Vanier residents call for more bus shelters along Montreal Road

Fewer bus stops and not enough bus shelters have Vanier residents feeling left out in the cold when it comes to public spending on transportation in Ottawa.

The city and its provincial and federal partners areinvesting billionsin public transportation with the forthcoming light rail transit system. Buttransit users who rely on buses shouldn't be forgotten, sayTrevorHach, vice-president ofthe Healthy Transportation Coalition, and resident SuzanneLpine.

The twotoldCBCRadio'sAll In A DaythatOttawansusing thenumber 12 bus running along Montreal Road don't get the best service.

Lpine knows theNorth River Road stop on thenumber12route, near Cummings Bridge, well. The stop is right next to the riverand the lack of a bus shelter leaves transit users exposed, she said.

"It's a problem. So it's not just unpredictable, it arrives and it's full. So sometimes you wait for the second and the third bus to come by,"Lpinesaid.

"It's a long wait and often you're freezing or you're wet, or you get hit by the slush."

Vanierneeds 'special attention'

The HealthyTransportation Coalitionconducted a survey withVanierresidentsin September 2017 and asked 170 people living in the area what theywould like to see to improve transportation. Overwhelmingly, residents wanted more bus shelters and benches at bus stops,Hachsaid.

Hachsaid Vanierhas unique needs.The city plans toreduce the number of bus stops on Montreal Road from 23 to 17 to make make buses run more smoothly, andVanierwill alsonot be a part of or benefit from the newLRTsystem,Hachsaid.

Vanieris also one of a few neighbourhoods in the city his coalition has identified as not beingwalkableand hasa high number of residents who can't afford to drive a car.

"We'd like to see the city make bus shelters a priority and investing in public transit everywhere across the city, but certainly Vanier's one of the neighbourhoods that we think needs some special attention," Hach said.

The organization held a meetingMonday night to discuss how residents can get more involved in the push to add shelters and benches to Montreal Road.

'Think outside the box'

For Hachand Lepine, a regular bus shelter is the ideal, but some bus stops would be limited by space as well as affordability. Residents support the idea of a less protective shelter over no shelter at all,Hachsaid.

"If you think about olderstreets Gladstone, Somerset there'snot enough public space to put the regular bus shelter, they're huge," Lepinesaid. "So I would like OC Transpo to think outside of the boxand to redesign shelters. Maybewe need to compromise on some bus shelters so we can at least accommodate, give an umbrella to people."

Hachsaid Coun. Mathieu Fleury and city staffattended the meeting Monday night and are open to installing unconventional bus shelters at stops where there's a limit on space.

He suggested, however, that the decision will ultimately be up to OC Transpo.

As Montreal Road undergoes improvements,including anupdate toaging sewerand water main infrastructure, there's an opportunity to revitalize other parts of the busy street,Hachnoted.

Hachand Lpine said they would like to see safe biking lanes on both sides of Montreal Road, wider sideways and traffic-calming mechanisms to make the street safer for pedestrians.

A decision about bus shelters and benches along Montreal Road will be made sometime between April and June this year,Hachsaid.