Ottawa – OC Transpo’s fall service returns on August 30. To welcome back students this fall, school service resumes, as well as increased trips to post-secondary schools.
Customers should visit octranspo.com and use the Travel Planner to see if their regular trips are affected by the return to fall schedules. Schedules are also available by calling 613-560-1000 or texting 560560 plus the four‑digit bus stop number, or first three letters of the station name.
Fall schedules
- Service on O-Train Line 1 will run every three to four minutes during the morning peak period.
- Select trip times on Routes 30 and 34 will be adjusted slightly to provide a more consistent frequency between trips.
- Weekday overnight service on Routes N39, N57, N75 and N97 will be adjusted to reduce wait times for connections downtown.
- Some trips on the following routes will be temporarily suspended due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and reduced ridership: 6, 7, 10, 12, 18, 25, 39, 40, 44, 61, 63, 66, 75, 87, 88, 93, 99, 111, 179, 234, 235, 236, 256, 257, 270, 272 and 277.
Back to school service for students
OC Transpo will be there for students and parents to provide service to Ottawa high schools and middle schools in early September. Students and parents should check the Travel Planner for schedules before school starts. Some details are still being finalized, so be sure to keep checking. You can easily plan a trip to your school on the Destinations page. Some trip times are changing to accommodate school start and end times due to COVID-19 measures or to better match ridership.
School bus stop changes
At Place d’Orléans Station, some school routes will be reassigned to new stops. Customers can check octranspo.com and look for signage at the station to help with the changes.
Post-secondary school bus service
Routes serving post-secondary schools will return to fall service levels. Service will be increased on Routes 10 and 111 and Line 2 buses, serving Carleton University, and on Route 25, serving La Cité.
Fall U-Pass
The U-Pass program is back this fall and available to full-time students at Algonquin College, Carleton University, Saint Paul University, and the University of Ottawa. Fall U-Pass cards are valid starting September 1, 2020. Due to COVID-19 and a decrease in on-campus learning, changes have been made to the delivery of the U-Pass program at each post-secondary institution. Students should check their institution’s website for up-to-date information on the program. Additional information is available on octranspo.com.
Construction detours
Construction projects continue this fall and will affect several routes. Customers on the following routes should give themselves extra travel time and check octranspo.com for the latest service updates:
- Rideau Street between Sussex Drive and Dalhousie Street – Routes 5, 6, 7, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 114, N39, N45, N57, N61, N75, N97, 602 and 624
- Montréal Road between North River Road and St-Laurent Boulevard – Routes 12, 14, 15, 18 and 19
- Old Richmond Road between West Hunt Club Road and Hope Side Road – Routes 252 and 256
- Scott Street between Island Park Drive and Ross Avenue – Routes 16, 50, 81 and 153
- Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre – Routes 11, 51, and 153
Labour Day
On Labour Day, Monday, September 7, OC Transpo will operate on a Sunday schedule. O-Train Line 1 will run from 8 am to 11 pm, and Line 2 buses will operate from 7:30 am to 11 pm. Labour Day also marks the last day of special service on Routes 185, 25 and 139 to the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, Canada Aviation and Space Museum and Petrie Island.
OC Transpo Customer Service (613-741-4390) will be open from 7 am to 9 pm, and the Rideau Centre Customer Service Centre will be open from 10 am to 6 pm.
Para Transpo will operate a holiday service on Labour Day. Regular scheduled trips are automatically cancelled, but customers may book trips for Labour Day by calling 613-244-7272 on or after August 31. Para Transpo’s reservation line (613-244-7272) will be open from 7 am to 5 pm and the cancellation line (613-244-4636) will be open from 6 am until midnight. Reservations and cancellations can also be made online.
Keeping you safer
In collaboration with Ottawa Public Health, OC Transpo continues to make public transit as safe as possible for everyone with mandatory masks, enhanced cleaning, hand sanitizer dispensers in stations and protective shields around bus operators. For the latest information, visit octranspo.com.
French Catholic and Public School Boards
Below is a comprehensive outline of the most up-to-date details for each school board, including return to school dates, weekly school schedules and start and end times, as well as OC Transpo’s transit service plans. As noted above, we understand details may change, and we will adjust our service as required.
- Regular September school service will operate, with the potential to adjust capacity based on requirements;
- Regular morning start and afternoon end times will be maintained for all grades;
- The Catholic school board will return to class September 3 or 4; and,
- The Public school board will have a staggered return between September 3 and 9.
English Catholic School Board
- Regular September school service will operate, with the potential to adjust capacity based on requirements;
- Regular morning start and afternoon end times will be maintained for all grades;
- Grade 7 will return to school on September 8;
- Grade 8 will return to school on September 9; and,
- Grades 9 to 12 will return to school on September 14 or 15.
English Public School Board
- There is no change to morning start times, and so regular morning school trips will operate to all schools;
- Grades 7 and 8 will maintain regular morning start and afternoon end times;
- Regular afternoon school trips will operate from high schools with Grade 7 and 8 students to accommodate their dismissal times;
- Grades 9 to 12 will be dismissed at earlier times in the afternoon. For the earlier end times, new trips will be added and travel options on regular midday service will be identified to accommodate student needs. The regular afternoon school trips from the high schools that only serve Grades 9 to 12 will not operate; and,
- Students will have staggered return dates, to be determined by the school board.
Presto cards
- Some students at the French-language school boards are not expected to receive their Presto cards until the first day at school, and, as a result, will not have them on the first morning as they travel to school. A grace period will be provided for students who have not picked up their Presto cards in advance of the first day of school. Students without a Presto card are simply asked to let the bus operator or O-Train Ambassador know they’re a student and have not picked up their Presto card yet, and they will be let on the bus or train.
Safer door-to-door
- OC Transpo has developed a “safer door-to-door” brochure that will be distributed by schools to students when they get their Presto cards. The brochure shows a simple step-by-step process that outlines how to use the transit system, and includes messaging on health and safety measures such as always wearing a mask and using hand sanitizer.
In summary, OC Transpo is implementing a number of initiatives to assist with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the following:
- Start/finish times – Working with OSTA and CTSO to plan and deploy their service to meet modified school times.
- Careful monitoring – All bus routes that serve schools will be monitored so they can make adjustments based on early trends and observations.
- Deployment of resources – Buses will be on standby to address possible gaps or overloads as required.
