Some Barrhaven commutes are now so long OC Transpo charges passengers twice
Refunds take time to process, leaving riders out of pocket for 2nd fare after transfers expire
François Lavigne's afternoon commute can take so long that sometimes a single transit fare isn't enough.
After his transfer time runs out, Lavigne's left asking himself: "Why am I paying twice for a worse commute?"
It wasn't always so bad. Lavigne used to take a 200-series bus from Tunney's Pasture to Barrhaven, after catching a train from the University of Ottawa. It took about an hour, maybe an hour and a quarter.
But that route was cancelled when OC Transpo redrew its bus map earlier this year, so now he has to take two buses to get to or from Tunney's Pasture, including a new route 70 he finds so unreliable that he calls it a "rogue bus."
On paper, the trip takes about 90 minutes, but in reality it sometimes drags on for almost two hours.
"It's demoralizing. It's frustrating. It's draining," Lavigne said. "It makes me reconsider transit."
On at least three occasions earlier this year, he boarded his final bus after his 90-minute transfer expired. That means paying a second $4 fare.
"The first time it happened, I was in disbelief," he said.
He asked OC Transpo for a refund, but said he hasn't heard back after more than seven weeks.
"It is only $4, but it's also the principle of the thing — giving them money for something that doesn't work," he said.
'I shouldn't have to buy a 2nd car'
Sean Robertson has also gotten dinged for a double fare when he travels from his job in Gatineau, Que., back to Barrhaven's Half Moon Bay neighbourhood.
He remembers when his commute took him just 45 minutes on Route 95, before the LRT. Then it took an hour and 20 minutes or so — until the recent bus route changes.
Route 75 was a "lifeline," since it took him directly from Barrhaven to Gatineau with no need to transfer. But that direct link is gone. Construction along the Kichi Zībī Mīkan has made matters worse.
The trip can now take almost two hours. Far too often, his last transfer falls outside the 90-minute window.
"Instead of apologizing, or giving us some time, or compensating us for this disaster of a system, they charge us again," he said.
In an emailed statement, OC Transpo said customers who pay twice for the same trip can contact it and request a refund. Such requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Some may take longer to process, OC Transpo said, depending on the complexity of the investigation.
Robertson said he doesn't have the time to wait on the phone to fight a $4 charge. Instead, he bought a second car and now drives to a park-and-ride, cutting out one leg of his trip.
"I should be able to take the bus from my house. I shouldn't have had to buy a second car," he said. "I bought a house intentionally near a bus stop so I could do it."
Motion aims to extend transfer window
Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill agrees it's unfair. He's introducing a motion to council's transit committee asking OC Transpo staff to review the 90-minute transfer window, which currently applies to trips taken between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and present options to increase it.
"It is not reasonable for someone going one direction, from point A to point B, to pay twice for a fare," he said.
Hill said the bus route changes shouldn't automatically mean poor service. The local buses that replaced the express routes could work — if only the buses were reliable.
"The routes that are supposed to start at Tunney's Pasture often don't start on time," he said.
He said he's confident that as OC Transpo staff review the problem, common sense will prevail.
"This is a problem that absolutely needs to be rectified," he said.
Hill said he's expecting an answer from OC Transpo staff in the early fall. In his view, an extended transfer window should last until construction on the LRT west toward Algonquin Station is complete.
WATCH | City councillor wants a longer transfer period:
Robertson said it shouldn't take a committee decision to extend transfer times: OC Transpo should just go ahead and do it, however bad it might look.
"It's an admission of failure," he said. "If they have to publicly say, 'Oh, we can't move people from Barrhaven to downtown in less than 90 minutes,' then that looks pretty bad."
Lavigne feels the same way.
"That's the fastest thing they can do to alleviate the problem for transit users," he said. "But it equates to them admitting that they cannot get us home in a reasonable amount of time."
OC Transpo said in its statement that it is currently reviewing the potential impact of extending the transfer window, including whether any scheduled trips from Barrhaven to the downtown core consistently exceed 90 minutes.
"At this time, the scheduled duration of the majority of customer trips between Barrhaven and downtown take place in less than 90 minutes, however, staff will be investigating travel times further as part of the notice of motion," it said.
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