Transit Committee

Minutes

Meeting #:

22

Date:

Monday, November 24, 2025

Time:

9:30 A.m. - 4:30 P.m.

Location:

Champlain Room, 110 Laurier Avenue West, and by electronic participation

Present:

• Chair Glen Gower, 
• Vice-Chair Steve Desroches, 
• Councillor Riley Brockington, 
• Councillor Marty Carr, 
• Councillor David Hill, 
• Councillor Jeff Leiper, 
• Councillor Wilson Lo, 
• Councillor Shawn Menard, 
• and Councillor Tim Tierney 

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1.

Notices and meeting information for meeting participants and the public

Notices and meeting information are attached to the agenda and minutes, including: availability of simultaneous interpretation and accessibility accommodations; in camera meeting procedures; information items not subject to discussion; personal information disclaimer for correspondents and public speakers; notices regarding minutes; and hybrid participation details.

Accessible formats and communication supports are available, upon request.

Except where otherwise indicated, reports requiring Council consideration will be presented to Council on December 10, 2025 in Transit Committee Report 22.

The deadline to register by phone to speak, or submit written comments or visual presentations is 4 pm on Friday, November 21, 2025, and the deadline to register to speak by email is 8:30 am on Monday, November 24, 2025.

2.

Declarations of Interest

No Declarations of Interest were filed.

3.

Confirmation of Minutes

3.1

TC Minutes 21 – September 11, 2025

• Carried

3.2

LRSC Minutes 11 - November 29, 2024

• Carried

4.

Responses to Inquiries

4.1

TC-2025-01 - Line 1 and Line 2 Regulatory Oversight

4.2

TC-2025-08 - Central Park High School Routes

5.

Presentations

5.1

OC Transpo Update – Rail, Bus, and Para Transpo

The following Transit Services Department staff provided a presentation on the item and answered questions from the Committee. A copy of the slide presentation is filed with the Office of the City Clerk.

• Troy Charter, General Manager
• Sabrina Pasian, Chief Safety Officer
• François Quirouette, Program Manager, Service Strategy
• Peter Scislowski, Safety Pillars

The following staff also responded to questions from Committee:

• Richard Holder, Director, Rail Construction Program
• Pat Scrimgeour, Director, Transit Customer Systems & Planning
• Rami El Feghali, Director, Transit Bus Operations & Maintenance

Councillor W. Lo presented a Direction to Staff:

That future bus and LRT service performance metrics (trip delivery, service punctuality/reliability, etc.) reported at Transit Committee include separate datasets for peak and off-peak, in addition to overall service performance metrics currently reported by Q2 2026.

6.

Finance and Corporate Services Department

6.1

Draft 2026 Operating and Capital Budgets – Transit Committee

File No. ACS2025-FCS-FSP-0013 - City-wide

The draft budget was tabled at the Council meeting of November 12, 2025. The Transit Committee’s report on the draft budget will be considered by Council at its meeting of December 10, 2025.

Cyril Rogers, General Manager, Finance and Corporate Services, and Chief Financial Officer, Troy Charter, General Manager, Transit Services and Pat Scrimgeour, Director, Transit Customer Systems and Planning, presented an overview of the report and answered questions from the Committee. A copy of the slide presentation is filed with the Office of the City Clerk.

Committee received the following submissions, and a copy of each is filed with the Office of the City Clerk:

• Bonnie Schroeder email dated November 21, 2025
• The Grove email dated November 21, 2025

The following members of the public spoke before the Committee and provided comments on the item:

1. Angela Keller-Herzog, CAFES
2. Justin Westlake Hughes
3. Nick Grover, Ecology Ottawa
4. Ken Holmes
5. Ryan McEnery
6. Tracy Mutugi
7. Meg Herod (CAWI) – sharing her speaking time with Cata Jurado
8. Peggy Nesbitt (CAWI)
9. Sam Hersh
10. Brigitte Donnelly-Provost
11. Noah Vineberg
12. Bonnie Schroeder (Aging on Ottawa)
13. John Redins
14. Brooke Anderson
15. Ajay Ramachandran
16. Sunidhi B.
17. Harper Jean Tobin
18. Sofia Schlichting
19. Laura Shantz
20. Mike Wright
21. Saad Khan

Following discussions, the Committee considered the following directions and motions:

Direction to staff (Councillor M. Carr):

That staff be directed to continue their work to improve Para Transpo service, which may include measures such as expanding Para Transpo service hours, adding more flexibility for same-day bookings, and improving communications to customers.

Direction to staff (Councillor S. Menard):

That staff be directed to continue discussions with the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA) and Consortium de transport scolaire d'Ottawa (CTSO) regarding discounted youth passes, with an aim to achieve a discounted youth pass while sufficiently funding OC Transpo’s capital and operational costs for delivering school transportation.

Direction to staff (Councillor S. Menard):

That staff be directed to return to Budget Committee of the Whole with potential identified funding sources for 18 and under youth passes for weekends, after 5pm and in summers (July and August), how they interrelate for economy of scale and new ridership growth.

At the conclusion of questions to staff and Committee deliberations, Motions TC-2025-22-02 and TC-2025-22-03 were put before Committee and Motion TC-2025-22-03 was ‘CARRIED’, as presented.

• Report Recommendation(s)

  That the Transit Committee consider the relevant portions of the 2026 Operating and Capital Budgets and make recommendations to Council, sitting as Committee of the Whole, to be held December 10, 2025.
• Motion No. TC 2025 -22-01
  Moved by S. Desroches

  The 'Roadmap' Motion TC-2025-22-01 was subjected to a recorded vote, being 'CARRIED' with Councillor's M. Carr DISSENT on clause 1a).

  BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Transit Committee recommend that Council, sitting as Committee of the Whole, approve the Transit Committee 2026 Draft Operating and Capital Budgets, as follows:

  1. Transit Services as follows:
     1. User fees (pages 9-10);
     2. Operating Resource Requirement (page 7-8);
  2. Transit Committee Capital Budget (page 11-12, individual projects listed on pages 21-48).

  For (8)	G. Gower, T. Tierney, J. Leiper, S. Menard, D. Hill, M. Carr, S. Desroches, and W. Lo
  Against (1)	R. Brockington

  Carried (8 to 1)
• Motion No. TC 2025 -22-02
  Moved by S. Desroches

  THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

  1. Fares for riders ages 18 and under shall be free on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays. The cost of this measure is estimated at $240,000 per year.
  2. That staff be directed to explore the technical feasibility to implement free fares after 5:00pm to riders ages 18 and under. The cost of this measure is estimated at $190,000 per year.
  3. That staff be directed to develop a process to provide senior riders ages 65+ on Para Transpo with up to four free rides per month. The cost of this measure is estimated at $152,000 per year.
  4. Transfer time for weekdays between 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. shall be extended to 105 minutes. This measure would be temporary until the launch of LRT Stage 2 West to Algonquin Station and Moodie Station, expected in 2027. The cost of this measure is estimated at $130,000 per year.

  THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT staff introduce these changes as early as practical in 2026, with the understanding that some require significant technical and staffing changes that would not make a January 1 launch feasible.

  THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the offsetting cost of these measures, estimated at up to $712,000 if fully implemented on an annualized basis, be funded from within the OC Transpo departmental budget.
• Motion No. TC 2025 -22-03

  That the Desroches motion – OC Transpo customer improvements be referred to Council.

  Carried

7.

Office of the City Clerk

7.1

Status Update – Transit Committee Inquiries and Motions for the period ending November 13, 2025

File No. ACS2025-OCC-CCS-0122 - City-wide

• Report Recommendation(s)

  That the Transit Committee receive this report for information.

  Received

8.

In Camera Items

There were no in camera items.

9.

Motions of Which Notice has been Previously Given

9.1

Motion – Councillor W. Lo – 2026 bus procurement

File No. ACS2025-OCC-CCS-0106 - City-wide

Pursuant to subsection 59(5) of the Procedure By-law 2025-100, a revised motion was submitted on the same subject by the mover and substituted the original one contained in the Notice of Motion.

Troy Charter, General Manager, Transit Services Department answered questions from the Committee.

The residents Angela Keller-Herzog, Ajay Ramachandran, Michael Barnard and Raymond Leury spoke before the Committee and provided comments on the item.

Following discussions and questions of staff, the Committee CARRIED the motion report as presented.

• Motion

  That Transit Committee recommend Council approve the following:

  1. For all future bus procurements consideration be given to diesel and diesel-electric hybrid propulsion vehicles, depending on market availability, cost, and other operational considerations, and

  2. For all future bus procurements consideration is given to the purchase of high-capacity vehicles, and

  3. For all future bus procurements staff explore joint procurement opportunities with other transit agencies and maximize purchasing options for future years.

  Carried

10.

Notices of Motions (For Consideration at Subsequent Meeting)

There were no Notices of Motion.

11.

Inquiries

There were no Inquiries.

12.

Other Business

There was no other business.

13.

Adjournment

Next Meeting: February 12, 2026.

The meeting adjourned at 05:19 pm.