Here are OC Transpo’s ideas to compensate riders for poor service this year

A crowd of people at Lees Station, boarding a train for Tunney's Pasture on O-Train Line 1. Jan. 22, 2026 (Tyler Fleming/CTV News Ottawa)

OC Transpo staff say they’ve looked at several options for compensating riders for thousands of bus trip cancellations and disrupted service on O-Train Line 1 this year.

Transit riders dealt with significant delays to bus service caused by mechanical breakdowns and a lack of available buses and drivers in the first three months of the year, particularly in January, when as many as six per cent of daily trips had to be cancelled.

Then, in late January, an issue called spalling was discovered on some of the Alstom Citadis Spirit trains on O-Train Line 1. OC Transpo pulled all trains with axles that had more than 100,000 kilometres of mileage from service for inspections and axle replacements and reduced service to single-car trains. Full service has yet to be restored.

In February, city council approved a motion directing staff to explore ways to compensate riders for poor transit service.

In a report prepared for the May 14 transit committee meeting, staff said they looked at two main ideas: long-term improvements to service and fare-related compensation.

“While fare-based options could provide retroactive relief for customers, the value of investing funding into infrastructure or other non-fare initiatives could improve service reliability and customer satisfaction in the future and in the longer term,” the report says.

Discounts and refunds

Two ideas for financial compensation directly to riders were explored.

The first was a retroactive refund for service between January and March. Staff said this would only be able to apply to customers who paid using a Presto card.

“Customers who had paid their fare by Presto card during the defined time span would receive a credit back to their account. This approach would primarily benefit those customers who continued using transit during the disruption period, as they were most directly affected,” staff said.

It would cost $8.2 million to give all Presto card users a 50 per cent refund for January, February, and March, not including organizations that purchase passes in bulk.

Automatic refunds would not be available to customers who paid by cash, credit or debit card.

Cutting prices in the future could benefit more riders and potentially increase ridership, staff said. Cutting the price of a monthly pass in half would cost around $2.5 million per month. A 50 per cent discount for single-fare trips would cost around $3 million per month.

Offering free fares for one three-day weekend would cost around $450,000.

Improving service

Non-fare ideas include purchasing more buses and making roadway changes such as bus bays or bulb-outs, bus lanes, queue-jump lanes, and priority signals for buses.

“If additional buses were ordered this year, they could be available by the end of 2028. The estimated full cost of a new diesel articulated bus, including post-production fit-up work required before it is placed in service, is $1.65 million,” the report says. “As well, staff will continue to explore the used bus market and if second-hand buses become available for purchase to supplement the current fleet, the cost per bus would be lower.”

OC Transpo is currently in the process of receiving hundreds of zero-emission buses, which are intended to replace aging diesel buses in the fleet.

Traffic changes vary in price from $20,000 to $100,000 per kilometre to convert existing lanes into bus-only lanes and up to $75 million per kilometre to construct a new transitway, staff said. Curbside changes could cost $100,000 to $200,000, assuming no drainage changes are required. It would cost between $25,000 and $75,000 per location to create transit priority signals at intersections.

Some of the ideas are already being studied or considered in some parts of the city. Staff say bus stop bulb-outs are currently being planned for locations along Richmond Road, Wellington Street and Somerset Street, and queue-jump lanes are being constructed on Baseline Road at Greenbank Road.

For the LRT, staff said funding could be allocated toward installing a heat tracing system along the overhead power lines on Line 1 between Lees and Hurdman stations to improve weather resilience. This would cost an estimated $2 million and could be ready by winter 2027.

The $47 million question

While staff presented a variety of options, they also said the financial state of OC Transpo needs to be considered.

“The approved 2026 budget includes supplementary funding from senior levels of government of $47 million which has not yet been secured,” the report says.

OC Transpo has offered free service before. Customers were given free service in December 2021 following the disruption caused by the O-Train Line 1 shutdown for 54 days. The month of no-charge transit cost $7.2 million, which was covered by funding withheld from Rideau Transit Group.

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