Report to/Rapport au:

Transportation Committee/Comité des transports

10 March 2006/le 10 mars 2006

Submitted by/Soumis par:  R.G. Hewitt

Acting Deputy City Manager/Directeur municipal adjoint intérimaire,

Public Works and Services/Services et Travaux publics

Contact/Personne-ressource: H. Gault, Acting Director/Directrice intérimaire,

Transit Services/Service du transport en commun

842-3636 ext. 2435, helen.gault@ottawa.ca

SUBJECT:     CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S TRANSIT SERVICE LEVELS

OBJET:          NIVEAUX DE SERVICE DU TRANSPORT EN COMMUN À NOËL ET AU NOUVEL AN

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

That Transportation Committee receive this report for information.

RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT

Que le Comité des transports prenne connaissance du présent rapport à titre d’information.

BACKGROUND

At the January 18, 2006 meeting of the Transportation Committee, staff reported on service levels and customer reactions to Christmas and New Year’s service for 2005.  At the meeting, the following motion was referred to staff for review:

“That OC Transpo staff implement earlier express service (commencing at noon) on the last working day prior to Christmas Day and New Year’s Day to handle the early departure of passengers from the downtown core.”

This report responds to the motion.  The change proposed in the motion is not recommended because of its high cost, but it is proposed to add more extra service in the noon time-frame on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve to avoid overcrowding.

DISCUSSION

Service Operated for Christmas and New Year’s 2005

For 2005, the last working day before Christmas was Friday, December 23 and the last working day before New Year’s was Friday, December 30.  On both of these days, as is normal practice, the Federal Government allowed employees to leave work at noon.

The approach to providing transit service on these days to accommodate both Federal Government employees and other customers working a normal day was to operate the scheduled weekday service and provide supplements on major routes through the downtown area from noon until 3:00 p.m.  Major routes receiving extra service were routes 180 from Gatineau and Transitway routes 95, 96 and 97.  Twenty-eight extras and 85 hours of supplemental service were provided on December 23 while 19 extras and 60 hours of supplemental service were provided on December 30.  The combined total cost of service for both days was $12,000.

A review of Transit Operations service reports from the 2005 experience indicated there were some isolated overloads on the service on December 23.  There were eight customer contact complaints about the service.

Previous Experience

This approach to handling these early Federal Government work closures at Christmas and New Year’s has been used since 2002.  The number of customer complaints that were received about the service were two in 2002, 10 in 2003 and 12 in 2004.

In 2000 and 2001, a limited supplemental express service operated from noon to 3:00 p.m. on the last working day before Christmas and New Year’s.  Typically, service headways of between 25 to 40 minutes were operated on all express and limited stop routes from downtown.  This called for approximately 100 extra buses and operators at a cost of 300 hours each day.  If this same service approach had been applied to Christmas 2005, the total costs would have been $48,000.  Transit Operations reports from these years indicated some of the initial express trips leaving downtown were overloaded.  There were two complaints about the service in each year, with the main comment being that the service on each express route was insufficient.

In the 1990s, a different service concept was tried: the whole express service was brought forward by three hours and supplementary service was provided during the 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. period after the express service had ceased to operate.  This approach was highly unpopular with customers who were working a normal day and resented the change made to accommodate federal public servants. 

Future Options

Early Express Bus Runs

If running earlier express service (as for 2001 and 2002) were re-instated for 2006, the costs would be significant.  To avoid overcrowding at noon it would be necessary to operate express routes with headways between 20 and 30 minutes, which would require about 125 buses and 375 hours each day.  The combined cost for both days would be in the order of $60,000.  In addition to the express service, some supplementary service would still be needed for routes 95, 96, 97 and 180.  The combined cost of this for both days would be about $5,000.  Therefore, the total combined cost of providing an adequate express service operating from noon onwards for both days would be $65,000.

Additional Service on Transitway Routes

Last year’s experience showed that more service is needed around the noon hour, especially on the last working day before Christmas.  Based on the operational review of the 2005 service, it is proposed to increase the amount of supplemental service by 50 hours on the last working day before Christmas and by 25 hours on the last day before New Year’s resulting in total increased costs for both days of 75 hours or $6,000.  Therefore, the total combined cost of the enhanced service if operated for 2006 would be $18,000.

SUMMARY

Based on the operational experience and customer feedback from 2005, it is intended to add more supplementary service on both days from noon to 3:00 p.m. to avoid overloads.  This will address the increased early demand without the need for implementation of extended express service at substantial cost.

CONSULTATION/PUBLIC NOTIFICATION

The comments from the public, as received through customer contacts, show that their concerns are largely related to overcrowding in the period shortly after noon on these days.

The contents of this report were presented to the Transit Sub-Committee of the Pedestrian and Transit Advisory Committee on March 2.  Sub-Committee members were in agreement with the recommendation of staff to continue with the same service approach and that additional supplementary service be provided to alleviate overload conditions from noon to 3:00 p.m.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The $6,000 costs of provision of increased noon hour service on December 22 and December 29, 2005 will be absorbed in the Transit Services operating budget.

DISPOSITION

Following receipt of this report, increased noon hour service on December 22 and December 29, 2006 will be implemented.