Audit Raises Fresh Questions About Ottawa Transit Overhaul as Mayoral Candidate Calls for Service Restoration

By: Donovan Martin Sr, Editor in Chief

A newly released audit from Ottawa’s Auditor General has reignited debate over the future of public transit in the nation’s capital, with findings that suggest the controversial New Ways to Bus overhaul was built on flawed assumptions, outdated information, and significant service reductions.

The report, released Friday by Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon, found that the transit redesign implemented in April 2025 relied on data that did not accurately reflect current travel patterns and was largely driven by efforts to reduce operating costs. According to the audit, the changes eliminated approximately 70,000 annual service hours while targeting roughly $10 million in yearly savings.

The findings are likely to resonate with many Ottawa residents who have spent the past year expressing frustration over longer travel times, missed connections, route changes, and inconsistent service. The audit found that 29 per cent of selected weekday routes had run times that were off by 10 per cent or more, while OC Transpo continued to fall short of its own reliability targets. The report also highlighted ongoing fleet challenges, finding that OC Transpo failed to meet minimum bus availability requirements on nearly half of all days reviewed between January 2023 and March 2026.

For mayoral candidate Jeff Leiper, the audit confirms concerns that many transit users have been raising for months. Leiper, who has made improving transit reliability a central part of his campaign, said the report reflects the experiences riders encounter every day across the city.

The impact of unreliable transit extends far beyond simple inconvenience. Parents trying to get children to school and daycare, workers travelling to shifts across the city, students attending classes, and seniors heading to medical appointments all depend on buses arriving when promised. When service becomes unpredictable, residents are often forced to leave earlier, wait longer, or abandon transit altogether in favour of more expensive alternatives.

The audit’s findings also coincide with a decline in ridership. According to the report, OC Transpo recorded 11.5 million passenger trips during January and February 2026, down from 12.4 million during the same period a year earlier. For many transit observers, the numbers reflect a growing loss of confidence in a system that many riders feel no longer meets their daily needs.

That decline creates a challenge that extends well beyond transit itself. Reliable public transportation plays a critical role in supporting economic growth, reducing traffic congestion, connecting workers to employment opportunities, and helping residents access essential services. When transit service deteriorates, the effects are felt throughout the city, impacting businesses, neighbourhoods, and taxpayers alike.

The audit also raises broader questions about how one of the largest service restructurings in OC Transpo’s history was planned and implemented. While the redesign was promoted as a modernization effort, the findings suggest cost savings played a central role in decision-making. Critics argue that relying on outdated data and reducing service levels created conditions that made it more difficult for the system to meet the expectations placed upon it.

Leiper argues that rebuilding public confidence must be a priority if Ottawa hopes to reverse declining ridership trends. Rather than viewing service reductions as a long-term solution to budget pressures, he believes the city should focus on restoring reliability and creating a transit network that attracts riders back to the system.

Among the proposals he has put forward are restoring service reductions associated with New Ways to Bus, bringing back a citizen representative seat on the Transit Commission, establishing publicly reported service standards, and expanding dedicated bus lanes to improve travel times and reliability across the network.

Transit has increasingly become one of the defining issues of Ottawa’s municipal election campaign. As the city continues to grapple with ridership recovery, operating costs, and public confidence in the system, Friday’s audit provides one of the most detailed examinations yet of how the redesign was planned and implemented.

For many riders, the report may simply confirm what they have experienced firsthand over the past year. For city leaders and candidates seeking office, however, the audit serves as a reminder that public transit is more than a budget line item. It is a critical piece of infrastructure that helps keep the city moving, and rebuilding trust in the system may prove just as important as balancing the books.e again depend on.