WVCA ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Developing More Consistent & Efficient Public Transit
In the early days of the developing neighbourhood, 2 new bus routes were created. Route 17 – a rush hour route running between Wateridge and downtown Ottawa and Gatineau – and route 27 – also a rush hour route running between Wateridge and St Laurent Transit station.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, transit ridership across Ottawa plummeted. Consequently OC Transpo made the decision to suspend route 17. Wateridge, however continued to grow, adding several affordable housing developments as well as some higher density developments with less space for vehicle parking – resulting in on-street parking problems, particular in the winter.
It quickly became apparent that more transit was needed as residents without cars needed access to essentials like groceries.
In collaboration with councilor King, 3 daytime bus runs were added to route 27. This provided an initial step in improving transit, but was still insufficient.
The community association led an initiative collecting stories, statistics, and letters of support from organizations like Veterans House Canada, developers, and neighboring community associations. This effort led to a city council motion (from councilor King) to improve transit in this neighbourhood.
As part of OC Transpo 2024 route re-organization, it has been announced that route 17 will be restored (with a slightly different routing) and frequent route 25, connecting to Blair Station on week days from approximately 6:AM to 11:30PM, with bus every 15 minutes at rush hours and every 30 minutes at other times.
Wateridge Transit History
December 2017 – Transit Service launches in Wateridge. In the development of Wateridge as a 15 minute community, early bus service was launched as homes in Phase 1 were being occupied. The first services were Route 17 running at rush hours between Wateridge, Downtown and Gatineau and Route 27 running at rush hours between Wateridge and St. Laurent transit station.
March 2021 – With system-wide ridership at only 18% of the pre-pandemic levels. OC Transpo announces the suspension of a number of routes, including Route 17.
November 2021 – The Ottawa Citizen publishes a story on Veterans’ House – discussing early successes along the problem of lack of transit service needed to access necessities such as groceries.
June 2022 – Community desire for better transit service results in Route 27 being extended to the eastern portion of Wateridge, including a bus stop at Moses Tennisco and Mikinak Road. Three mid-day buses are added to provide better access for non-commuting trips.
December 2022 – WVCA issues a community call for stories of transit troubles, along with desired destinations for transit service.
January 2023 – WVCA receives dozens of stories and letters of support from numerous Wateridge residents, Veteran’s House Canada, Ottawa Community Housing, Habitat for Humanity Great Ottawa, Bayview Group, the Ottawa Transit Riders Association, representatives from senior levels of government and community associations representing neighbouring areas. These submissions were combined with statistics about the growth of Wateridge since the cancellation of Route 17 to produce an extensive submission of facts, statistics and stories ultimately delivered to the City of Ottawa, through the support of Councilor King.
March 2023 – During the city budget council meeting, a motion drafted by Councilor King was voted on and carried by Ottawa City Council to improve bus service in Wateridge Village. The motion included a number of facts and statistics compiled by the WVCA as its rationale.
November 2023 – OC Transpo announces the results of its New Ways to Bus route changes. These changes were designed to adapt the transit system to the reopening of the north-south light rail services and resulted in the cancellation of a number of bus routes across the city as part of general service reduction to reduce operating costs.
Despite this, the plan called for a considerable increase in transit services in the growing Wateridge Village Community. The plan called for a return of Route 17 – albeit with a different routing – along with an extension of Route 25 into Wateridge.
The service improvements provided the first full daytime and evening transit service to Wateridge on weekdays. The community expressed some disappointment about the lack of weekend service as well as Route 17 being routed away from Beechwood and De La Salle school. The WVCA secured a small extension of Route 17 from Rideau station to Parliament station – making commuting to downtown more straightforward.
April 2025 – Wateridge Transit undergoes a complete revamp with the launch of New Ways to Bus.
The future – The WVCA is not finished advocating for transit in Wateridge. As ridership numbers justify, the WVCA will continue to lobby for weekend transit service – like so many other communities have.
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