OCCheetos
Active Member
That announcement was a huge disappointment. If the best you can do right now is an election promise to advocate for something, why on earth wouldn't you just promise to advocate for rail and pedestrian use??
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Ottawa Transit Developments
- Thread starter Reecemartin
- Start date
smallspy
Senior Member
Yes, they hired as many operators as they could. It still wasn't enough. There were quite a few periods where they didn't run any driver training classes as they didn't have any drivers to train.
As of the beginning of August, they were regularly over 100 drivers short on weekday mornings.
There was a lot of pushback from the membership about that and ultimately they backtracked on that proposal.
Dan
lrt's friend
Active Member
Let's remember that hundreds of drivers received a pink slip last fall. What would you do under those circumstances if you received a pink slip? You would be looking for another job. I am sure many drivers found other jobs and left. Who would be interested in a job that was likely to only last weeks.? So recruitment became almost impossible. Going forward, it will remain difficult to recruit drivers knowing that hundreds of further layoffs are coming in the next few years. Being a bus driver in Ottawa has suddenly lost its job security.
kEiThZ
Superstar
They need to come up with a plan to boost service as the LRT extensions come into service. Keeps the drivers employed and paid for assets (the buses) in service. There's no reason why OC Transpo can't keep 1000 buses in service and a rail network. Should be noted, that other than the subway and RT networks, Toronto has about ~1900 buses and 250 streetcars. Montreal has about 1800 buses and its subway network. So 1000 buses (ratio of 1000 residents: 1 bus or 2.5 streetcars) is about right for Ottawa to have feeder bus services on par with Toronto and Montreal.
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jayme2016
Active Member
They could have 1500 on the road no issue at all and wells till be in good shape.
jayme2016
Active Member
I think many went to Gatineau as they went on a major hiring spree last winter.
kEiThZ
Superstar
I'm referring to the ability to financially sustain that large a fleet.
lrt's friend
Active Member
Makes sense to me.
TossYourJacket
Senior Member
If only we'd properly subsidise public transit in this province, this wouldn't be the primary concern
TransitBart
Senior Member
What is
What is this about? The tweet is vague and the replies to Catherine McKenna are brutal.
jayme2016
Active Member
The city has a huge issue right now with how fast its growing and demand on services as many from Gatineau even the valley use the services so while the city is a million in population yoiu add the others around 600,000 are using it but not paying there fair share.
jayme2016
Active Member
THere is a huge battle over that bridge you have the bike groups that want it to be a bike only bridge which would cost around 60 million then you have Gatineau that wants to run lrt over it then you have the 3rd group that wnats to tear it down and build a new 8 lanes bridge.
TransitBart
Senior Member
At least LRT. Pedestrian only is a waste.
smallspy
Senior Member
No, the drivers didn't receive a "pink slip". That's not how it works.
They, and the union received a notification from OC Transpo a year and a bit ago that there were going to have to be some job losses upon the opening of the LRT. (I have been told that this was required due to their collective bargaining.) They gave a range of numbers, which included what OC Transpo suggested was going to be the final number of layoffs (and as I recall ended up being higher than the number of actual layoffs). The 600 figure was the highest end of the range given, and that's what everyone decided to focus on.
As for the recruitment, you're somewhat right on that. There are hundreds of drivers who leave every year well in advance of their retirement date for any number of different reasons. Between them and the other several hundred drivers who retire every year, there is always going to be a need for new drivers. As it is, they are likely to have to start hiring and training new drivers again in the new year.
Dan
felix123
Active Member
It's subjective of course, but Mississauga "feels" like a bedroom community to me, whereas Ottawa felt like a self-contained small to midsize city. Now it might feel larger to most due to the subway section downtown.