OC Transpo routes

OC Transpo is a public transit authority that operates about 160 bus routes (as of 2 March 2015)^[1] in the Ottawa-Gatineau region of Canada. It also operates the O-Train.

Overview

Route colours

Black: These routes generally operate seven days a week, from about 6:00 AM to midnight Monday through Saturday, and from about 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM on Sundays and most holidays. However, if a route, or a section of a route, does not operate during certain time periods, it will be gray on the bus stop flag. A route in orange means that it only operates during certain times, such as evenings or on weekends. Some routes provide morning service as early as 4:00 AM on weekdays, and 5:00 AM on Saturdays. Ottawa's three major Transitway routes (routes 95, 96, and 97) also provide early morning service on Sundays. Route 95 operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while route 97 operates 24 hours a day Mondays-Saturdays. The fare on regular black routes is currently $3.55 cash, $2.84 with a Presto card, or two bus tickets.^[2]

Grey: Grey is used to signify limited service, which means that these routes usually run from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM or 9:00 PM on weekdays. Some routes, such as route 161, operate with limited service between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM, with some operating with limited service after 6 PM. There is usually no weekend service on these route if they run during the week. A few only run on weekends and/or weekday evenings. The fare on grey routes is currently $3.55 cash, $2.84 with a Presto card, or two bus tickets.^[2]

Red: These routes generally operate Monday through Friday from around 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM, and from around 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM. They usually operate in one direction in the morning, and the opposite direction in the afternoon. The fare on the red routes is currently $3.55 cash, $2.84 with a Presto card, or two bus tickets.^[2]

Green: These routes generally operate Monday through Friday from around 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM and from around 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM. All green routes travel towards downtown Ottawa in the morning, and towards the suburbs in the afternoon. Most green routes travel to suburban areas, but some of them also travel to rural areas. Rural express routes are noted on bus stop flags with an "R" after the bus route number. The fare on green routes is currently $5.00 cash, $4.28 with a Presto card, or three bus tickets for both express and rural express.^[2]

Blue: Blue is used to signify early morning service, and were indicated on bus stop flags by a sun rather than a route number. Before December 19, 2010, there were blue early morning only routes. These routes formerly operated five days a week, from about 4:00 AM to 6:00 AM, in one direction only. Routes 824, 825, and 830 also provided Saturday service from about 5:00 AM to 7:00 AM.

Route numbers

OC Transpo classes its routes according to the following numerical groups:^[1]

1-19: These are mainline or local routes that operate to/from or through downtown along major roads or in urban communities. These routes generally serve Rideau Street as opposed to Mackenzie King Station (except route 5, route 8, and route 16).

20-79: These are peak period routes connecting downtown Ottawa to suburban areas, running towards downtown in the morning and to the suburbs in the afternoon. The 20's and 30's serve urban Gloucester and Orléans, and require express fare (except route 24, which is regular fare). The 40's serve southern Ottawa and require regular fare. The 50's used to serve northern and central Nepean, but all have been replaced by extra service on other routes. The 60's serve Kanata and central Nepean, requiring express fare (except route 67, which is regular fare). The 70's are express routes serving Barrhaven in southern Nepean.

80-89: Similar to routes 1-19, these are mainline routes that operate through downtown along major roads, spending more time on the Transitway. Routes 85, 86, and 87 are the three remaining routes providing such service. Peak routes 82 and 88 have been renumbered as route 41 and replaced by route 8, respectively.

90-99: These are rapid transit routes that travel between the suburbs and downtown, spending almost all of their route on the Transitway, Highway 417, or Ottawa Road 174. Route 93, route 94, route 95, route 96, route 97, route 98, and route 99 are currently the routes offering such service. Route 91 and route 92 were introduced on 28 June 2015 and are in service until 2018 while part of the Transitway is closed for Confederation Line construction.^[3]

100-109: For the most part, these routes are peak-only routes (except route 101 and route 106) that provide service between a Transitway station and major employment areas. In the future, OC Transpo plans to expand their rapid transit service to have routes numbered from 100-109, which would bypass downtown. Routes 101 and 106 are the first two routes to provide this service. Route 102 was replaced by route 101 in September 2014.^[4] Route 107 is used as a rapid-transit bus route when the O-Train is undergoing maintenance or repairs.

110-119: These are regular routes that travel cross-town, but bypass downtown. Route 112 is an exception as it is a local route for residents near Heron Road and Billings Bridge Station.

120-199: These are mostly local routes that usually connect residential areas or business areas to Transitway stations. A few, such as route 176, are cross-town routes. Some regular local routes, such as routes 156, 172, and 178, used to continue to/from downtown during peak periods as an alternative to express service, but were replaced by supplementary rapid-transit route trips. Local routes may also include special school trips to various middle and high schools, similar to the 600-series routes. This number range also includes a number of special rush hour routes that connect major suburban and rural employment areas to the Transitway.

200-299: These are express routes serving rural communities outside the suburbs (except routes 261-263 which serve the suburb of Stittsville). This number range also includes new special "shopper's" bus routes, providing links from rural communities to various urban shopping centres.

300-399: These were special community routes. They were all cancelled effective September 4, 2011. Routes 306, 316 and 356 formerly existed.

401-406: These routes provide special service to and from Canadian Tire Centre for Ottawa Senators games and concerts, and other events.

450-456: These routes provide special service to and from TD Place Stadium for major sporting events (such as Ottawa Redblacks and Ottawa Fury FC games), concerts, and other events.^[5][6]

500-599: These are rural service routes operated by partner bus lines (not OC Transpo).

600-699: These routes are special school routes. These routes are usually not shown on the bus stop flag except at Transitway stations, mall terminals, and on streets where no other bus service is available.

750: Route 750 is the internal route number used by OC Transpo for the O-Train Trillium Line. If any trains are out of service due to maintenance, construction, or other issues, a bus replacement rapid transit route, route 107, is used, which only stops where the O-Train usually stops. As of 2 March 2015, the Trillium Line operates from 6 AM to midnight on weekdays, 6:30 AM to midnight on Saturdays, and 7:30 AM to 11 PM on Sundays.^[7]

800-899: These routes provided early morning service (before 6:00 AM) Mondays through Fridays (and some on Saturdays). They were not shown as a number on the bus stop flag, but rather by a sun indicating the presence of early morning service at the stop. On December 19, 2010, all early morning routes were replaced by extra early morning trips on existing routes.

900-999: These are employee shuttles for OC Transpo employees only at times and places with no service (mostly overnight).

In 2011, OC Transpo created a business plan which called for many of their routes to be combined together to reduce OC Transpo's operating costs. The plan called for a complete overhaul of the route network city-wide. Most well-used routes, such as rapid transit and express routes, remained largely unchanged. The majority of changes came from local and peak period service, which either served areas already served by other routes, or ridership on such routes did not meet certain requirements. OC Transpo also overhauled the buses used on certain routes and is in the process of replacing older, lower-capacity models with higher-capacity, more fuel-efficient buses, until the new light rail line can be fully implemented.^[8]

The list of route changes was posted on OC Transpo's website. The posted changes were implemented on September 4, 2011.^[9]

Black routes (regular fare)

These routes usually run from around 6 AM to midnight seven days a week. There are some exceptions to watch out for, however.^[1]

Regular routes are effective as of Sunday, 20 December 2015.

Red routes (peak periods/regular fare)

These routes run Monday-Friday from 6 AM – 9 AM and from 3 PM – 6 PM, and require the regular fare.
They usually travel on one direction in the AM, and in the opposite direction during the PM.^[1]

Peak routes are effective as of Monday, 21 December 2015.

Green routes (peak periods/extra fare)

These routes operate during peak periods only, and require an extra fare.

Effective Monday, April 18, 2011, rules regarding express routes have changed. Routes 20-39 (serving Orléans and Ottawa East) and routes 221, 231, and 232 (serving rural areas East of Orléans) do not pick up passengers between Blair Station and Train Station. Routes 60-66 and 68-69 (serving Kanata and Bells Corners), routes 261-263 (serving Stittsville), and route 283 (serving Richmond and Munster) do not pick up passengers between Queensway Station and Westboro Station. Routes 70-77 (serving Barrhaven) do not pick up passengers between Baseline Station and Westboro Station. Passengers who normally use express routes in these areas now have to use non-express service. Express routes will continue to allow passenger boarding once downtown. Barrhaven express routes also no longer pick up passengers along Woodroffe between Fallowfield Station and Baseline Station. The changes are meant to improve speed of service from the suburbs to downtown, and are only effective for AM trips.^[16]

Beginning on 15 October 2012, OC Transpo introduced new Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double-decker buses into service on express routes. Since 21 April 2013, most express route trips have been served by these buses.^[17]

As of 20 May 2014, westbound PM express service (serving Kanata, Barrhaven, Bells Corners, Stittsville, and Richmond) at Mackenzie King Station serves a new temporary stop further west of the regular stop, in an effort to speed up service and reduce travel times downtown. Service on rapid-transit, regular fare, and AM express routes (from Orléans, Cumberland, Vars, Navan, and Sarsfield) will continue to serve the regular stop.^[1][18]

On July 11, 2014, the City of Ottawa and OC Transpo agreed to renumber route 76 to route 72. This move is to commemorate the anniversary of the collision that took place just east of Fallowfield Station between an OC Transpo bus and a VIA Rail passenger train on September 18, 2013.^[19]

Express routes are effective as of Monday, 21 December 2015.

Canadian Tire Centre 'Connexion 400' routes

Canadian Tire Connexion routes 401 through 406 operate on all dates with Ottawa Senators games and also events or concerts of medium to large attendance (6,000 persons or over). Each route serves a different part of Ottawa and provides connections to the Canadian Tire Centre.^[21]

On small events or concerts (less than 6,000 attendance), only route 404 from Pinecrest Station operates.

Connexion 400 routes are effective as of Sunday, 20 December 2015.

TD Place routes (450-series)

These routes operate on game days for the Ottawa Redblacks and Ottawa Fury FC, as well as other major events taking place at TD Place Stadium.^[5][6]

TD Place routes are effective as of Sunday, 20 December 2015.

Rural partner routes (500-series)

These routes are not operated by OC Transpo.

Rural partner routes are effective as of October 4, 2010

School trips

These trips provide service to/from various middle and high school for students enrolled in such schools.^[1]

Routes are effective as of August 25, 2015.

O-Train Trillium Line (Route 750)

The O-Train Trillium Line operates every 10-12 minutes from 6 AM - midnight Monday to Friday, 6:30 AM - midnight on Saturday and from 7:30 AM - 11 PM on Sundays.^[7]

O-Train Trillium Line is effective as of Monday, March 2nd, 2015.

Early morning routes (800-series)

These routes ran before 6 AM on weekdays only, with a few also operating on Saturdays before 6 AM. As of December 19, 2010, all 800-series routes are replaced by early morning service on other nearby routes. Route 891 was the last route of this type to operate.

Early morning routes are effective as of Sunday, December 19, 2010.

References

External links

• OC Transpo website