Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission express services
OC Transpo's express services are one-of-a-kind in North America. No other transit system has such an extensive system of one-seat rides to downtown from suburban communities like Ottawa. This is mainly because Ottawa is the only city with a extensive Bus Rapid Transit network.
Lately the express routes have been seeing the main use of OC Transpo's new double decker buses as it was for these routes that OC Transpo purchased them for in the first place.
Introduction
Ottawa is like most major cities which consist of urban and suburban areas. What makes Ottawa unique is that unlike the typical urban-suburban areas, is that the Ottawa suburbs are separated from the urban area by the "greenbelt". It is true that Ottawa does have suburban communities inside the greenbelt. But as far as OC Transpo is concerned these days, these are no longer suburban communities. Today, express routes travel from the suburbs of Orléans (20-38), Kanata/Bells Corners (60-66, 68), Barrhaven (70-77) and Stittsville (261-263). These routes are vital to the current OC Transpo operation as they transport lots of workers into Downtown Ottawa via the Transitway from Monday-Friday because of their one-seat ride offer.
As far as comparing the express services to other cities, Ottawa is very unique in North America in operating this type of service as no other city has a system that can even come close to the extensive operation of the express services here in Ottawa.
History
Until 1999, OC Transpo did have express service serving communities inside the greenbelt, but these were discontinued and replaced with extensions of local routes that would travel downtown without a premium fare during peak hours.
- September 4, 2011 - Many of these routes were consolidated into the current route structure listed below to "Optimize" and reduce the amount of buses going downtown. This was done as a lead up to the LRT Construction detours.
- December 25, 2016 - These routes were rebranded to "Connexion routes", premium Express Fare was dropped. With this change, the PM trips towards Kanata and Barrhaven start skipping stops, operating non-stop from Tunneys to Bayshore or Baseline respectively.
- October 4, 2019 - With the opening of O-Train Line 1 on September 14, 2019, parallel bus routes were cut on October 4, 2019. With that cut, these routes were cut back to the nearest LRT Station and no longer operate to Downtown Ottawa.
- January 5, 2020 - Connexion routes to Barrhaven no longer stop at Baseline. After Tunney's, they run direct to Fallowfield (with stops at West Hunt Club and Nepean Sportsplex)
- January 20, 2020 - Some downtown peak service is brought back when the S1 is introduced. However it only operates from Tunneys, Hurdman and Blair to Downtown Ottawa.
- March 16, 2020 - S1 service is cancelled due to Covid ridership reductions.
Fares
Express routes in Ottawa have required premium fares for the direct one-seat ride since 1976. Currently the cash fare for express routes are $4.35. You may also pay with 3 bus tickets.
Regular fare is charged during the AM peak if you board after Hurdman and Tunney's Pasture.
Route 27 which starts in Gatineau during the PM peak, charges regular fare if boarded in Gatineau.
Fares generally become regular fare at the point of exit from the Transitway during the PM peak, but this is not always the case. (E.g. Barrhaven routes become regular fare if boarded at Baseline instead of where it actually exits the Transitway)
Vehicles
OC Transpo's express services are generally operated by peak hour only trippers, and for that reason anything can show up on one of these routes. Lately the service has been the sole operator of the new Enviro500 (8001-8075) buses (with the exception of routes 40, 41, 67, 93 and first AM trip on the 231) as well as articulated buses.
Routes
Routes generally operate towards Downtown Ottawa in the AM peak and return to the suburban communities in the PM peak. All routes are on the system map with the colour green.
All routes serving Kanata/Bells Corners (60-66, 68), Barrhaven (70-77) and Stittsville (261-263) did start or end at Hurdman with some trips from these routes in the AM peak will extend to Blair. Routes serving Orléans did start or end at Lebreton with some trips extending to Lincoln Fields in the AM peak. But after they started closing sections of Transitway in 2015, now the west end routes finish at Mackenzie King, and start at Campus in the PM, and east end routes finish at Bay Street, and start at Lebreton in the PM.
These routes are not to be confused with the "rural express routes" (221, 231, 232, 283) which serve rural parts of Ottawa, despite sharing the same fare.
| Route # | AM Peak Destination (PM Peak start) |
PM Peak Destination (AM Peak start) |
Point of exit from Transitway (PM peak) |
Double Decker route | Route notes |
| Orléans routes | |||||
| Downtown (Lebreton) |
Orléans (Portobello & Brian Coburn) |
Place d'Orléans | Yes | Only serves Place d'Orléans in PM only | |
| Downtown (Lebreton) |
Orléans (Du Grand Bois & Innes) |
Place d'Orléans | Yes | ||
| Downtown (Lebreton) |
Millennium (Millennium) |
Trim | No | Only serves Place d'Orléans in PM only | |
| Gatineau (Terrasses de la Chaudière (AM ONLY)) (Place du Portage (PM ONLY)) |
Orléans (Gardenway & Portobello) |
Place d'Orléans | Yes |
| |
| Downtown (Lebreton) |
Jeanne d'Arc (Millennium) |
Jeanne d'Arc | Yes |
| |
| Downtown (Lebreton) |
Jeanne d'Arc (Viseneau & Innes) |
Jeanne d'Arc | Yes | ||
| Downtown (Lebreton) |
Jeanne d'Arc (Pagé & Innes) |
Jeanne d'Arc | Yes | ||
| Downtown (Lebreton) |
Orléans (Harvest Valley & Tenth Line) |
Place d'Orléans | Yes |
| |
| Downtown (Lebreton) |
Jeanne d'Arc (Champlain & Ottawa Road 174) |
Jeanne d'Arc | No | Ends at what is essentially the Orléans Park & Ride in PM peak | |
| Downtown (Lebreton) |
Jeanne d'Arc (Trim & Ottawa Road 174) |
Jeanne d'Arc | Yes | Ends short distance from Trim Park & Ride | |
| Kanata routes | |||||
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Kanata (Maxwell Bridge & March) |
Teron | Yes |
| |
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Kanata (Pine Hill & Stonehaven) |
Eagleson | Yes | Some trips bypass Bayshore & Pinecrest in AM peak | |
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Kanata (Rothsay & Eagleson) |
Eagleson | Yes | Some trips bypass Bayshore & Pinecrest in AM peak | |
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Kanata (Teron) |
Teron | No |
| |
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Kanata (Cope & Eagleson) |
Bayshore | Yes |
| |
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Kanata (Kanata & Terry Fox) |
Teron | Yes | Some trips bypass Bayshore & Pinecrest in AM peak | |
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Bells Corners (Westcliffe & Robertson) |
Bayshore | Yes (PM only) |
Does not serve Bayshore & Pinecrest in AM peak | |
| Barrhaven routes | |||||
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Barrhaven (Maravista & Cedarview) |
Fallowfield | Yes | ||
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Barrhaven (Stoneway & Woodroffe) |
Longfields | Yes | ||
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Barrhaven (Cobble Hill & Maravista) |
Fallowfield | Yes | Formerly route 76 | |
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Barrhaven (Strandherd & Jockvale) |
Longfields | Yes (PM only) |
||
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Barrhaven (Leikin & Bill Leathem) |
Fallowfield | Yes |
| |
| Stittsville routes | |||||
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Stittsville (Stittsville Main & Denali) |
Scotiabank Place | No | Some trips bypass Bayshore & Pinecrest in AM peak | |
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Stittsville (Fernbank & Liard) |
Bayshore | Yes (PM only) |
Some trips bypass Bayshore & Pinecrest in AM peak | |
| Downtown (Hurdman) |
Stittsville (Kimini & Fallowfield) |
Scotiabank Place | No | Some trips bypass Bayshore & Pinecrest in AM peak | |
