OC Transpo to refurbish 30 older buses to keep in fleet

An OC Transpo bus rolls through downtown Ottawa, Thursday April 16, 2020. (Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OC Transpo plans to refurbish dozens of aging articulated buses this year as part of a plan to strengthen the resiliency of the fleet and improve service reliability during winter storms and disruptions.

The transit service has been dealing with a shortage of buses through the first four months of the year due to delays in the delivery of new electric buses and a maintenance backlog with the aging fleet.

While OC Transpo continues to look to purchase used buses from other municipalities, staff have identified more than 30 articulated buses in the current fleet that could remain in service.

“We don’t want to put all our eggs into one basket. Our team has highlighted some buses that can deliver an additional three to five years of service with a major refurb,” Rami El Feghali, director of bus operations and maintenance, told the transit committee last week.

“We have identified about 30 or more articulated buses that we would like to refurbish this year instead of decommissioning them to strengthen our fleet resiliency and service reliability.”

OC Transpo says the refurbishment of the older 60-foot buses would build “standby capacity for major weather events or disruptions.”

Last year, OC Transpo purchased 11 used buses from the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. The city spent $165,000 to purchase the buses and $26,840 to tow the buses to Ottawa from Kitchener-Waterloo.

El Feghali told councillors that 50 new articulated buses purchased from New Flyer will arrive later this year and next year.

As of Friday, OC Transpo had an average of 544 buses available every weekday for bus service. A memo said OC Transpo has an average requirement of 500 buses.

Ninety zero emission buses are now in the fleet.

LRT station washrooms to reopen ‘in coming weeks’

OC Transpo is hoping to reopen the washrooms at O-Train Line 1 stations “in the coming weeks” as it investigates long-term measures to ensure safety in the washrooms.

All washrooms at O-Train Line 1 stations have been closed since February due to vandalism and drug use. The transit committee was told there has been an increase in vandalism and needle use in washrooms across the line.

Chief Safety Officer Sabrina Pasian told councillors that staff are assessing both short- and long-term mitigation measures, including associated costs.

“We’re hoping to reopen the washrooms in the coming weeks,” Pasian said. “We’re trying to look at the safety of the customers, of the staff who have to go in and pick them up, to enhance the personal protective equipment and making sure we’re not exposing our customers to any additional risk.”

OC Transpo said the biggest concern in the washrooms is the discarding of needles.

Director of Transit Service Delivery and Rail Operations Troy Charter said OC Transpo is looking at several solutions, including blue lights in the washrooms, increased monitoring with special constables, and setting up a system where customers call into a customer service centre to gain access to the washrooms.

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