OC Transpo: Why are your buses vanishing into thin air? | Ottawa Citizen
Dear OC Transpo: Why are your buses vanishing into thin air?
I had five minutes to spare before my connecting bus, #81 was due. An elderly man at the stop said the previous bus, scheduled a half hour earlier had been cancelled. The electronic scrolling board in the shelter said my bus was due in one minute. Great I thought. But then four minutes passed, seven minutes passed … no bus. The details about the #81 disappeared altogether from the scroll. Had the bus simply vanished? There wasn’t even an indication that it was cancelled. That same man who said he’d been waiting for almost 50 minutes was furious. There were about ten others waiting for the #81. I don’t know when it came. I phoned home to be picked up at Tunney’s station.
This was the old OC Transpo I remembered so well. It’s one example but I have read and heard of so many similar stories over the last few years.
Sometimes it’s LRT shutdowns, too many to even remember and often it’s inferior bus service. I expected better, the man headed home did as well. So do all those waiting in the early morning cold or late night rain.
This is the nation’s capital and this is what we offer commuters? When, if ever, will it improve?