OC Transpo to keep downtown express bus service as LRT resumes
Transit agency to end R1 bus routes brought in during LRT shutdown
OC Transpo will continue to offer a shuttle bus option that will run during morning and afternoon rush hours.
With single-car train service restored along the full length of the Confederation Line, OC Transpo is ending R1 and R1 Para service brought in as a replacement for the shuttered light rail system.
With some commuters praising the R1 Express service, OC Transpo has retained and re-branded the shuttle buses.
"OC Transpo has listened to and heard the positive feedback from customers on R1 Express bus service and is responding," the agency said in a memo Monday.
Officials from OC Transpo and the City of Ottawa discussed the express service at a news conference Monday afternoon. The full conference is available in the player above.
The service, dubbed Shuttle Express, will run every 10 minutes between 6:30 a.m. and 9 a.m., from Tunney's Pasture and Blair stations to downtown.
From 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., it will run every 10 minutes from downtown to Tunney's Pasture and Blair stations.
The service will use seven to 10 buses and is expected to run at least until the end of this year, OC Transpo said.
The R1 Express service began Monday, July 31, as Ottawa entered its third week without light rail trains. The system was shut down on July 17 after a routine inspection uncovered a problem with a train bearing similar to an issue that had previously caused a derailment.