Parents pressure OC Transpo into reversing route changes
It's 6 a.m., and teenagers in the South Ottawa communities of Blossom Park, Emerald Woods and Sawmill Creek are waking up to go to St. Francis Xavier High School.
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A group of the students leave their homes to catch the 693 bus shortly after 7 a.m. It's already overflowing with other students. The bus then winds through the neighbourhood, past the airport, and down Leitrim and Limebank Roads until it finally arrives at the school better known as St. FX.
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By the time they get off the bus, students often have to race to get to class by 8 a.m.
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In total, the journey takes about half an hour — but it's a route students and their parents fought hard to keep.
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On April 4, members of the St. FX community learned their 693 direct route would change on April 27, when OC Transpo rolls out its New Ways to Bus schedule.
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This will be the largest bus service change in Ottawa's history, introducing new routes and retiring others with low ridership, changing schedules, and shortening, extending or dividing some routes.
One of the planned changes was cutting the 693 bus route to run only between St. FX and Limebank Station, and not through any of the communities it currently serves.
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St. FX parents said the changes would have risked students' safety and affected their ability to learn successfully. They said families did not receive enough communication about the changes, and that OC Transpo was not taking responsibility for affecting the students' ability to get to school.
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But after weeks of speaking out, emailing city councillors and expressing their discontent to OC Transpo, parents are relieved to find out some of the changes are being reversed.
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'I feel like a load has been lifted off my shoulders,' said Tammy Bouchard. 'I'm so relieved.'
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OC Transpo is keeping three direct routes to St. FX in the morning and two in the afternoon, according to a statement to the Citizen.
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That's in addition to the new route in the New Ways to Bus schedule that was the cause for concern. On that route, students would take the 40 Greenboro bus to South Keys, then transfer onto the Line 2 train in the direction of Limebank. Once at Limebank Station, students would transfer again to the 99 Barrhaven Centre via Weybridge bus, which will take them to a bus stop down the road from St. FX.
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