OC Transpo Route 96

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map with route 96 shown in orange

OC Transpo Route 96 is a major bus-rapid transit route that travels from Stittsville to Hurdman Station via Kanata and downtown Ottawa. However, most 96 trips starts at Terry Fox Station in Kanata, while there is half-hour to hourly service for the Stittsville community.

1 History
2 Miscellaneous
3 See also

[edit] History

[edit] The Old Route 96

Before the current 96 existed, there was an older version of Route 96. The route travelled from the Carlingwood Mall and ended at the Ottawa International Airport, following the current route 97 that travels from Bayshore Shopping Centre to the Airport and before the Southeast Transitway was completed via most of Route 87's current routing between Billings Bridge and Hunt Road while travelling through CFB Uplands (current route 147). Route 96 was the main route serving the Airport although Route 97 provided some evening and Sunday service as both routes were running every 30 minutes during the evenings and all day Sunday. [1] [2] It provided a quicker link for users that wanted to travel from Carlingwood towards the central transitway from Westboro to Hurdman Station including downtown. However, it did not provide a link to Lincoln Fields for transfers to Route 95. While it was also serving Kanata at first before the introduction of Route 97, the route was retired during the late 1990s and the portions of Woodroffe Avenue that were served by the 96 were left unserved by any transit route for a few years. That portion is now served by crosstown Route 87 which travels from Greenboro Station and Hurdman to Carlingwood during shopping hours while it previous occasionnal terminus was at Lebreton. [3] The portion between Westboro and the Airport was served afterwards by only the 97 although Route 95 provided extra service until Hurdman as it was serving eastern areas of the city. The early morning trips in which the 97 is currently serving through the former Uplands air force base northeast of the airport was also previously served by the 96.

[edit] Creation of the new 96

In 2003 and 2004, the City of Ottawa had proceeded through a series of massive bus cuts that had significantly reduced bus services for many local bus routes. However, starting in fall 2004, OC Transpo implemented an unexpected transit change which was not included in the Transplan 2004 public consultations. The transit company divided route 97 into two distinct routes, one of which is the new route 96. The 96 travels from Hurdman to Stittsville. The 97 which was traveling from Stittsville to Kanata at the time lost the Kanata portion of the route as well as the early morning service to OC Transpo's Pinecrest Garage just off Pinecrest Road and Highway 417.

The 96 travels on the 417 between Bayshore Station and Queensway Station before joining the 97 at Lincoln Fields. The 96 is currently serving Pinecrest Garage during the early mornings on weekdays. The combination of the two have provided a much frequent service to Bayshore and between Lincoln Fields and Hurdman Station which is also served by Route 95 and for significant portions of it by routes 8, 85, 86 and 87. Residents of Kanata have a faster trip to downtown from Kanata then the 97 that travels via Richmond Road and Carling Avenue. However, on some occasions due to long traffic lights at Pinecrest, the 97 can be faster than the 96. In addition, the 96 is also susceptible to traffic congestion or road closures on the 417. However, it is expected in the coming years that a new transit roadway wiil be built between Bayshore and the southwest transitway, thus avoiding possible traffic problems from the Queensway.

[edit] Service improvements

Despite these changes, service declined in some portions once served by the 97 in Kanata and during the weekends. To deal with this, in the following two years, OC Transpo increased frequency on the 96 on all 7 days except during the early morning and the route was extended to Terry Fox Station in 2005 when the station was opened. Previously, before the city built the Castlefrank Road overpass (now called Valour Bridge) that crossed above the 417 towards the Kanata Centrum, the 96 (and the 97 before) ended at Kanata Town Centre and the shopping centre had limited service from Monday to Saturday by the 97.

In 2006, there were additional changes made by Transplan 2006. The route was slightly modified in Stittsville to increase the service coverage in the area. In the meantime, service on Terry Fox Drive was removed and the bus travels on Castlefrank Road, which is much closer to Kanata's second shopping centre, the Hazeldean Mall just a few blocks to the east. Service to Stittsville was increased also with half-hour service from Monday to Saturday and hourly service on Sunday. Stittsville had no Sunday service before this. There are currently plans to increase Sunday Service to 30 minutes should Stittsville becomes part of the Urban Transit Area as proposed by City Staff as the town is currently within the Town Transit Area where rural express fares are required except Route 96. [4]

Starting in September, OC Transpo added trips that by-pass Bayshore in order to speed up the service toward and from downtown. The morning rush hour special trips starts at Eagleson and the afternoon trips ends at Terry Fox Station. However, due to congestion on the 417 starting often before Bayshore Station, some of the special 96's (and express routes) are using the same route as regular 96's to avoid being caught in the gridlock. Since April 2007, the special trips started at Terry Fox and access directly to Highway 417 via Castlefrank Road without travelling on Katimavik Road as does westbound buses to the location of Eagleson Station which is located on the south side of the 417 and directly accessible from the eastbound 417 offramp at Eagleson Road.

[edit] Purpose

The 96 is currently a key commuter route that serves the center of Kanata, especially its two park and ride facilities at Terry Fox and Eagleson stations. However, it is much slower than all express routes that serves the suburb as the 96 serves Moodie Drive, Pinecrest Road and Bayshore Shopping Centre which extends the trip by several minutes. In addition, most express routes only drop passengers out after exiting the Queensway. However, the D96 Special trip are faster than the regular 96 trips by several minutes as it avoids the detours at Bayshore while it also avoids Katimavik Road during the mornings as unlike the afternoon westbound trips it does serves park and ride facility without travelling further south via Katimavik and Castlefrank.

The route like Routes 95 and 97 travels through the heart of the touristic district of the downtown core. The Rideau Canal, the Byward Market, the National Arts Centre and Parliament Hill are all located within a few blocks from the transitway.

This is another route for shoppers, as many shopping centers are located alongside several stations which includes the Kanata Centrum at Terry Fox, Bayshore Shopping Centre, Pinecrest Shopping Centre just off Greenbank Road and Highway 417, Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre, the Sparks Street Mall, the Bank Street Promenade and the Rideau Centre.

The University of Ottawa is also a major destination and many students use Campus Station located on the western edge of the complex.

[edit] Future Expansions

There are no current expansion plans for the route in the upcoming years as there are no further developments south of Stittsville.

[edit] Buses

During its first year, the new route 96 was served by mostly D60LF New Flyer articulated buses. However, in 2005, OC Transpo had switched to the new Invero buses. The seating capacity of those buses are much lower than the articulated buses which increases the risk of buses being full. The frequency of the route was increased due to the lower capacity buses.

In the summer of 2006 and the winter of 2007, OC Transpo tested a double decker bus, the Enviro 500 on this route as well as some express routes. The testing was made in order to determine whether double decker buses will be possible to operate within the Ottawa system as it contains a higher seating capacity then the articulated buses although with lower total capacity (including standing room only) then the latter due to the height restriction of the upper floor of the bus. [5].

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] Destination signs

[edit] Westbound

96X Stittsville: For trips that travel to Stittsville

96 Kanata Terry Fox : These are the regular 96 trips during weekdays and Saturdays and the terminal for Sunday trips.

D96 Special : These trips bypass Bayshore and end at Terry Fox during the afternoon rush hours.

There are no special signs for trips that serve Pinecrest Garage in the morning (same thing for eastbound trips) as well as the Sunday morning detour due to the Alcatel Bikedays on the Ottawa River Parkway

[edit] Eastbound

96 Hurdman via Downtown : The majority of trips ends at Hurdman Station

D96 Special : Same as above during morning rush hour but bypasses Bayshore and starts at Terry Fox and does not travel via Katimavik in the morning rush hour.

[edit] Frequencies

Since its initial service frequencies, the service on the 96 has been augmented significantly. During weekdays, the 96 travels every 3-7 minutes on rush hours to (morning) and from (afternoon) downtown if the special 96 trips are included. On the opposite side service is generally 12-15 minutes. Midday service on both directions are every 12 minutes and 24-36 minutes to Stittsville.

Saturday and Sunday service is generally every 15 minutes in both directions except 30 minutes during early mornings and 20-30 during late evenings. Service to Stittsville is every 30 minutes most of Saturday, and every hour on evenings and Sundays.