Snowstorms led to more than 2,000 OC Transpo bus trip cancellations

An OC Transpo bus is seen during a snowstorm in Ottawa on Feb. 16, 2025. (Kimberley Johnson/CTV News Ottawa)

OC Transpo says the two snowstorms in the last week, and the delays and extra maintenance required because of them, led to an increase in bus trip cancellations in the past week.

Ottawa was blanketed by more than 69 cm of snow between Feb. 12 and Feb. 17. A “severe storm schedule” was implemented on Feb. 13, which cut the number of delivered trips and removed most articulated buses from the roads, but OC Transpo still dealt with more than 140 stopped buses and hundreds of trip cancellations. Regular service resumed in the following days but hundreds of trips continued to be cancelled.

“OC Transpo has observed an increase in cancellations due to prolonged travel times and an elevated need for vehicle maintenance as a result of these major storms,” OC Transpo spokesperson Katrina Camposarcone-Stubbs said in an email to CTV News Ottawa.

According to figures provided by OC Transpo, there were 138 cancelled trips on Wednesday, Feb. 12, before the heaviest snow of the first storm. OC Transpo planned for 8,088 trips that day. The next day, the severe storm schedule was implemented, with 6,267 trips planned. OC Transpo says 397 trips, or 6.3 per cent of all planned trips that day, had to be cancelled.

Roughly the same number of cancellations were issued Friday during regular weekday service, as city crews worked to clear the snow.

Saturday saw 193 cancelled trips out of 5,307 planned trips, but the second snowstorm hit hardest on Sunday. OC Transpo planned for 4,258 trips on Sunday, but 474, or more than 11 per cent, were cancelled. There was no severe storm schedule, as that is reserved for weekday service, but Transit Services general manager Renée Amilcar said in a memo on Sunday that OC Transpo proactively removed “as many articulated buses as possible” from service that day.

Monday also saw more than 400 cancellations out of the regular 8,088 planned weekday trips.

In total, OC Transpo saw 2,046 cancelled trips between Feb. 12 and 17, out of 40,096 planned trips.

“Major snow events such as what we experienced last week place higher demands on our bus fleet and result in a higher volume of maintenance activities,” Camposarcone-Stubbs wrote. “We are actively working to implement long-term solutions that will increase our fleet availability through our bus maintenance action plan and the recruitment of additional mechanics.”

Last fall, the head of the union that represents drivers and mechanics at OC Transpo said there had been a significant drop in the number of mechanics, autobody techs and garage attendants at OC Transpo since 2019. The age of many buses in the fleet also means increased maintenance demands.

Here is a breakdown of the number of planned trips and cancellations during the snowstorms:

Feb. 12: 138 cancellations out of 8,088 planned trips (weekday schedule)

Feb. 13: 397 cancellations out of 6,267 planned trips (severe storm schedule)

Feb. 14: 396 cancellations out of 8,088 planned trips (weekday scheudule)

Feb. 15: 193 cancellations out of 5,307 planned trips (Saturday schedule)

Feb. 16: 474 cancellations out of 4,258 planned trips (Sunday schedule)

Feb. 17: 448 cancellations out of 8,088 planned trips (weekday schedule)