Transit users in rural south Ottawa are fighting to keep their bus service after city council decided to axe it in a spur-of-the-moment budget decision.
On Monday, the transit committee discusses a motion to end Route 245 south of Manotick as of April, in order to save OC Transpo $25,700 in 2010.
Rideau-Goulbourn Ward Coun. Glenn Brooks put the motion forward during January’s budget deliberations.
According to OC Transpo staff, the southern section of Route 245 is getting 10 to 12 customer trips each day in February. At that ridership level, for every dollar OC Transpo spends to maintain the route, it collects nine cents in return.
However, the decision to cut the service with no consultation has created a backlash from angry area residents.
Rideau Goulbourn resident Andrew Geraghty wrote sent a letter to city councils urging OC Transpo to consult with residents discuss the future of rural transit.
“If it is believed that not enough of us are using the transit provided, hadn’t we better ask why that is?” he wrote, “rather than simply throwing up our hands and saying, ‘it doesn’t work, chop it.’’’
Along with his letter he submitted a petition repealing the proposed cut that had 141 entries on it.
