By Laine Johnson
With the O-Train service now running south to the airport, the east and west expansions a year or two from service, and Line 1 rail service serving downtown, City Council will soon be turning its attention to – and making funding decisions about – the next stage of public transit expansion.
No one is happy with the state of transit in Ottawa right now. Years of underfunding have reduced the frequency, reach, and reliability of our bus service. The City, on its own, has no way of rebuilding OC Transpo (and the public’s faith in it) without either senior government financing or untenable property tax increases.
It’s a shameful situation of which no member of Council is proud, but for which we haven’t found a reasonable solution.
There is a way.