Close Close
Skip to content

Performance measures

View this page on a desktop computer or laptop for the best user experience.

At OC Transpo, we are committed to continuously improving our transit system with a goal of achieving 99.5% service delivery for conventional buses on our route network that serves the entire urban area of Ottawa and many rural villages. For Para Transpo, our objective is to accept all trip requests. We continue to work on the reliability of the O-Train system to exceed 99% service delivery.

We take a customer-first approach, and this informs the decisions we make and the steps we take along the way. Our commitment to transparency is part of being accountable for providing safe, comfortable, convenient and reliable transit service. It also ensures that you, our customers, have confidence in the system.

OC Transpo’s business decisions are – and will continue to be – based on data. Our commitment is to manage and improve our service for our customers by analyzing data and using key performance indicators to track our progress.

Performance measures fall into four categories: safety, ridership, customer service, and service reliability. These categories, and the specific measures, have been selected to portray the many aspects of transit service that customers experience. On this page, monthly scorecards for ridership, customer service, and service reliability are presented.

We share this data publicly with our governing bodies, the Transit Commission and City Council, on a regular basis. We have also started to share performance measures and key performance indicators at monthly Transit Commission meetings. Annual comparisons are also posted here.  

We will continue to enhance our online content and will provide more specific measurements as we move forward.  


Bus and O-Train ridership

Download full dataset

Definition: This measure represents the number of customer trips from origin to final destination (also called “total linked trips”) on bus and O-Train across the OC Transpo network.

Para Transpo ridership

Download full dataset

Definition: This measure represents the number of customer trips completed by Para Transpo.

Total customer interactions with Customer Service Representatives

Download full dataset

Definition: This measure represents the number of interactions that customers have had with Customer Service Representatives. Customers can interact with OC Transpo through a variety of channels, including calls, voicemails, written and non-written comments, visits to OC Transpo Customer Service Centres, video chat at ticket machines, and Para Transpo bookings.

Average time to answer inquiries

Download full dataset

Definition: The average time customers waited on the telephone before reaching a Customer Service Representative.

Overall service availability

Download full dataset

Definition: Service availability is the percentage of scheduled hours of bus and O-Train service that were delivered.

Excess wait time - Bus

Download full dataset

Definition: Excess wait time is the difference between the actual wait time customers experienced at bus stops and stations and the scheduled wait time (the amount of time customers would expect to wait if service operated perfectly on schedule). Excess wait time is measured at major stops for all bus and O-Train service where it is operating every 15 minutes or more frequently. Major stops include O-Train and Transitway stations, major connection points, timepoints and destinations.

Excess wait time - O-Train

Download full dataset

Definition: Excess wait time is the difference between the actual wait time customers experienced at bus stops, Transitway Stations and O-Train stations and the scheduled wait time (the amount of time customers would expect to wait if service operated perfectly on schedule). Excess wait time is measured at major stops for all bus and O-Train service where it is operating every 15 minutes or more frequently.

On-time performance for bus routes operating every 16+ minutes

Download full dataset

Definition: On-time performance is a measure of the percentage of trips leaving major stops no more than 1 minute before and no more than 5 minutes after the scheduled time. It is measured where routes operate every 16 minutes or less frequently. Major stops include O-Train and Transitway stations, major connection points, timepoints and destinations. Early arrivals at terminus stations (final stops, where all customers disembark) and at off-only stops (for Connexion routes which have finished picking up customers and are only dropping off) are considered on-time, as these early arrivals are not negatively perceived by customers. New on-time performance measures were adopted by OC Transpo in 2020. As a result, statistics for previous years are not available using the current methodology.

On-time performance – Para Transpo

Download full dataset

Definition: When booking Para Transpo trips, customers are given a 30-minute window within which their mini-bus or taxi is scheduled to arrive. Para Transpo on-time performance is defined as the percentage of trips meeting this criterion.

Elevator availability

Download full dataset

Definition: Elevator availability is measured as the percentage of time that an elevator is available for service. Because many stations have a second elevator which serves as a backup, if one elevator is out of service while redundant elevators remain in service and maintain access to all platforms, the station is considered accessible and availability is considered 100 percent. In stations with only one elevator, any time an elevator is out of service will detract from total elevator availability.