Bus Service Delivery Action Plan

Mayor and Members of Council,

This email is to provide an update on O-Train Line 1 service as well as the weekly update on the key performance metrics used to measure progress on our bus service delivery action plan.

O-Train Line 1 Operations

O-Train Line 1 service continues to operate at three- to four-minute frequency during peak periods. Staff are at key stations during the busiest periods to support customers. With the anticipated snowfall this afternoon, staff are prepared to respond as needed.

Currently, 21 vehicles are available for service, with the number available fluctuating due to other regular maintenance and inspection requirements. OC Transpo expects to maintain the increased frequency of trains during peak periods.

OC Transpo continues to work through all three streams in the action plan to safely restore capacity on Line 1.

As part of work stream 1, technical meetings with Rideau Transit Group (RTG) are continuing. Further information provided through these meetings is being analyzed by OC Transpo and independent experts. Further information is still needed to verify and validate the appropriateness of short and medium-term plans proposed by RTG, and further work is being done to better understand the supply chain status for replacement cartridge bearing assemblies (CBAs).

As part of work stream 2, RTG is conducting further technical analysis and laboratory testing of CBAs to gather additional technical details. RTG has also engaged a consultant to provide increased expertise on bearings and monitoring techniques. Further investigations of enhanced containment measures are underway.

As part of work stream 3, it remains the City’s expectation that a root cause analysis leads to a long-term solution that provides safe, stable service.

Line 2 and Line 4 are operating as planned and are not impacted by this issue.

Bus Service Delivery

The week of February 8 to February 14 saw a decline in bus service reliability compared to the preceding week. The main factor contributing to undelivered trips for the week was operator availability.

The results for February 8 to February 14 show that:

• Bus service delivery was on average 95.3%.
  • Excluding days with severe winter weather, bus service delivery was 95.8%.
• 5% of scheduled trips were not delivered.
• On average, 495 buses were available every weekday, with an average weekday requirement of 500.
• 4 new electric buses completed all of their inspections and are now available for service; this helps increase the number of available buses. OC Transpo continues to expect 110 electric buses to be delivered and 89 to be available for service by the end of Q1

As a reminder, current fleet requirements reflect a temporary decrease of 255 trips each day, resulting in a decrease of 20 buses required for service. As fleet availability improves, these trips will be added back into the schedule.

OC Transpo’s recruitment campaign is in full swing. The recruitment team is seeing strong interest from prospective bus operators and there are currently 46 candidates in training. Since the start of 2026, 15 new operators have graduated. More training courses are planned this year, with a target of 374 new trainees. This will help to stabilize operator resources.

Additional KPIs are attached to this email and published on octranspo.com.

We thank customers for their patience as we work to address service delivery challenges, and we remain committed to providing frequent, transparent updates on progress. The next update on Line 1 operations and bus key performance indicators will be shared on February 27 via email and on octranspo.com.

Mayor and Members of Council,

This email is to provide an update on O-Train Line 1 service as well as the weekly update on the key performance metrics used to measure progress on our bus service delivery action plan. The information below was also shared at the Transit Committee meeting on February 12, 2026.

O-Train Line 1 Operations

O-Train Line 1 service continues to operate at three- to four-minute frequency during peak periods. Large volumes of customers are still being observed on trains, however, there has been a decrease in the amount of crowding at stations. Staff continue to be at stations during the busiest periods to support customers and respond quickly should an issue arise.

Line 1 operations will remain at an increased frequency of three- to four-minutes during peak service. OC Transpo expects 21 vehicles will continue to be available for service, with the number of in-service vehicles fluctuating due to other regular maintenance and inspection requirements.

We continue to work through all aspects of our action plan to safely restore capacity on Line 1 for customers. Technical meetings continue with Rideau Transit Group (RTG), Alstom, their external experts and the OC Transpo team. This work is complex and discussions continue. Further technical information is still required from RTG to validate and verify the containment measures and risk analysis.

We understand that this does not meet the service levels that customers expect, and we will continue to provide weekly updates on the work to safely restore capacity on Line 1.

Bus Service Delivery

The week of February 1 to February 7 saw improvements in service delivery compared to the preceding week. There was a decrease in undelivered trips, and bus availability recovered after impacts from winter weather.

Average weekday bus availability slightly exceeded the temporary daily requirement of 500 buses, for the first time since we began providing weekly updates on the bus service delivery action plan in early January. While trends over the past several weeks show progress in some key areas like fleet availability, we continue to monitor key performance indicators and make adjustments to address service delivery challenges and translate short-term progress into stability over the long term.

The results for February 1 to February 7 show that:

• Bus service delivery was on average 96.6%.
• 4% of scheduled trips were not delivered.
• On average, 503 buses were available every weekday, with an average weekday requirement of 500.
• One new electric bus has entered service and there are now 49 electric buses available.

As a reminder, current fleet requirements reflect a temporary decrease of 255 trips each day, resulting in a decrease of 20 buses required for service. As fleet availability improves, these trips will be added back into the schedule.

Additional key performance metrics are attached to this email and published on octranspo.com.

We thank customers for their patience as we work to address service delivery challenges, and we remain committed to providing frequent, transparent updates on progress. The next update on Line 1 operations and bus key performance indicators will be shared on February 20 via email and on octranspo.com.

Mayor and Members of Council,

This email is to provide an update on O-Train Line 1 service as well as the weekly update on the key performance metrics used to measure progress on our bus service delivery action plan.

O-Train Line 1 Operations

We recognize that current service on Line 1 is not meeting our standards, or the expectations of transit customers. Work is underway to safely restore capacity, while holding our maintainer accountable.

O-Train Line 1 service continues to operate at three- to four-minute frequency during peak periods. OC Transpo staff are at key locations to assist customers, with a focus on Bayview and uOttawa stations during the busiest times.

We now have 20 vehicles available for service. However, fleet availability is expected to continue to fluctuate as required maintenance is completed on the vehicles. Line 1 operations will continue at the current frequency. As fleet availability improves and can be sustained, additional trains will be returned to service and we will return to double-car trains in operation.

OC Transpo continues to make progress on the action plan to restore Line 1 capacity for customers. Technical meetings are ongoing with RTG and Alstom’s external experts. RTG continues to work through their cartridge bearing assembly (CBA) replacement strategy which balances fleet availability, ongoing maintenance and inspection requirements.

Bus Service Delivery

The week of January 25 to January 31 saw a decline in bus service reliability compared to the preceding week. The number of buses available for service decreased slightly on average due to the prevailing weather conditions.

Overall, progress is being made on the bus action plan, and improvements have been seen over the course of the month as the fleet has been able to stabilize much faster following winter weather. While we continue to monitor key performance indicators, we anticipate that the data from this week will show further stabilization and overall improvement. Further KPIs will be provided at the Transit Committee meeting on February 12.

The results for January 25 to January 31 show that:

• Bus service delivery was on average 94.4%.
  • Excluding days with severe winter weather, bus service delivery was 94.7%.
• 6% of scheduled trips were not delivered.
• On average, 492 buses were available every weekday, with an average weekday requirement of 500.
• 7 new electric buses completed all of their inspections and are now available for service; this helps increase the number of available buses.

As a reminder, current fleet requirements reflect a temporary decrease of 255 trips each day, resulting in a decrease of 20 buses required for service. As fleet availability improves, these trips will be added back into the schedule.

Additional KPIs are attached to this email and published on octranspo.com.

We thank customers for their patience as we work to address service delivery challenges, and we remain committed to providing frequent, transparent updates on progress. The next update on Line 1 operations and bus key performance indicators will be shared on February 12 via email and on octranspo.com.

Mayor and Members of Council,

This email is to provide an update on O-Train Line 1 service as well as the weekly update on the key performance metrics used to measure progress on our bus service delivery action plan.

O-Train Line 1 Operations

O-Train Line 1 service continues to operate at three- to four-minute frequency during peak periods. Large customer crowds were reported earlier this week at some stations, and OC Transpo staff are now at key locations during the busiest periods. This has led to better crowd management and increased safety for customers. New onboard announcements have also been implemented on trains for the ongoing safety of customers including, reminding customers to stand away from the doors, make use of the capacity of the entire vehicle and to be mindful when boarding and exiting trains.

Next week, customers can expect Line 1 operations to remain at three- to four-minute frequency during peak service. OC Transpo anticipates 18 trains will be available as RTG continues to develop a CBA replacement strategy that balances increasing fleet availability with ongoing maintenance and inspection requirements. We continue to work through all streams of our action plan to restore Line 1 capacity for customers, and additional meetings began this week with RTG and Alstom’s external experts and the OC Transpo team. These discussions will continue over the coming days.

Bus Service Delivery

The week of January 18 to January 24 saw an overall improvement in bus service delivery. The number of buses available for service remained stable and there was an overall decrease in the number of undelivered trips. Current metrics reflect a temporary decrease of 255 trips each day, resulting in a decrease of 20 buses required for service. As fleet availability improves, these trips will be added back into the schedule.

While metrics are generally trending in a positive direction, we remain focused on the work required to meet our targets for bus availability and service delivery.

The results for January 18 to January 24 show that:

• Bus service delivery was on average 96.8%.
  • Excluding days with severe winter weather, bus service delivery was 97.0%.
• 3% of scheduled trips were not delivered. This is a decrease from the early January peak of 6% not delivered.
• On average, 494 buses were available every weekday, with an average weekday requirement of 500.

Additional KPIs are attached to this email and published on octranspo.com.

We thank customers for their patience, and we continue to focus on stabilizing service. The next update on the Line 1 operations and bus key performance indicators will be shared on February 6 via email and on octranspo.com.

Good afternoon,

This email is to provide you with an update on O-Train Line 1 operations. Service ran as expected this morning with trains operating at an increased frequency of every three to four minutes during the morning peak period. While stations were busy, we did not observe platform crowding or vehicle overloads. Line 1 continued to operate during this morning’s weather event.

Fifteen vehicles operated during this morning’s commute and will also be in service during this afternoon’s rush hour. We anticipate that this level of train availability will continue throughout the week.

Lines 2 and 4 are not affected by this issue and operated normally during today’s snowfall.

OC Transpo will hold a technical briefing on Tuesday, January 27 at 3pm to provide further information on the Cartridge Bearing Assembly (CBA) spalling issue and work toward restoring full fleet capacity. An invitation with information on attending the briefing either virtually or in-person will be shared with Councillors this afternoon.

We continue to share updates with customers on all of our communication channels including octranspo.com, text messages, social media and public service announcements. I’d like to thank your customers for their ongoing patience during this time.

Mayor and Members of Council,

The purpose of this email is to provide an update on the key performance indicators used to measure progress on initiatives that are part of the Bus Service Delivery Action Plan.

OC Transpo recognizes and appreciates that the current bus service is frustrating and disruptive for customers. Work is underway on various initiatives through the action plan to ensure buses are consistently available. We remain focused on improving bus availability in order to deliver the service our customers deserve and expect.

As mentioned in the memo from Friday, January 9, OC Transpo is committed to sharing weekly updates while bus service delivery stabilizes.

The results for January 4 to January 10 show that:

• Bus service delivery was on average 94.1%.
• 6% of scheduled trips were not delivered.
• Weekday bus availability was on average 90%. This means that on average 467 buses were available every weekday, with an average, weekday requirement of 520.

Further details on service delivery and the bus fleet can be found in this update. In addition, OC Transpo has launched a bus service delivery action plan page on octranspo.com, providing these metrics and additional information for customers.

Recognizing the ongoing challenge of bus availability, a further review and prioritization of bus schedules was completed and implemented on January 12. This means that currently 7,224 trips will be delivered each weekday. This is a temporary decrease of 255 trips, resulting in a decrease of 20 buses required for service. As fleet availability improves, these trips will be added back into the schedule.

This step was taken to respond to customer concerns about unreliable trip planning information. Moving forward, customers will see this revised and updated trip schedule in travel planning tools. We encourage customers to use the Travel Planner, Transit app, text 560560, or call 613-560-1000, for the latest information and to plan their trips.

Our team remains focused on improving bus service delivery. Our robust mechanic recruitment campaign has seen positive results in new applications over the past few weeks. We are assessing these applicants and will provide an overall update on recruitment and training at the February 12 Transit Committee meeting.

OC Transpo is also continuing to train existing mechanics to maintain Zero-Emission Buses (ZEBs). This will increase our team’s flexibility over time to maintain these new vehicles as they enter the fleet.

The next weekly update will be provided on Friday, January 23 to Council and posted on octranspo.com.

The purpose of this memo is to provide the Mayor and Members of Council with an update on the short and long-term actions OC Transpo is taking to improve bus service delivery for customers.

Recently, there has been an increase in undelivered bus trips due to an increased number of buses requiring maintenance work. This has resulted in longer wait times for customers during winter weather, unpredictable commute times, and has resulted in an increase in undelivered trips. This does not meet our service standards and we feel for our customers at this time. Addressing this and providing reliable service for customers is the top priority for everyone at OC Transpo.

Sustainable improvements to service delivery and reliability require consistent investment in transit. Through Budget 2026, Council invested $433 million to support short-term and longterm measures that will help improve service reliability for customers. This includes investments in upgrading software used to manage bus fleet maintenance, upgrading communications systems, scheduling and control systems on buses to the latest technology, funding the modification of road configurations and traffic signals at key locations. This funding builds on previous budgets that support bus procurement and lifecycle replacement of buses. These investments, in conjunction with OC Transpo’s five-year roadmap and the Transportation Master Plan, will ensure that the focus remains on improving service.

Several factors continue to affect fleet availability:

• The age of our fleet results in the need for more complex and lengthier maintenance work, meaning buses are out of service for longer periods of time; and
• Ongoing challenges to recruit required licensed mechanics resulting in a backlog of buses needing repairs.
• Supply chain issues impacting the delivery of Zero Emission Buses (ZEBs).

The challenge of fleet availability to deliver daily service is further exacerbated by traffic congestion and winter weather.

There are a number of plans and initiatives in progress to improve bus availability that will result in noticeable and consistent improvements in service delivery for customers. OC Transpo’s focus is making incremental improvements through these measures.

To mitigate the current daily reduction in bus availability, the Transit Operations Control Centre actively monitors the bus network in real time and adjusts where possible, with a focus on minimizing service gaps and improving trip consistency for customers. When there is a gap in resources, schedules are adjusted to provide customers with updated information in the Travel Planner, Transit app, and octranspo.com.

Service Delivery Action Plan

OC Transpo remains committed to improving service delivery, as we recognize service reliability is critical for our customers. OC Transpo is taking a range of short, medium, and longterm actions to address fleet issues. These include:

Short-Term Actions:

• Prioritizing critical fleet work: The maintenance team is working to triage and prioritize work, and to streamline maintenance operations to get buses back into service as quickly as possible while continuing to ensure the safety of customers and staff.
• Prioritizing critical trips: Additional schedule adjustments have been made to some routes for the winter service change in order to provide customers with more predictable bus schedules that prioritize critical trips to locations like hospitals, schools, and the first and last scheduled trips. Customers can use the OC Transpo Travel Planner, the Transit app, text 560560, or call 613-560-1000, for the latest information.
• Preventative maintenance plan: Our maintenance plan has been revised to optimize maintenance workflow, reduce preventable bus defects, ensuring that buses are returned to delivering service more quickly.

Medium-Term Actions:

• Recruitment campaign: A robust campaign to recruit mechanics and bus operators is underway. This includes a targeted ad campaign and various on-site events to increase touch points with potential employees. Recruitment of these specialized roles is an industry-wide, global challenge. The new Collective Agreement with the union representing mechanics allows OC Transpo to offer competitive wages and benefits, which will strengthen our ability to recruit and retain staff in this highly competitive labour market.
• Electric bus procurement: ZEBs to replace our aged fleet have been ordered and are being manufactured, but delivery will not be complete until late 2027. There are currently 36 electric buses in service, and we expect to receive an additional 110 electric buses by April. By the end of 2026, it is anticipated that there will be 234 new electric buses in the fleet, which will help improve bus availability. Progress on this work is provided monthly on octranspo.com. As new buses are onboarded and put into service, this will incrementally improve fleet availability and service for customers.

Long-Term Actions:

• Transit priority measures: Work is ongoing on long-term and short-term projects to reduce delays and travel time variability for buses.
  • Shorter-term projects include traffic signal changes, bus-only lanes, bus stop relocation and parking adjustments on important corridors across the city.
  • Long-term investments include new and expanded Transitway corridors, such as the Baseline-Heron Transitway, the Cumberland Transitway, the Kanata North Transitway, and the Heron-Walkley Transitway. Building these planned Transitway projects will remove buses from congested roads, where they experience delays from traffic.

We recognize and appreciate that this situation is frustrating and disruptive for customers, and we are working on a number of fronts to ensure buses are consistently available to deliver the service customers deserve and expect. In order to continue to provide Councillors with the latest information on the status of the fleet and service delivery, we will be providing weekly updates to Council on the incremental improvements made through our key initiatives.

If you have any questions, please contact Rami El Feghali at [Personal information redacted] or me at [Personal information redacted].

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cc:Senior Leadership Team
Transit Services Departmental Leadership Team
Director, Public Information and Media Relations