Transitway (Ottawa)

The Transitway is a bus rapid transit (BRT) network operated by OC Transpo in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It comprises a series of bus-only roadways and reserved lanes on city streets and highways. The dedicated busways ensure that buses and emergency vehicles on the Transitway rarely intersect directly with regular traffic, making it possible to run quickly and consistently, even during rush hour traffic. OC Transpo operates a network of rapid routes which use the Transitway to connect communities with the O-Train light rail system. Additional bus routes also use segments of the Transitway.

Transitway
Overview
Owner	City of Ottawa
Locale	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Transit type	Bus rapid transit
Number of lines	12
Number of stations	57
Website	Rapid route network
Operation
Began operation	1983
Operator(s)	OC Transpo
Technical
System length	59 km (37 mi)
System map

The Transitway opened in 1983 with five stations. The network expanded greatly to include over fifty stations at its peak.

In the 2010s, the central segment of the Transitway began reaching capacity, with buses bumper to bumper. To combat this, segments of the Transitway were closed in 2015 to allow conversion to a higher capacity light rail line, which opened in 2019 as the Confederation Line. More segments of the Transitway have been closed since construction began on Stage 2 of the O-Train expansion, and more will be converted when Stage 3 begins.

Ottawa's Transitway has been seen as a prime example of bus rapid transit internationally, and has influenced the design and creation of other systems worldwide. The Ottawa Transitway has also been used as a model for how to design bus rapid transit, such as is the case for Brisbane, Australia and Mississauga, among others.

Design

Articulated bus in Ottawa entering the Transitway trench using a ramp.

Most of the Ottawa Transitway is grade separated from other modes of traffic, using trenches and elevated structures to bypass intersections. These parts of the Transitway have access controlled to only allow buses, and are accessed from side streets using ramps. Being controlled access, they have high top speeds of up to 90km/h.

At-grade Transitway in Barrhaven

Other parts of the Transitway are at-grade, with signal priority given to buses at intersections. The city also has a large network of bus lanes on major roads, such as Highway 417 and Baseline Road, but it usually doesn't consider these a part of the rapid transit network.

All vehicles in Ottawa's bus fleet have on-board audio announcements and digital wayfinding. This is typically used to announce next stops, as well as what interchanges and notable destinations are available at that stop.

Stations

Greenboro station on the southeastern Transitway.

Stations on the Transitway typically have at least four lanes, two for buses stopping at the station, and two for vehicles travelling through the station. Almost all Transitway stations have shelters, and many Transitway stations have live departure boards, pedestrian bridges, and ticket machines. Older Transitway stations use modernist architecture, accented with red features.

Legacy

The Transitway was the first bus rapid transit system of its kind in North America, and has had a significant impact on Ottawa, as well as cities across the world.

On the backs of the Transitway, Ottawa came to be seen as a gold standard for how to provide rapid transit cost effectively, and grew to champion one of the largest public transit mode shares in North America. Locally, the Transitway has come to form the backbone of the city's entire multi-modal transportation system, contributing to reducing congestion on the road network, making more of the city accessible to active transportation, and is the catalyst that enabled the current O-Train network. Abroad, the Transitway has created a perception of Ottawa as a "transit success story" in a continent otherwise resilient to taking transit, and is seen as a model for other cities internationally, especially within the United States.

History

During the 1970s and 1980s, the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton approved the construction of a new transit corridor called the Transitway. The purpose of this busway was to increase the speed of city-bound services from east and west. The first two sections opened in 1983: the southwestern Transitway between Lincoln Fields and Baseline and the east between Lees and Hurdman.

The central Transitway was then added in the Westboro and Mechanicsville areas. In the downtown core, buses traveled along dedicated lanes on Albert and Slater streets. The eastern Transitway was extended in both directions, towards Laurier in the northwest and Blair in the east. These segments of the Transitway were serviced by route 95, travelling the full length of the Transitway from Baseline to Blair. Priority measures were later added to Woodroffe Avenue and Regional Road 174, extending service into the suburbs of Barrhaven and Orleans.

In the 1990s, a rail corridor was gradually converted into the southeast Transitway, spanning from Hurdman to South Keys. This new section necessitated the creation of route 97. Route 97 followed the new southeast Transitway before joining route 95 along the existing Transitway segments. The 97 was extended to service the suburb of Kanata. The Kanata section was later split off into route 96.

In 2001, the O-Train's Trillium Line (then simply the "O-Train") opened. Its northern terminus was at the new Bayview station on the central Transitway and its southern terminus at Greenboro on the southeast Transitway.

The southwest Transitway was gradually extended southward, first to Fallowfield in 2005 and then to Barrhaven Centre in 2011. A median busway section was added along Chapman Mills Drive to Nepean Woods in 2014. The first segment of the western Transitway opened in 2009 connecting Pinecrest and Bayshore. This was extended to Moodie in 2017.

Beginning in 2015, sections of the Transitway closed for conversion to light rail for the Confederation Line. Buses were rerouted to bus-only lanes along Highway 417, Regional Road 174, and city streets. The Confederation Line opened in 2019, along with a major re-organization of the Transitway network. Rapid routes no longer travelled through downtown Ottawa. Instead, all rapid routes use the Transitway to connect communities to the Confederation Line at one of three stations: Tunney's Pasture, Hurdman, or Blair. Routes were also renumbered to correspond with their geographic service area, resulting in the retirement of route 95, the Transitway's busiest and oldest route.

Temporary Transitway bridge connecting Scott Street to Dominion Station

Multiple sections of the Transitway were permanently closed for O-Train Stage 2 construction in 2021 and 2022. In September of 2021, the Transitway was closed between Moodie and Bayshore, followed by the section between Bayshore and Pinecrest in April of 2022. Buses were detoured along Highway 417, with Moodie station being relocated to temporary bus stops at the interchange ramps, and some bus routes bypassing Pinecrest and Bayshore stations eastbound as a result. In June, the entirety of the central Transitway between Tunney's Pasture and Dominion stations was closed, as well as the southwest Transitway between Iris and Baseline. Buses were detoured along Scott Street parallel to the former central Transitway, with a temporary extension and bridge connecting to Dominion Station. Buses were routed along Iris Street and Woodroffe Avenue between Iris and Baseline stations.

Routes

The following are OC Transpo's rapid routes, which travel along the Transitway with frequent service connecting communities to the O-Train. Additional OC Transpo routes also use segments of the Transitway.

#	Terminus	Terminus	Notes	Map
39	Millennium  39  Trim  39  Place d'Orléans	Blair  39  La Cité  N39  Rideau	Select peak trips extend to/from La Cité and Samuel Genest school Overnight extension N39 terminates at Rideau	[1]
45	Hospital / Hôpital	Hurdman  N45  Rideau	Serves the Ottawa Health Sciences Complex, including The Ottawa Hospital's General Campus and Rehabilitation Centre and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Overnight extension N45 terminates at Rideau	[2]
57	Crystal Bay Bayshore	Tunney's Pasture  N57  Rideau	Frequent service provided between Tunney's Pasture and Bayshore during most time periods. All other trips start/end at the Department of National Defense Carling Campus. Overnight extension N57 terminates at Rideau	[3]
61	Stittsville  61  Terry Fox	Tunney's Pasture  61  Gatineau  61  Pimisi  N61  Rideau	Trips are extended to/from Gatineau during peak hours. Early morning trips travel via Pinecrest Garage on Queensview Overnight extension N61 terminates at Rideau Serves Pimisi on Canada Day for customers with accessibility needs.	[4]
61C	Stittsville	Eagleson	AM peak: travels directly from Castlefrank to Highway 417 and Eagleson, bypassing Katimavik and Terry Fox PM peak: serves Katimavik, but do not serve Castlefrank north of Katimavik, or Terry Fox station	[5]
61D	Terry Fox	Eagleson	Travels via Highway 417 between Castlefrank and Eagleson station. This route only operates during the AM peak periods.	[6]
62	Stittsville  62  Terry Fox	Tunney's Pasture	Before noon on weekdays, eastbound buses travel via Fringewood between Abbott E. and Hazeldean, while westbound buses travel via Iber After noon on weekdays, buses follow the reverse direction on both roads	[7]
63	Briarbrook via Innovation	Tunney's Pasture via Briarbrook  63  Gatineau via Briarbrook  63  Pimisi	Eastbound AM peak period trips travel via March instead of the business park and are extended to Gatineau; the reverse occurs in the PM peak for westbound Serves Pimisi on Canada Day for customers with accessibility needs.	[8]
74	Riverview Limebank (2024)	Tunney's Pasture	When the Line 2 expansion opens in 2024, Route 74 will be extended from Riverview station east along Earl Armstrong, bringing its new terminus to Limebank station. Select late evening northbound trips terminate at Fallowfield.	[9]
75	Barrhaven Centre Cambrian	Tunney's Pasture  75  Gatineau  75  Pimisi  N75  Rideau	Overnight extension N75 terminates at Rideau Serves Pimisi on Canada Day for customers with accessibility needs.	[10]
97	Airport  97  Airport via Uplands  97  South Keys	Hurdman  N97  Rideau	Select late evening southbound trips travel via Hunt Club and Uplands instead of the Airport Parkway in the southbound direction only. Select peak tips are extended to start/end at Hunt Club loop but signed as 97 South Keys in the southbound direction. Overnight extension N97 terminates at Rideau. Service to/from the Ottawa MacDonald Cartier International Airport will be replaced by Line 4 in the service change that was originally scheduled for fall 2022; that opening has been delayed. This route could potentially be removed due to routes 98 and 99 offering parallel service along its entire route.	[11]
98	Hawthorne	Hurdman		[12]
99	Barrhaven Centre  99  Citigate  99  E.S. Pierre-de-Blois	Greenboro  99  Greenboro via Uplands  99  Hurdman  99  Riverview  99  Spratt / Limebank Limebank (2024)	Extended from Greenboro to/from Hurdman during peak hours in both directions. Select trips extended from Barrhaven Centre to Citigate Barrhaven. Late night and early morning trips to/from Barrhaven Centre are shortened to start and end at Riverview. All weekend trips Travel via Uplands and Hunt Club instead of the Airport Parkway in the northbound direction only. Select weekday trips start/end at Spratt / Limebank. Some weekday trips start/end at E.S. Pierre-de-Blois. When the Line 2 expansion opens in 2024, the 99 will be extended in both directions to follow Limebank Road south from Limebank / Spratt, in order to connect with the new Limebank terminus station. Once parallel bus service ends after the first winter of revenue service on Lines 2 and 4, service on Route 99 between Barrhaven Centre and Citigate will be replaced by Local Route 110. Service between Riverside South and Greenboro will be replaced by O-Train Line 2.	[13]

Stations and segments

East

Station	Rapid connections	Notes
Blair	(future)  39	Bus terminal Park & Ride
Montréal	(future) (future)  39	Curbside
Jeanne d'Arc	(future) (future)  39	Curbside Park & Ride
Place d'Orléans	(future) (future)  39	Bus terminal Park & Ride
Trim	(future) (future)  39	Curbside Park & Ride
Millennium	39	Bus terminal Park & Ride

The east Transitway currently consists of a series of intermittent bus-only lanes along Regional Road 174 between Blair and Place d'Orléans.

Heron Station along southeast Transitway

Southeast

Station	Rapid connections	Notes
Hurdman	(future)  45   97   98   99	Bus terminal
Lycée Claudel	45   97   98   99	Busway
Smyth	97   98   99	Busway
Riverside	97   98   99	Busway
Pleasant Park	97   98   99	Busway
Billings Bridge	97   98   99	Busway
Heron	97   98   99	Busway
Walkley	(future)  97   98   99	Busway
Greenboro	97   98   99	Busway Park & Ride
South Keys	(future)  97   98   99	Busway
Leitrim	99	Bus terminal Park & Ride
Airport	(future)  97	Curbside
Hawthorne	98	Curbside

TThe southeast Transitway is a dedicated busway adjacent to some rail corridors between Hurdman and South Keys.

Central

Westboro Station relocated to Scott Street following the closure of the central Transitway

Station	Rapid connections	Notes
Pimisi	(future)  61   63   75	Curbside
Bayview	(future)  61   63   75	Curbside
Tunney's Pasture	(future)  57   61   62   63   74   75	Bus terminal
Westboro	(future) (future)  57   61   62   63   74   75	Curbside
Dominion	(future) (future)  57   61   62   63   74   75	Busway

The central Transitway was a dedicated busway between Pimisi (formerly LeBreton) and Dominion stations. The Pimisi to Bayview segment was closed in January 2016 for O-Train Stage 1 construction and the Bayview to Tunney's Pasture segment was closed in June 2016. In June 2022, the remaining segment of the central transitway west of Tunney's Pasture was closed for O-Train Stage 2 construction, with buses now running along dedicated bus lanes on Scott Street. A temporary Transitway was built from Dominion station to the intersection of Churchill Road and Scott Street. The new Transitway travels over the old one via the bailey bridge and then alongside until the intersection of Scott / Churchill. Once New Ways to Bus is implemented, route 12 will service central transitway stations between Rideau and Tunney's Pasture including Parliament and Lyon stations.

Downtown

Bus congestion on the former downtown Transitway

The former downtown section of the Transitway consisted of two single bus-only lanes on Albert and Slater Streets (one-way public streets in opposite westbound and eastbound directions, respectively), with stops in each direction at Bay, Kent, Bank and Metcalfe Streets as well as on the Mackenzie King Bridge. Traffic congestion here, where the buses mingle with private vehicles, often caused service delays and was seen by some as the main weakness in the Transitway system.

Initial plans for the Transitway included a bus-only tunnel in this section but the cost of a ventilated tunnel for conventional buses was deemed too expensive and was not warranted at the time. In 2006, it was proposed to extend the O-Train downtown as a tramway over the same streets while keeping existing bus and car traffic. The idea was met with objections from businesses along those streets, as normal access to the businesses would be impeded.

In 2019, the Confederation Line opened, replacing the downtown portion of the Transitway with an underground, high-capacity rapid transit rail line. This service change greatly reduced the number of buses travelling on Albert and Slater streets.

Greenboro Busway

A proposed transitway section in Ottawa in the 80s

This former section of Transitway was a two lane bus-only corridor between Cahill and Lorry Greenburg Drives in the Greenboro neighbourhood in south Ottawa. Part of a planned neighbourhood in 1984, it opened in 1987 while the neighbourhood was still being developed. It was opened as a corridor with no stations, as it was planned to extend to Conroy Road once the neighbourhood was completed. It ran mostly without issue, servicing two routes and providing service during regular and peak periods.

As time went on, the planned neighbourhood's density was heavily reduced due to heavy backlash from the local community using the slogan “buses out of backyards”. By 1989, OC Transpo began phasing out the corridor, and by 1990 it was declared surplus lands. On September 2, 1995, OC Transpo ran its final bus on the corridor, and it was then gated up and left abandoned for the next 7 years. After being sold to the city, it was officially fully removed by 2002.

Southwest

Marketplace station along southwest Transitway

Station	Rapid connections	Notes
Lincoln Fields	(future) (future)  57   61   62   63   74   75	Bus terminal
Queensway	61   62   63   74   75	Busway Will be retired and turned into a multi-use pathway
Iris	(future)  74   75	Busway
Baseline	(future)  74   75	Bus terminal Park & Ride Located across from Algonquin College Will be renamed to Algonquin once O-Train Line 1 is extended here.
Fallowfield	74   75	Busway Park & Ride Connection to Via Rail services
Longfields	75	Busway
Strandherd	75	Busway Park & Ride
Marketplace	75   99	Busway
Barrhaven Centre	75   99	Busway
Citigate	99	Curbside Located across from Amazon's YOW3 facility on Citigate Drive
Cambrian	75	Curbside
Beatrice	99	Busway
Nepean Woods	74   99	Busway Park & Ride
Riverview	74   99	Bus terminal Park & Ride
Limebank (2024)	(future)  74  (future)  99  (future)	Bus terminal

The southwest Transitway includes a dedicated busway from Lincoln Fields to Baseline. Buses then travel on reserved lanes before joining a busway before Fallowfield. This busway extends from Fallowfield to Barrhaven Centre. A separate median busway east of Marketplace connects Beatrice and Nepean Woods before traveling along reserved lanes to Riverview. There are plans to extend the transitway to Limebank. After New Ways to Bus in late 2024, route  110  will offer station to station service between Limebank and Barrhaven Centre.

West

Station	Rapid connections	Notes
Pinecrest	(future)  61   62   63	Busway
Bayshore	(future)  57   61   62   63	Bus terminal
Moodie	(future)  57   61   62   63	Busway
Bells Corners	57	Curbside
Eagleson	61   62   63	Bus terminal Park & Ride
Terry Fox	61   62	Bus terminal Park & Ride
Canadian Tire Centre	62	Bus terminal Park & Ride
Stittsville	61   62	Curbside
Teron	62   63	Curbside
Innovation	63	Bus terminal Park & Ride

The west Transitway consisted of a dedicated busway between Pinecrest and Moodie, however the section between Moodie and Bayshore closed permanently in September 2021, followed by the section between Bayshore and Pinecrest in April 2022. Buses also use reserved lanes on Highway 417 between Moodie and Eagleson.

See also

• O-Train, OC Transpo's light rail transit system

Other bus rapid transit systems in Ontario

• Viva Rapid Transit
• Mississauga Transitway
• York University Busway

External links

• List of all Transitway stations and map