Hi neighbour,
Hope you all had a great week. Groundhog Day was last Monday, and Wiarton Willie predicted an early spring, but many residents across the ward are having a lot of fun enjoying our Ottawa winter! There are plenty of neighbourhood winter carnivals this time of year to entice community members to go outside to enjoy the season and meet their neighbours. Here are some items of note from my office this week:
February is Black History Month
There are plenty of opportunities to celebrate Black History Month over the next few weeks! This year’s theme, 30 Years of Black History Month: Honouring Black Brilliance Across Generations- From Nation Builders to Tomorrow’s Visionaries, gives us an opportunity to reflect on the enduring legacy of Black people in Ottawa, and across Canada, and to celebrate past achievements and current trailblazers. We’ll be sharing local events each week in this newsletter, and you can also visit the Black History Ottawa website for an overview of activities across the city.
Transit Reliability: Advocating for Transit Users
Thank you to all OC Transpo users who continue to reach out to my office with your concerns regarding unreliable service. I want to be clear that I share your frustration and agree that City Council needs to take bold action that recognizes the value of public transit- including capping fares and committing to investing in more frequent service. Sharing your frustration with my office shows that you haven’t yet given up on transit in Ottawa, and I want to thank you all for raising these issues. We need to do better.
At the next City Council meeting on February 11, we’ll be discussing two motions from my colleagues Councillor Devine and Councillor Menard, requesting that OC Transpo look into options to improve accountability and service reliability for all transit users. I will be supporting both motions.
Councillor Devine’s motion on a Transit Service Reliability and Accountability Framework is a longer-term request to address service reliability and accountability. It asks OC Transpo to evaluate and report back on the feasibility, implications, and potential models for a Transit Service Reliability & Accountability Framework, including setting clear service expectations, increased public transparency, and customer-focused accountability mechanisms.
The second motion, from Councillor Menard, seeks more short-term compensation for transit users currently experiencing frustration and delays from unreliable public transit. It asks OC Transpo to look at options to compensate transit users for the latest transit disruptions, which could include refunds, capital improvements to reliability, discounted future service, or another method of compensation.
I firmly believe that better, more accessible and more affordable public transit benefits all road users. People in Ottawa expect and deserve safe, reliable, and affordable public transit, and right now, we’re not meeting those expectations. I look forward to the discussion at Council next Wednesday, and will be advocating for the needs of transit users in Ottawa.
Upcoming Coffee Chat: Thursday, February 19th at Britannia Coffee House (273 Britannia Rd)
I hope you can join me for my next informal coffee chat on Thursday, February 19th at Britannia Coffee House (273 Britannia Road). Pop by anytime between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm to ask questions, share your views, and meet some of your neighbours!
Read the full newsletter for more news and events across Bay Ward!
