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OC Transpo ridership up in October, but still short of predictions

Revenue from train and bus trips was $11.7 million in October, $5.8 million less than the expected $17.5 million in the budget.

A passenger embarks on an OC Transpo city bus at the corner of Gladstone and Elgin Street.
A passenger embarks on an OC Transpo city bus at the corner of Gladstone and Elgin Street. Photo by Felix Chagnon /Postmedia

Ridership on OC Transpo’s buses and trains was up in October, compared to the year before, but remained far below what the service had planned for in its budget, General Manager Renée Amilcar reported in a memo to city council on Thursday.

October ridership hit 5.6 million trips, a 44 per cent jump from the 3.9 million trips taken in October 2021. But that’s still just 58 per cent of the pre-pandemic ridership in November 2019 when 9.6 million bus and train trips were taken. And October ridership was 3.3 million trips less than OC Transpo had been predicting in its 2022 budget.

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Ridership dipped slightly in October from the month before, largely due to fewer U-Pass rides during the uOttawa and Carleton University fall reading weeks, the memo said.

Revenue from train and bus trips was $11.7 million in October, $5.8 million less than the expected $17.5 million in the budget.

Para Transpo Ridership was 55,300 in October 2022, up from 40,000 a year ago, but short of the expected ridership of 66,100 in the budget. Pre-pandemic Para Transpo ridership was 81,000 in November 2019. Para Transpo generated $156,200 in fare revenue in the month, a shortfall of about $20,000 from the expected revenue in the budget.

On Wednesday, the province said it would chip in $63.3 million to help OC Transpo offset its expected deficit of $85 million in 2022.