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Bus rapid transit system in Ottawa, Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Transitway is a bus rapid transit (BRT) network operated by OC Transpo in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It comprises a series of bus-only roadways and reserved lanes on city streets and highways. The dedicated busways ensure that buses and emergency vehicles on the Transitway rarely intersect directly with regular traffic, making it possible to run quickly and consistently, even during rush hour traffic. OC Transpo operates a network of rapid routes which use the Transitway to connect communities with the O-Train light rail system. Additional bus routes also use segments of the Transitway.
| Transitway | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| |||
| Overview | |||
| Owner | City of Ottawa | ||
| Locale | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Transit type | Bus rapid transit | ||
| Number of lines | 12 | ||
| Number of stations | 57 | ||
| Website | Rapid route network | ||
| Operation | |||
| Began operation | 1983 | ||
| Operator(s) | OC Transpo | ||
| Technical | |||
| System length | 59 km (37 mi) | ||
| |||
The Transitway opened in 1983 with five stations. The network expanded greatly to include over fifty stations at its peak.
In the 2010s, the central segment of the Transitway began reaching capacity, with buses bumper to bumper. To combat this, segments of the Transitway were closed in 2015 to allow conversion to a higher capacity light rail line, which opened in 2019 as the Confederation Line.[1] More segments of the Transitway have been closed since construction began on Stage 2 of the O-Train expansion, and more will converted when Stage 3 begins.
Ottawa's Transitway has been seen as a prime example of bus rapid transit internationally, and has influenced the design and creation of other systems worldwide.[2] The Ottawa Transitway has also been used as a model for how to design bus rapid transit, such as is the case for Brisbane, Australia and Mississauga, among others.[3][4]
Most of the Ottawa Transitway is grade separated from other modes of traffic, using trenches and elevated structures to bypass intersections. These parts of the Transitway have access controlled to only allow buses, and are accessed from side streets using ramps. Being controlled access, they have high top speeds of up to 90km/h.
Other parts of the Transitway are at-grade, with signal priority given to buses at intersections. The city also has a large network of bus lanes on major roads, such as Highway 417 and Baseline Road, but it usually doesn't consider these a part of the rapid transit network.
All vehicles in Ottawa's bus fleet have on-board audio announcements and digital wayfinding. This is typically used to announce next stops, as well as what interchanges and notable destinations are available at that stop.[5]
Stations on the Transitway typically have at least four lanes, two for buses stopping at the station, and two for vehicles travelling through the station. Almost all Transitway stations have shelters, and many Transitway stations have live departure boards, pedestrian bridges, and ticket machines. Older Transitway stations use modernist architecture, accented with red features.[6]
The Transitway was the first bus rapid transit system of its kind in North America, and has had a significant impact on Ottawa, as well as cities across the world.[7]
On the backs of the Transitway, Ottawa came to be seen as a gold standard for how to provide rapid transit cost effectively, and grew to champion one of the largest public transit mode shares in North America. Locally, the Transitway has come to form the backbone of the city's entire multi-modal transportation system, contributing to reducing congestion on the road network, making more of the city accessible to active transportation, and is the catalyst that enabled the current O-Train network. Abroad, the Transitway has created a perception of Ottawa as a "transit success story" in a continent otherwise resilient to taking transit, and is seen as a model for other cities internationally, especially within the United States.[1][8]
During the 1970s and 1980s, the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton approved the construction of a new transit corridor called the Transitway. The purpose of this busway was to increase the speed of city-bound services from east and west. The first two sections opened in 1983: the southwestern Transitway between Lincoln Fields and Baseline and the east between Lees and Hurdman.[9]
The central Transitway was then added in the Westboro and Mechanicsville areas. In the downtown core, buses traveled along dedicated lanes on Albert and Slater streets. The eastern Transitway was extended in both directions, towards Laurier in the northwest and Blair in the east. These segments of the Transitway were serviced by route 95, travelling the full length of the Transitway from Baseline to Blair. Priority measures were later added to Woodroffe Avenue and Regional Road 174, extending service into the suburbs of Barrhaven and Orleans.[9]
In the 1990s, a rail corridor was gradually converted into the southeast Transitway, spanning from Hurdman to South Keys. This new section necessitated the creation of route 97. Route 97 followed the new southeast Transitway before joining route 95 along the existing Transitway segments. The 97 was extended to service the suburb of Kanata. The Kanata section was later split off into route 96.[9]
In 2001, the O-Train's Trillium Line (then simply the "O-Train") opened. Its northern terminus was at the new Bayview station on the central Transitway and its southern terminus at Greenboro on the southeast Transitway.[10]
The southwest Transitway was gradually extended southward, first to Fallowfield in 2005 and then to Barrhaven Centre in 2011. A median busway section was added along Chapman Mills Drive to Nepean Woods in 2014. The first segment of the western Transitway opened in 2009 connecting Pinecrest and Bayshore. This was extended to Moodie in 2017.[11]
Beginning in 2015, sections of the Transitway closed for conversion to light rail for the Confederation Line. Buses were rerouted to bus-only lanes along Highway 417, Regional Road 174, and city streets.[12] The Confederation Line opened in 2019, along with a major re-organization of the Transitway network. Rapid routes no longer travelled through downtown Ottawa. Instead, all rapid routes use the Transitway to connect communities to the Confederation Line at one of three stations: Tunney's Pasture, Hurdman, or Blair. Routes were also renumbered to correspond with their geographic service area, resulting in the retirement of route 95, the Transitway's busiest and oldest route.[13]
Multiple sections of the Transitway were permanently closed for O-Train Stage 2 construction in 2021 and 2022. In September of 2021, the Transitway was closed between Moodie and Bayshore, followed by the section between Bayshore and Pinecrest in April of 2022. Buses were detoured along Highway 417, with Moodie station being relocated to temporary bus stops at the interchange ramps, and some bus routes bypassing Pinecrest and Bayshore stations eastbound as a result.[14][15] In June, the entirety of the central Transitway between Tunney's Pasture and Dominion stations was closed, as well as the southwest Transitway between Iris and Baseline. Buses were detoured along Scott Street parallel to the former central Transitway, with a temporary extension and bridge connecting to Dominion Station. Buses were routed along Iris Street and Woodroffe Avenue between Iris and Baseline stations.[16]
The following are OC Transpo's rapid routes, which travel along the Transitway with frequent service connecting communities to the O-Train. Additional OC Transpo routes also use segments of the Transitway.
| # | Terminus | Terminus | Notes | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | Millennium 39 Trim 39 Place d'Orléans |
Blair 39 La Cité N39 Rideau |
|
|
| 45 | Hospital / Hôpital | Hurdman N45 Rideau |
|
|
| 57 | Crystal Bay Bayshore |
Tunney's Pasture N57 Rideau |
|
|
| 61 | Stittsville 61 Terry Fox |
Tunney's Pasture 61 Gatineau 61 Pimisi N61 Rideau |
|
|
| 61C | Stittsville | Eagleson | ||
| 61D | Terry Fox | Eagleson |
|
|
| 62 | Stittsville 62 Terry Fox |
Tunney's Pasture |
|
|
| 63 | Briarbrook via Innovation | Tunney's Pasture via Briarbrook 63 Gatineau via Briarbrook 63 Pimisi |
|
|
| 74 | Riverview
Limebank (2024) |
Tunney's Pasture |
|
|
| 75 | Barrhaven Centre Cambrian |
Tunney's Pasture 75 Gatineau 75 Pimisi N75 Rideau |
|
|
| 97 | Airport 97 Airport via Uplands 97 South Keys |
Hurdman N97 Rideau |
|
|
| 98 | Hawthorne | Hurdman | ||
| 99 | Barrhaven Centre 99 Citigate 99 E.S. Pierre-de-Blois |
Greenboro 99 Greenboro via Uplands 99 Hurdman 99 Riverview 99 Spratt / Limebank Limebank (2024) |
|
| Station | Rapid connections | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Blair |   (future) 39 |
|
| Montréal | (future) (future) 39 |
|
| Jeanne d'Arc | (future) (future) 39 |
|
| Place d'Orléans | (future) (future) 39 |
|
| Trim | (future) (future) 39 |
|
| Millennium | 39 |
|
The east Transitway currently consists of a series of intermittent bus-only lanes along Regional Road 174 between Blair and Place d'Orléans.
.JPG)
| Station | Rapid connections | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hurdman | (future) 45 97 98 99 |
|
| Lycée Claudel | 45 97 98 99 |
|
| Smyth | 97 98 99 |
|
| Riverside | 97 98 99 |
|
| Pleasant Park | 97 98 99 |
|
| Billings Bridge | 97 98 99 |
|
| Heron | 97 98 99 |
|
| Walkley |  (future) 97 98 99 |
|
| Greenboro | 97 98 99 |
|
| South Keys | (future) 97 98 99 |
|
| Leitrim | 99 |
|
| Airport |  (future) 97 |
|
| Hawthorne | 98 |
|
TThe southeast Transitway is a dedicated busway adjacent to some rail corridors between Hurdman and South Keys.
| Station | Rapid connections | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pimisi | (future) 61 63 75 |
|
| Bayview | (future) 61 63 75 |
|
| Tunney's Pasture | (future) 57 61 62 63 74 75 |
|
| Westboro | (future) (future) 57 61 62 63 74 75 |
|
| Dominion | (future) (future) 57 61 62 63 74 75 |
|
The central Transitway was a dedicated busway between Pimisi (formerly LeBreton) and Dominion stations. The Pimisi to Bayview segment was closed in January 2016 for O-Train Stage 1 construction and the Bayview to Tunney's Pasture segment was closed in June 2016. In June 2022, the remaining segment of the central transitway west of Tunney's Pasture was closed for O-Train Stage 2 construction, with buses now running along dedicated bus lanes on Scott Street. A temporary Transitway was built from Dominion station to the intersection of Churchill Road and Scott Street. The new Transitway travels over the old one via the bailey bridge and then alongside until the intersection of Scott / Churchill. Once New Ways to Bus is implemented, route 12 will service central transitway stations between Rideau and Tunney's Pasture including Parliament and Lyon stations.
The former downtown section of the Transitway consisted of two single bus-only lanes on Albert and Slater Streets (one-way public streets in opposite westbound and eastbound directions, respectively), with stops in each direction at Bay, Kent, Bank and Metcalfe Streets as well as on the Mackenzie King Bridge. Traffic congestion here, where the buses mingle with private vehicles, often caused service delays and was seen by some as the main weakness in the Transitway system.
Initial plans for the Transitway included a bus-only tunnel in this section but the cost of a ventilated tunnel for conventional buses was deemed too expensive and was not warranted at the time. In 2006, it was proposed to extend the O-Train downtown as a tramway over the same streets while keeping existing bus and car traffic. The idea was met with objections from businesses along those streets, as normal access to the businesses would be impeded.
In 2019, the Confederation Line opened, replacing the downtown portion of the Transitway with an underground, high-capacity rapid transit rail line. This service change greatly reduced the number of buses travelling on Albert and Slater streets.
This former section of Transitway was a two lane bus-only corridor between Cahill and Lorry Greenburg Drives in the Greenboro neighbourhood in south Ottawa. Part of a planned neighbourhood in 1984, it opened in 1987 while the neighbourhood was still being developed. It was opened as a corridor with no stations, as it was planned to extend to Conroy Road once the neighbourhood was completed. It ran mostly without issue, servicing two routes and providing service during regular and peak periods.
As time went on, the planned neighbourhood's density was heavily reduced due to heavy backlash from the local community using the slogan “buses out of backyards”. By 1989, OC Transpo began phasing out the corridor, and by 1990 it was declared surplus lands. On September 2, 1995, OC Transpo ran its final bus on the corridor, and it was then gated up and left abandoned for the next 7 years. After being sold to the city, it was officially fully removed by 2002.[20]
| Station | Rapid connections | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Fields | (future) (future) 57 61 62 63 74 75 |
|
| Queensway | 61 62 63 74 75 |
|
| Iris | (future) 74 75 |
|
| Baseline | (future) 74 75 |
|
| Fallowfield | 74 75 |
|
| Longfields | 75 |
|
| Strandherd | 75 |
|
| Marketplace | 75 99 |
|
| Barrhaven Centre | 75 99 |
|
| Citigate | 99 |
|
| Cambrian | 75 |
|
| Beatrice | 99 |
|
| Nepean Woods | 74 99 |
|
| Riverview | 74 99 |
|
| Limebank (2024) | (future) 74 (future) 99 (future) |
|
The southwest Transitway includes a dedicated busway from Lincoln Fields to Baseline. Buses then travel on reserved lanes before joining a busway before Fallowfield. This busway extends from Fallowfield to Barrhaven Centre. A separate median busway east of Marketplace connects Beatrice and Nepean Woods before traveling along reserved lanes to Riverview. There are plans to extend the transitway to Limebank. After New Ways to Bus in late 2024, route 110 will offer station to station service between Limebank and Barrhaven Centre.
| Station | Rapid connections | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pinecrest | (future) 61 62 63 |
|
| Bayshore | (future) 57 61 62 63 |
|
| Moodie | (future) 57 61 62 63 |
|
| Bells Corners | 57 |
|
| Eagleson | 61 62 63 |
|
| Terry Fox | 61 62 |
|
| Canadian Tire Centre | 62 |
|
| Stittsville | 61 62 |
|
| Teron | 62 63 |
|
| Innovation | 63 |
|
The west Transitway consisted of a dedicated busway between Pinecrest and Moodie, however the section between Moodie and Bayshore closed permanently in September 2021, followed by the section between Bayshore and Pinecrest in April 2022. Buses also use reserved lanes on Highway 417 between Moodie and Eagleson.
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