OC Transpo says maintenance work is being “triaged as efficiently as possible” to increase bus availability over the coming weeks, after nearly 2,000 bus trips were canceled over eight days due to a delay in bus maintenance and traffic congestion.

And Ottawa Transit says it’s working to implement “long-term solutions” with its bus maintenance action plan and hiring more mechanics to maintain buses on the road and public transport users this fall and winter.

OC Transpo first warned commuters on October 21 that it was “seeing an increase in the number of buses missing their routes.”

Statistics provided to CTV News Ottawa show 1,877 bus trips were canceled between Monday, October 21 and Monday, October 28, with more than 250 bus trips canceled per weekday.

Katrina Camposarcone-Stubbs, public information officer for OC Transpo, told CTV News Ottawa that the transit service is working to “fill as many trips as possible to minimize impacts.”

“Since this issue was first reported last Monday, service delivery trends have improved as the week has progressed,” Camposarcone-Stubbs said in a statement.

“We continue to work diligently to increase the availability of our fleet to better help fill routes that are affected by congestion or other unplanned service interruptions, such as the (Tuesday) morning implementation of replacement service R1 buses. »

OC Transpo was forced to introduce replacement R1 bus service between Blair and Hurdman stations on Tuesday after closing a section of O-Train Line 1 to inspect the St. Lawrence Tunnel.

Last week, OC Transpo reported that a “bus maintenance backlog” was affecting the availability of the bus fleet, with staff working on preventative maintenance and bodywork.

Camposarcone-Stubbs says that while OC Transpo is working to reduce the number of canceled trips, it is implementing long-term solutions to keep transit riders moving.

“We are actively working to implement long-term solutions that will increase the availability of our fleet through our bus maintenance action plan and the recruitment of additional mechanics,” Camposarcone-Stubbs said.

“Unplanned service interruptions and the need for replacement bus service place higher demands on our bus fleet and result in a higher volume of maintenance activities. Work is being sorted as efficiently as possible and we expect greater fleet stability in the coming weeks.

Here’s a look at the number of OC Transpo bus trips canceled over the past eight days. (Planned travel in parentheses)

• Monday October 21: 348 trips (8,210)
• Tuesday October 22: 297 trips (8,210)
• Wednesday October 23: 270 trips (8,210)
• Thursday October 24: 258 trips (8,210)
• Friday October 25: 277 trips (8,210)
• Saturday October 26: 107 trips (5,392)
• Sunday October 27: 50 trips: (4,262)
• Monday October 28: 270 trips (8,210)