The union representing OC Transpo bus drivers and mechanics warns the transit service is ‘taking people away’ from public transit as it cancels hundreds of bus trips a day due to a delay in maintenance and road congestion.

The Amalgamation Transit Union is calling on OC Transpo to attract new staff and all levels of government to invest in public transit to help increase ridership, as OC Transpo faces a deficit of 25 million dollars in 2024 and a projected deficit of $120 million in 2025.

Statistics provided to CTV News Ottawa show OC Transpo canceled 1,877 bus trips between October 21 and 28, including more than 250 bus trips per weekday. OC Transpo says it is working to implement “long-term solutions” to increase the fleet through bus maintenance actions and the recruitment of additional mechanics.

“We have enough drivers at this point; we finally hired enough drivers to supply the line. Our mechanics work crazy amounts of overtime and incredible dedication to get these fleets on the road when they can,” Noah Vineberg, president of Amalgamated. Transit Union Local 279 told Newstalk 580 Ottawa at Work with CFRA’s Kristy Cameron.

“But the reality is these are old buses, some of them should have been taken out of service a long time ago.”

Some OC Transpo articulated buses are more than 15 years old, and OC Transpo is considering purchasing new and used diesel buses to fill the backlog in delivering new electric buses.

Vineberg says OC Transpo needs to attract new staff, adding that one concern is staff retention.

“We have seen a 27% decrease in the number of approved mechanics since 2019, a 25% decrease in the number of approved body technicians since 2019, a 12% decrease in the number of mechanics over the same period,” explains Vineberg.

“We have had layoffs during this period, which begs the question of how can we lay off some people when we desperately need staff.”

The City of Ottawa will table the 2025 budget on November 13, with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe calling on the Ontario and federal governments to provide $140 million over three years to support public transit. If higher levels of government do not provide funding, taxpayers could see a 37 percent increase in transit taxes or transit fares could increase by as much as 75 percent.

Vineberg says all levels of government need to fund transit and “we need to spend it right.”

“More people would ride the bus if the product was better; if the product was better and reliable and they had a reason to ride it and we had a reason to put them on the bus, more people would do it,” says Vineberg .

“We’re chasing people away when we absolutely need to be taking them back. We can help reduce congestion. All of these things would have been solved with more proactivity, planning ahead and getting a head start.”

The Transportation Commission was informed earlier this month that its staff was considering purchasing more diesel buses to deal with delays in the rollout of electric buses.

Advice. Tim Tierney says Ottawa is driving the transit system into the ground.

“We’re stuck in the area where we’re looking for used 60-foot diesel buses,” Tierney said. “It’s very frustrating.”

“We really need to resolve this funding situation and that’s why it’s such a hot topic right now.”

Tierney admits funding is needed to improve transit service.

“Overall, we have to get to a point, and it’s going to take funding to be able to operate this transit system the way it’s supposed to from day one, which hasn’t been the case,” Tierney said.