.

Achieving fare revenue of $1.10 per passenger carried, measured in 1997 dollars (a 3.5% decrease).

That OC Transpo review these targets every two years, revising the targets as necessary to reflect changing circumstances (including bus renewal and new bus experience), evolving benchmarks and best practices and inflation rates.

That the revised Service Design Guidelines be adopted, including the 25% minimum revenue:cost ratio.

That the proposed Route Structure be adopted as the basis for Transplan public consultations and modifications as required before implementation.

That the National Capital Commission be urged to make the portion of Colonel By Drive between Hogs Back and Carleton University available for transit service to improve service to the university.

That the transit priority initiatives identified be considered for inclusion in RMOC capital budgets over the next five years.

That OC Transpo move forward on implementation of a smart card based fare collection system, Global Positioning System vehicle location and control system, enhanced customer information initiatives and traffic signal priority systems as outlined.

That a comprehensive demand management system be implemented for Para Transpo services, including:

Eligibility to be determined in three categories:

Eligible for all trips, all the time.

Eligible only when accessible fixed route service not available.

Eligible sometimes, based on variable medical condition, weather or physical barriers.

Certification applications be accepted from any medical practitioner, but OC Transpo retain the right to have its own practitioner review applications and/or examine applicants as required.

Fare incentives/disincentives to encourage use of the fixed route system.

Travel training (in use of fixed route system) for registrants.

Process

That the Working Groups continue with adequate resources to the completion of their respective mandates, including the resources required for re-engineering of selected maintenance activities.