New route numbers and bigger buses for OC Transpo this spring

General adjustments to OC Transpo, including schedule changes, will primarily affect west end transit users starting April 23.

Several routes, including major crosstown lines such as 96 and 118, will be renumbered.

[caption id=“attachment_62943” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”]

New route numbers come into effect April 23. (via Stittsville Coun. Shad Qadri.)[/caption]

In a memo, OC Transpo general manager John Manconi said more capacity will be added to some bus routes, particularly connexion buses in west end communities such as Barrhaven, Kanata and Stittsville. Some buses will also have their schedules adjusted.

The routes are:

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Kanata North routes 63 and 64.

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Stittsville route 92, which will be renumbered to 62, and connexion route 262 will have their trip times adjusted. Route 261 will start using double-decker buses in the afternoon.

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Barrhaven connexion routes 271, 273 and 277 will start using articulated and double-decker buses. Manconi wrote that one afternoon route 273 trip started using articulated buses in early February to "immediately address overcrowding," and that a new route 277 trip will be added to LeBreton station in the afternoon.

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One route 95 trip will be reallocated to serve route 91 eastbound. "This is based on feedback from customers and operators and on measurements of ridership," Manconi wrote.

 * 
Route 105 will have a late morning trip extended to boulevard Sacré-Coeur and rue Laurier in Gatineau.

 * 
Routes 106 and 168 will have schedule adjustments.

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Afternoon route 86C routes will start and end at Mackenzie King Station.

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Route 155A will be canceled.

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There will be fewer trips on routes 154, 155, 613, and 669 because of low ridership.

Routine shifts to routes that serve post-secondary schools will also be made. Carleton University routes 4, 104, 111 as well as the O-Train Trillium Line will have reduced service.

Routes 85 for uOttawa and 129 for La Cité will also be reduced.

“Sufficient capacity will continue to be available for expected ridership levels, and there will be no change to the times of the first or last trips.” Manconi wrote.

As usual, rack and roll will be returning in the spring. Bike racks will be installed on most buses under routes 12, 61 (currently 96), 62 (currently 92), 85, 88 (currently 118), 91, 94, 97, 99, 101 and 106.

Construction detours will be in effect for routes 4, 9 and 12 because of work on Queen Street, which will be in effect until late fall. _ This post originally appeared on March 7, 2017. _