The Ottawa public transit agency, OC Transpo, is a-ok and, coming from a person who dislikes the transit systems of most major cities which don't have rail as part of the plan, a 3 is a good rating! The system is fairly conventional, with Rideau Centre being an area where most buses seem to converge on a bus artery of sorts and branch out from there. Along the main streets such as Wellington,... more

OC Transpo is a hot mess, but more so the ones that are less hilarious, and more massively annoying.

Forget the dozens of tracking apps, phone line, or schedules that are posted -- they are about as competent at telling you when a bus will come as I am at conducting open-heart surgery. Buses are routinely either late, early or just don't show up! Sometimes you may even be lucky enough to be... more

OCTranspo is the public transit system offered through the City of Ottawa but is a completely independent business, subsidized by the city and citizens taxes.

BUYING A BUS PASS at one of OCTranspo's sales offices should simple and easy. When you are disabled the long lines can be more than tedious, they can be downright painful. Yesterday I went to the OCTranspo Offices at the Rideau Centre to... more

This company maintains a toxic and disrespectful attitude towards the public which is reinforced by their customer service mechanisms and overall management structure.

A disturbing number of their bus drivers are unfathomably rude, aggressive and unprofessional. In fact, many well-publicized incidents involving abuse towards riders have occurred for things as innocent as asking to be let off... more

Last night at 9:00 p.m I missed my bus by seconds so I ran after it. I waved him down at the stop sign at the station. He ignored me. So I stepped off the curb and walked up to the bus doors and knocked on the doors. He looks at me and say "the stop is on the other side" .....(yeah I know that and just ran from there to here...) he repeated him self like 3 times. I gave him a look like...... more

Oc transpo is the public transit agency in Ottawa Ontario. Generally speaking the system is efficient, they have the transitway routes which run on dedicated roads allowing a much faster commute. Buses are quite frequent on the transit way but can be a hit and miss on the feeder routes.

Oc transpo has a vey neat service where you can text your stop number or the station name to 560560 and it... more

Functions exceptionally well as a bus service, it is quite likely that for a number of paths, you are better off taking a bus than any other form of transportation, like say going from the airport coming downtown. I rode OCtranspo for about 9 years, and I found it was quite reliable, performed well under difficult conditions and the staff are far more attentive to customer needs than the TTC.... more

Positive things to say about oc transpo are pretty hard to find when it comes to them. It is so frustrating taking a bus downtown with these inept idiots who truly do not know how to drive at all and had very little training in not much else. Circus monkeys are more experienced and would look cuter. Clearly the events of last year's bus accident where people were killed and just recently with... more

The disaster on Christmas eve is the last straw for me !

Why haven't the suits at OC transpo learned that on Christmas eve, the city shuts down at 12 pm?

STO was prepared, even the bus to Russell was ready at 12 pm.

I don't think OC Transpo added a single extra bus at noon to meet the demand.

The result was you waited 20 minutes for your first bus, and another 20 minutes to transfer to... more

After a month of using this service now, I have found that the buses a pretty close to keeping schedule, the drivers are pretty friendly even at the ungodly hour I get the bus out in Kanata.

I was surprised when I first arrived in Ottawa when I realized that there is no underground system like Toronto or Montreal, or most major urban centres. Instead though they have a dedicated transitway,... more

I've been on public transport in Toronto, Montreal, London, Paris, Jerusalem and Managa, but OC Transport is the worst. Much too expensive by half, with a c@!%!y schedule that seems to end at 9:00 am, with a management that is spectacularly into breaking the drivers' union to the detriment of service. And the O-Train? A light rail experiment that runs from a lousy strip mall to the literal... more

I've seen some buses. Oh I have seen some buses.

And you don't know what you Ottawa, until it's gone.

Try Halifax Metro Transit, and you'll see.

Clean buses that.. and here's a novel idea.. make a trip to the airport so that tourists have a way to get into town! Trust me.. it's not so common sense elsewhere.

The offering of tickets and passes in the buses.. ABSOLUTE genius. Just think, you... more

I've been to other cities, I've used their transit systems. None of them are as bad as OC transpo. About half of the time you'll get lucky and get a polite bus driver who will say hello and will help you find where you're going, the other half... Not so much, I've met some unimaginably rude bus drivers. For someone who makes as much as a Registered Nurse (kind of makes me wish I knew this... more

I've used public transit on and off for many years. I have also used Public Transit in many cities across the world. Comparatively, Ottawa's is trash. Mexico city in a poor developing nation has an awesome subway system. Don't get me started on European cities like Amsterdam. Seems like as the fares increase the service levels keep decreasing. City council needs to get it together and create a... more

I'd give it a 3 and a half if I can, but in my opinion the local areas suck in terms of service. Minus 1 star. The Transitway, on the other hand, was the best experience of my life when I was in Ottawa.

The automated announcements (called Clever Devices) are the best out of the transit systems I've ridden. It's the only I know that displays the route, destination, time, and next stop all in... more

There are so many pros and cons when it comes to public transit. Sometimes there are smelly, loud, rude, and/or annoying people, and other times you get exactly where you need to be, on time and with no problems.

The biggest pro of OC Transpo is that you can always find a way to get to your destination. Since the city is filled with students, it's by far the most popular mode of... more

Ottawa's public transit system is heavily used and you'll find a lot of variety in the people who take the bus compared to other cities.

The drivers vary in Ottawa from being sometimes miserable to being so cheery that they'll try to lead the bus in a sing along (it was funny for about three blocks then I wanted to just jump off).

My biggest beef with OC Transpo is not their drivers or the... more

I'm a major fan of OcTranspo, since I really strongly dislike driving, especially in the city.

I have always had good experiences catching the bus, but tend to leave early to avoid missing connections. The bus drivers are usually very friendly and on the local routes sometimes even stop closer to home when it's raining or late at night.

The strike a few years ago was really inconvenient, but... more

OC Transpo has its weaknesses like any other municipal transit system. But if compared with many other cities of the same size, OC Transpo buses are clean and efficient, mostly all wheelchair accessible, provide a bicycle rack in the summer and various programs to provide added convenience to its riders.
Many additions to the transit system are also in planning since Ottawa is growing. The... more

Of course there's a lot about OC Transpo that I can complain about, but I think that's the norm with every city's public transit system. There's definitely a need for a more amped up transit system in Ottawa, but this isn't the venue to debate Larry's transit plan.

The current state of OC Transpo's bus transit is pretty good in my books. The transitway is a much needed corridor that makes... more