Hersh: Free Transit isn't just possible, it's popular
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'Almost 250,000 trips were recorded,' he said. 'The highest single-day ridership in the history of Ottawa's LRT, and a 66 per cent increase over Canada Day last year.'
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He forgot to mention an important detail: it was free.
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Every year on Canada Day, the City offers residents a day of what they call 'no-charge' transit. They did the same thing at the beginning of May to encourage people to take the new LRT line. The result was similarly positive. Ridership was up 54 percent that weekend, according to OC Transpo.
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In December 2021, OC Transpo offered free transit for the whole month as a way to make up for the failings of the LRT. Despite it being a bit of a gimmick, the transit riders group Ottawa Transit Riders reported, based on a survey they conducted, that 'people chose to ride transit more often because it was free and some people changed their travel patterns.'
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Other cities have also shown us that free transit is a popular idea.
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Last month, Zohran Mamdani was elected as the candidate for the New York City Democratic Party. One of his biggest and most prominent promises was 'making buses fast and free.'
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According to his campaign, it would save New Yorkers 36 million hours every year and generate $1.5 billion in economic benefits. The promise was also popular; according to a poll from the organization Data for Progress, 72 per cent of New York voters approved of the idea.
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Several other cities across the U.S.—like Albuquerque, New Mexico and Kansas City, Missouri—have also made transit completely free. The small Ontario town of Orangeville introduced free transit in 2023, and its ridership increased by 160 percent.
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So, if fare-free transit is popular and might help encourage people to ride the bus or LRT, why hasn't our city jumped on the free transit train yet?
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The argument is often made that there is a binary choice, that we must choose between reliability and affordability of our transit services.
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Detractors argue that if we spend money on making our transit system free, then we would not have enough to increase reliability — something that is admittedly sorely needed in Ottawa, especially after Mayor Sutcliffe and our council approved the largest service cut in a decade in the last city budget.
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This premise, however, presents a false choice — we can and we should have both. Our current approach makes clear that higher fares do not lead to a better, more reliable system, and the pandemic made it clear that solely relying on transit fares for revenue is not sustainable.
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Ottawa's fares have now crossed the $4.00 threshold and are some of the most expensive in North America, yet our transit system has continued to disintegrate because of a lack of political will to improve it.
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If ridership was up to pre-pandemic levels, free transit would cost the city about $200 million, according to OC Transpo's own estimates. This might sound like a lot.
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However, when you consider other unnecessary expenses like the $258 million the city is projected to spend on road widening in the next couple of years, then the number does not seem that out of the ordinary.
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Free transit on its own will not solve our transit woes. What it does do, however, is signal our city's willingness to prioritize the climate crisis, a cheaper alternative to car travel, and improve our most valued public services like health care, schools, roads and sidewalks — which by the way, are all free.
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CTV News
2 days ago
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Maguire's initial remarks on July 4 immediately drew backlash from the tech community as well as supporters of Mamdani. More than 1,100 people have signed an open letter to Sequoia on July 9 condemning Maguire's comments and demanding the venture capital firm apologize and take disciplinary action against him. The signatories list includes the names of startup founders and other business figures across the world, although CNN could not independently verify the signatures. Maguire's comments 'struck a chord with a lot of people, just because of the fact that he wasn't at some no-name shop. It was Sequoia,' said Hosam Arab, co-founder and CEO of Gulf fintech company Tabby, who signed the letter about Maguire. Arab's company raised money from Sequoia Capital's India business before Sequoia split off that arm of its business in 2024. Maguire is not the only one in the VC space to hold those views, but 'he was probably the loudest, most vocal, most consistent,' added Arab. 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There are 'people out there that genuinely have hatred towards our people in our community… what they say should not be just simply accepted as a matter of fact and part of our political discourse,' Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told CNN. One founder, who signed the letter and wants to remain unnamed because of Maguire's threats toward his perceived 'enemies' on X, recalled how Sequoia had a reputation for investing in companies founded by immigrants, like Google's Sergey Brin, who was born in Moscow, and companies by other Indian immigrants. 'That's what we all as founders were looking up to – the American way of investing – which is kind of colourblind. And I think therefore this episode is even more shocking,' they said. Maguire has called video that appeared to show a dead child in Gaza a 'doll' on X, called the United Nations a 'terrorist organization' and reposted content from Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist who once described herself as a 'proud Islamophobe.' The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, said in a letter that Maguire's posting history on X, including ones before July 4, 'reflects a dangerous pattern of anti-Muslim hate speech.' The controversy comes in the shadow of Israel's war in Gaza, which people who signed the letter told CNN is the catalyst for a lot of Islamophobic rhetoric. Islamophobia has risen to 'alarming levels' across the world, including against Muslims, warned United Nations experts in March 2024. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said in its 2025 civil rights report that Islamophobia remains at record levels in the US. The group received 8,658 complaints in 2024 — the highest number ever recorded since its first civil rights report in 1996. The open letter to Sequoia also has signatures from non-Muslim Arabs and founders based in the United States. On July 9, Maguire posted to his 'enemies' that he is aware of their 'command structure' and that he is 'going to play nice for now, but am ready to embarrass any of you should you escalate.' Zohran Mamdani New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks in New York on July 10. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters/File via CNN Newsource) Attacks on Mamdani Mamdani has come under fire from opponents for his stance on the Israel-Gaza war. Mamdani, for example, refused to condemn the phrase 'globalize the intifada,' during his primary campaign, saying although he would not use the phrase himself, he believes it's a rallying cry for Palestinian human rights. 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Ottawa Citizen
2 days ago
- Ottawa Citizen
How OC Transpo's New Ways to Bus is making commuting from the suburbs worse
Article content Buses like the 88 Hurdman are now overcrowded and only reliable during peak hours, Ledgley said. The routes should be replaced with the previous ones and OC Transpo should 'reverse this route review,' he said. Article content 'Everything has gotten worse since April 27,' he said. 'What we are hearing from these residents, mostly, is that it was fine before (OC Transpo) made the cuts.' Article content Coun. David Hill for Barrhaven-West ward says the New Ways to Bus system has 'essentially changed the concept of busing' in the city. It would be difficult to revert back to the old routes when the investment into making an efficient bus system has already been made. Article content 'We're making evolutionary progress and improvement,' Hill said. 'What we need to focus on is identifying the issues that are coming up and fixing those.' Article content Article content Hill says OC Transpo and the city need to prioritize winning transit riders' trust back when it comes to bus routes. He's introducing a motion to the city's transit committee to increase the current 90-minute transfer window to ensure riders aren't paying twice for the same trip. Article content Article content 'The challenge is that there's an additional transfer that happens locally that didn't used to happen, and that's the reason why someone could potentially be getting double charged,' he said. 'It just shouldn't be the case where somebody going from point A to point B ends up paying twice for their ride.' Article content Hill mentions mitigating factors that could delay a commuter's ride, like ongoing construction, rush hour traffic and general delays. With the New Ways to Bus system, an additional transfer occurs for Barrhaven residents locally. Article content 'The core issue we need to focus on for the New Ways to Bus system to be effective is those afternoon peak buses that are leaving Tunney's Pasture,' he said. 'If those are reliably on time and consistent, then we won't have the problem with the transfer window issues and then ultimately …it can be a better system.' Article content Article content But Ledgley says no route should take longer than 90 minutes in the first place, especially when it takes around 25 minutes to commute from the suburbs to downtown Ottawa by vehicle. Article content 'That's only solving one part of the problem,' Ledgley said. 'It's also that nobody wants to be taking two and a half hours for their commute, right?' Article content Hill says transit coming through Tunney's Pasture station could be more reliable for commuters, alongside extending the transit fare windows. Article content The transfer window becomes an issue when commuters run errands around the city and encounter unreliable bus frequencies and delays, says Nick Grover, an executive member with Free Transit Ottawa. Article content 'It's not an enjoyable experience, even before New Ways to Bus,' he said. Article content In a July 23 emailed statement, Katrina Camposarcone-Stubbs, a public information officer with OC Transpo, said that they were analyzing the 'potential impacts' of extending the transfer window in response to Hill. Article content 'This analysis will include a review of whether any routes consistently exceed 90 minutes,' she wrote. 'At this time, the scheduled duration of the majority of customer trips take place in less than 90 minutes; however, staff will be investigating travel times further.' Article content Article content Transfers also became an issue when a route was eliminated and replaced by at least two others, Grover says. Article content 'If you're going from A to B, there's more transfers involved, resulting in longer commutes and also a worse last-mile challenge,' he said, referring to bus stops that were removed and installed five or 10 minutes away. Article content With Ottawa's weather behaving in uncertain ways — like increasing heat waves, smog and thunderstorms — Grover says people are 'checking out' of the public transit system and opting to purchase personal vehicles. Article content Article content 'Or they're having to suffer through it because they have no other choice,' he said. 'For some people, that just means going out less … We're leaving people isolated and with less access to the city.' Article content Off-peak service is another essential area where OC Transpo could improve, so commuters relying on transit outside of peak hours can travel around the city more easily, Grover says. Dedicated bus lanes could also help alleviate traffic, causing the route delay, and free fare for certain demographics within Ottawa could be considered. Article content These things are necessary so that people 'so poorly treated by this transit system' may think about returning to it, he said. Article content Villeneuve-Elson, must account for the extra time they would spend on an OC Transpo bus if they left work a little later and missed an express bus back to Stittsville. Article content 'My commute home changes from being about an hour to an hour and a half to being well more than two hours,' they said. Article content Article content How did we get here? Article content Coun. Wilson Lo, representing Barrhaven East, says there were 'several layers' that got Ottawa's public transit to where it is today. As a former OC Transpo bus operator, some of the reasons he's experienced delays are as simple as 'hitting the right combination of red lights.' Article content 'It's created a lot of frustration (and) a lot of burden on our passengers,' Lo said. 'A lot of people have left transit.' Article content Discontinuing some express buses has hit residents hard, especially those relying on them during peak weekday hours. Factoring in the ' trauma of the LRT launch' and transit users reminiscing about a time when transit was efficient, Lo says the changes have been 'negative' for a lot of commuters. Article content The 'psychological barrier' of more transfers down the line has been a drawback for residents, and the promises of reliable transit have not 'panned out' as planned. Article content 'That unfortunately overshadowed a lot of the positive, good changes that have happened,' he said, referring to improved off-peak local travel in Barrhaven. Article content With the New Ways to Bus route changes, Camposarcone-Stubbs says OC Transpo understands that each commuter's journey is 'unique' and that some may be experiencing longer travel journeys, additional transfers or a longer walk to the bus stop. Article content 'Since New Ways to Bus launched, staff have been monitoring ridership levels across the network, gathering feedback from customers, and collecting observations from frontline staff,' she wrote. Article content That feedback is used to inform future adjustments to OC Transpo's bus network through service change processes, Camposarcone-Stubbs says, which take place four times a year. Article content Article content No, there are not. Article content Article content A maintenance backlog continues to impact OC Transpo's fleet, with a number of defects found during inspections. Their current fleet is set to surpass its 15-year life cycle and must be retired by April 2026. Article content In addition, they've been facing challenges in procuring e-buses due to production delays affecting deliveries to the Ottawa market. These are some of the factors outside of OC Transpo's control, Lo said: 'This is an industry-wide issue.' Article content Theoretically, if Ottawa can get the delayed vehicles right now, it would be an 'easy fix.' But there are not enough buses to return to the old network, Lo added. Article content Villeneuve-Elson says OC Transpo's buses are constantly breaking down, which leads to route cancellations or not enough buses to cover all the city's required routes, impacting people's commutes and delaying bus schedules. Article content 'It cascades through the day, kind of like a set of dominoes,' they said. Article content Article content Horizon Ottawa has been consistently advocating for free transit every year, Ledgley said: 'It should be run as a public service, not as a business.' Article content When the New Ways to Bus system first launched towards the end of April, OC Transpo offered free-fare service for the first weekend of May. At the time, then-transit service manager Renée Amilcar said it was a way to introduce the 'new OC Transpo' and encourage riders to try it out. Article content During Bluesfest's nine-day stint, OC Transpo saw ' strong ridership ' throughout the festival, with an estimated 650,000 customer trips on Line 1 and 87,000 trips on Line 2. This was the first year when Lines 2 and 4 ran alongside Line 1 during the festival. Article content Grover says these were examples of when ridership on public transit skyrocketed. Article content 'It's a great way to remove a barrier while also compensating for the fact that the service has been incredibly subpar,' he said.
