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Transit Services Annual Performance Report

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1Transit Services Annual Performance Report 2009

This document has been prepared by OC Transpo, the Transit Services Department of the City ofOttawa, as both a snapshot and a scorecard of how transit services were planned, operated andmanaged in 2009. This is the third edition of the Annual Performance Report, which serves to moni-tor and assess how transit services are evolving from year to year.

Transit performance highlights for 2009 include:

• An unprecedented ridership level in the second half of 2009, and the highest December rider-ship ever;

• An increase in the percentage of scheduled bus trips placed into service, while operating thelargest number of bus trips in over four years;

• A steady improvement in on-time performance, with the express routes reaching 83% in themorning against one of the most ambitious targets in the industry; and

• An increase in criminal offences acted upon, thanks to smarter than ever security techniques.

2009 was marked by a labour strike that started December 10, 2008, which involved theAmalgamated Transit Union Local 279 representing bus operators and mechanics,among others. Weekday service resumed gradually starting on February 7,2009. By March 16, service was back on all bus routes.

A work stoppage of this duration has a profound effect on avariety of operating parameters, making it difficult to com-pare them year to year. This report shows negativechanges in many areas influenced by ridership, servicelevels, costs and customer attitude. Service resumptionafter the strike was laborious because of the impact ofsevere winter conditions upon the fleet while it wasidle. Customer satisfaction and support for the organi-zation dropped significantly, as has been experienced inother cities where labour disputes disrupted service forlengthy periods.

As appropriate, this report provides context for the performancemeasures upon which the strike had an impact for 2009 and detailshow circumstances are likely to change in 2010.

Annual Performance Report 2009

2 Transit Services Annual Performance Report 2009

Transit Services went through a series of re-organizations arising from the transfer of bus maintenance, facilities mainte-nance, supply management and Para Transpo operations. This was followed by a re-organization at the corporate level of theCity of Ottawa, which further changed the role of management and operations at Transit. In all, within a 12-month period,1,000 employees were integrated into Transit Services from other City departments or in-sourced from a contractor.

At the same time, a number of affected senior managers retired. By March 2009, only 8 of 21 senior managers had been intheir role for more than one year and the leadership roles of Maintenance, Operations and Marketing and Customer Servicehad to be filled.

The ability for management to effectively integrate new operations was further challenged by emerging pressures for an inte-grated safety system and regulatory oversight and compliance. Yet, Transit Services achieved a significant safety ratingimprovement under the MTO inspection system, and successfully adapted to the new Hours of Service regulations for busoperations that were introduced for federally-regulated transit systems.

2009 was also the second year of a drive for fiscal rebalancing, designed to achieve a 50% revenue-cost ratio. It saw an aver-age fare increase of 7.5% in the wake of the service disruption. In the context of a modest downturn in employment inOttawa and lower fuel costs in the first quarter, the fare increase predictably drove customer satisfaction down and slowedridership growth.

Despite the challenges 2009 presented, it was the year when a major rethinking of the way business is run at OC Transpo wascompleted and the implementation of the supporting initiatives got under way. Among these initiatives, Transit Services oversaw:

• A cohesive management team take shape, with a dedication to continuous improvement, both in our service and in ouremployees’ work environment;

• The start of the “Total Rebuild” of vehicle maintenance – an ambitious program to redesign maintenance processes andsystems in order to improve fleet availability, reliability and cleanliness;

• Changes to the bus fleet, with the arrival of 97 new diesel-electric hybrid buses, the delivery by New Flyer of 5 re-designed articulated buses, and 3 double-decker buses going into service on a tryout basis;

• Council approval of and direction on a number of major transit investments, including the Light Rail project, the SmartBustechnological platform including the automated next-stop announcement system (NSAS) and the Presto Smart Card project;

• Council approval of a new state-of-the-art bus garage, which highlighted the need for asset planning and project man-agement as core transit functions arising from the City re-organization;

• The release of the 10-Year Transit Tactical Plan which comprehensively maps out the direction for a new service deliverymodel and sustainable finances;

• The restructuring of several bus routes, with new stations completed or taking shape at Bayshore, Baseline as well as inthe east, west and southwest;

• The launch of a new “Compare” advertising campaign to emphasize the convenience of transit services; and• Support to proud OC Transpo employees who by year end had contributed record amounts to the United Way campaign

and made the 25th Anniversary Christmas Food Drive an unprecedented success.


For 2010, some key actions will help further OC Transpo’s strategic positioning and increase customer satisfaction, including:

• Operational delivery to new standards, with a focus on fleet availability, on-time performance and customer experience;• An innovative, leading-edge supplier agreement for articulated bus replacement;• Strengthened internal communications to better engage employees in the change process;• A new labour relations process;• The development of a Quality Management System to help deliver consistent standards of service; and• A Council-directed peer review of the strategic direction of OC Transpo by the American Public Transit Association.

Both the major actions identified for 2010 and the major accomplishments of 2009, listed above, are in line with the sevenpriorities at OC Transpo:

• Safety: to enhance a culture that creates a safe environment for both our employees and our customers at all times;• Communications: to strengthen communications by making full and best use of communication channels, internally, cor-

porately and externally;• Service: to deliver service excellence in reliability, convenience and every aspect of the transit customer’s travelling experience;• Quality: to implement a culture of quality and continuous improvement in all areas of our organization;• “Total Rebuild”: to rethink the way our transit vehicles are purchased, serviced and maintained, with a quality emphasis

on availability, reliability and efficiency;• Savings: to achieve financial efficiencies in various aspects of our business; and• Accessibility: to understand the mobility limitations of our customers and invest in features that ease the barriers to

access our system.

The Annual Performance Report is a key vehicle of both accountability and transparency. It is intended to serve as a barome-ter of success at OC Transpo.

The recent transformation of the OC Transpo organization enhances accountability, not only internally, but also to Council,residents and transit customers themselves. The team at OC Transpo is focussed on improving customer experience and thequality of service delivery, as well as accountability with clear specifications, consistent actions and client-focussed metrics.

Being transparent is about providing Council with pertinent and timely information on Transit activities, ensuring that theseactivities adhere to Council mandates, leading fact-based public discourse and creating value in meeting service standards, asthe foundation for building employee satisfaction in a quality-driven organization.

Each year, changes may be made to the nature of what is measured, to the way the supporting data are collected or howthey are processed. While these may complicate comparisons over time, the reason for making such changes in measure-ments is always to provide a truer picture of performance at OC Transpo.


Business and Quality Performance Measures

Reach Occupancy

Safety

Ridership

Revenue-Cost Ratio

Customer Satisfaction

Security

Reliability

Service Availability

Accessibility Greenhouse Gas Emissions

What’s Inside

The 2008 Strategic Branch Review of the Transit Services Department identifiedfour core outcomes for OC Transpo: ease of mobility, economic efficiency, accessi-bility and environmental efficiency. It also defined the services provided by OCTranspo toward achieving these outcomes, the main ones being conventional serv-ices (regular transit, commuter transit and school transit) and paratransit.

The 2008 Strategic Branch Review and the refinements made to it in 2009 alsoestablished 11 policy standards set directly by Council. As shown in the figurebelow, these policy standards provide a frame, within which a “supporting cast” ofbusiness and quality measures are captured. All business and quality measuresaffect performance and consistency toward the policy standards.

The Annual Performance Report measures performance against each of the policystandards, along with a range of supporting performance measures – a range thatkeeps expanding each year as more performance measures become implemented.

Ease of mobility

Economic efficiency

Accessibility

Environmental efficiency



A combination of factors can be understood to have eroded the higher level of satisfaction toward OC Transpo measured in2008. As mentioned above, 2009 was marked by the labour dispute and related service disruption, changes to bus routesaffecting roughly one third of transit customers, and the second consecutive annual increase in fares above the rate of infla-tion.

Customer satisfaction decreased in Fall 2009 bothfor transit users and for non-users, essentially goingback to 2007/Spring 2008 levels. The annual surveyof Ottawa residents’ attitude toward transit con-ducted in the Fall of 2009 found that OC Transpowas given a positive overall rating of “good” or“very good” by 68% of transit users and 58% ofnon-transit users. This survey also showed that49% of all respondents thought OC Transpoemployees cared about their customers and 67% ofall respondents thought OC Transpo was succeed-ing in being responsive to customer needs or mak-ing an effort in that direction.

The policy standard for customer satisfaction is to exceed that of Fall 2008, with a target of sustained increase from year to year.

70%82%

68%59%

70%58%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2007 2008 2009

% R

espo

nden

ts

gi

ving

a p

ositi

ve ra

ting

Transit users Non-transit users

MARKET RESEARCH EXPERTISE SUGGESTS THAT CUSTOMER SATISFACTION MAY WELL HAVE “BOTTOMED OUT” IN 2009, WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK TO 2010.



Mystery shoppers are used in many service indus-tries as an objective way to measure customerexperience. OC Transpo may be the only transitsystem in Canada to apply this innovativeapproach to the extent it does. 2,016 anonymousobservations were made in 2009 over a sample ofroutes, operators, days of the week and times ofthe day. The score for welcoming aboard the buswas built upon observations of the operator greet-ing passengers.

The number of compliments voiced by transitpassengers about operator behaviour more thandoubled between the first half and the secondhalf of 2009. The number of operator-relatedcomplaints dropped by 32% over the year, whilethe rate of operator-related complaints per millionpassenger trips decreased by 4%.

Technology allows transit systems to reducecustomers’ dependency on non-automated pointsof service for obtaining the information they need.The rate at which customers are using OC Transpoautomated information channels has continuouslyincreased over the past few years. The actualnumber of Travel Planner sessions increased in2009 by 14%, while the actual number of calls tothe 560-1000 service decreased by 13%.

85

0

20

40

60

80

100

2008 2009

Scor

e fo

r wel

com

ing

aboa

rd

2008 data not available

16.2 13.9 17.2 19.4 15.0

(30.3) (32.9) (28.8)(36.8) (35.4)

-40

-20

0

20

40Ra

te p

er m

illion

pas

seng

er t

rips

Rate of Compliments Rate of complaints

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2.5 3.0 3.8 3.4 4.42.1 2.6 2.3 3.1

3.6

13.6 13.3 13.1 13.313.1

0

5

10

15

20

25

Rate

per

hun

dred

pas

seng

er t

rips

Travel Planner sessions Other website visits 560-1000 system calls

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Total = 18.2 Total = 18.9 Total = 19.1 Total = 19.8Total = 21.2


Customer service personnel try to resolve as manycomplaints and enquiries as possible during initialcustomer contact, and to respond as quickly aspossible to issues that need more time. The callcentre succeeded in increasing the proportion ofcomplaints and enquiries resolved at the point ofcontact for the third year running. The number ofdays required to respond to issues requiring aresponse beyond that which could be provided atthe point of initial contact has not increased forthe past three years.

A score for cleanliness was compiled from the2,016 observations made by mystery shoppers in2009 throughout the transit network (seeWelcoming Aboard, above). It was based uponoccurrences of clean bus stops or shelters (absenceof vandalism, garbage bin no more than half-full,clean ground, absence of non-OC Transpo postersor ads, bus flag in good condition and legible) andoccurrences of clean buses (on-board garbage binno more than half-full, absence of garbage outsideof the bin, clean seats). The results flagged vandal-ism of shelters and garbage on buses as requiringthe most attention.


68% 67% 61% 66% 69%

32% 33% 39% 34% 31%

10 1011 11 11

0

3

6

9

12

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Days

to re

spon

d

% C

ompl

aint

s an

d en

quiri

es

Proportion resolved at point of contactProportion requiring additional responseAverage days to respond

82 88

0

20

40

60

80

100

2008 2009

Scor

e fo

r cle

anlin

ess

Bus stop/shelter Onboard bus



Ridership

Conventional services experienced a strong recovery in 2009, with a steady increase in ridership from month to month. Asmentioned above, ridership for 2008 and 2009 was impacted by the labour strike and related service disruption. Actual rider-ship was 83.2 million in 2009 and 93.9 million in 2008. For the purpose of year-to-year comparisons, total annual ridershipwas estimated for a full 12 months of service. On that basis, total annual ridership would have decreased by 1.2% in 2009compared to that of 2008.

The rate of extrapolated passenger trips per capitain 2009 was 121, a decrease of 4% compared tothat of 2008. The rate of extrapolated passengertrips per employed labour force in the Citydecreased by 2% compared to that of 2008, reflec-tive of a sluggish economy. OC Transpo’s interest inthe trip rate per employed labour force is that italone explains up to 85% of those changing condi-tions that affect trip-making. The high ridershiprecorded in spite of the lower trip rate peremployed resident suggests that the increase inservice levels in Fall 2009 was well received byresidents and that it had a favourable effect onridership.

The policy standard for ridership is to exceed that of 2008, with a target of sustained increase from year to year.

OC TRANSPO RECORDED AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL OF RIDERSHIP DURING THE SECOND HALF OF2009, AND THE HIGHEST DECEMBER RIDERSHIP EVER.

44.2 45.2 47.5 48.7 48.1

192.8 189.8 196.9 198.2 194.2

0

30

60

90

120

150

180

210

240

0

50

100

150

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Pas

seng

er tr

ips

per

empl

oyed

res

iden

t

Mill

ions

of p

asse

nger

trip

s

Millions of passenger trips (Jul-Dec)Millions of passenger trips (Jan-Jun)Passenger trips per employed resident

Tot = 89.6 Tot = 91.8 Tot = 95.6 Tot = 99.0

* extrapolated to adjust for strike

* *

Tot = 95.7* **

*

*


Ridership

Paratransit

Para Transpo has been operated as a fixed-capacity model for a number of years, yet paratransit ridership grew by 2.1% in2009. During the labour strike in January and part of February 2009, additional cars were used to complement the absence ofconventional transit service. As a result, paratransit ridership was up 3.1% during the first half of the year and 0.9% during thesecond half.

Since 2008, vans and contracted taxis operate in anintegrated way to increase operating efficiency(dispatching the right type of vehicle) and conven-ience to customers (reducing their wait time). Thenumber of passengers reported here includesregistered customers but excludes attendants andcompanions who may have travelled along withthem.

620 611 593454 451

75 83 108252 271

0

300

600

900

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Thou

sand

s of

pas

seng

ers

(exc

ludi

ng c

ompa

nion

s an

d at

tend

ants

)

Taxi service Van and sedan service

Total = 695Total = 695

(-0.1%)Total = 700

(0.8%)Total = 707

(0.9%)Total = 722

(2.1%)


Ridership

With the increase in service levels implementedin the Fall of 2009, the number of kilometrestravelled by OC Transpo buses while in revenueservice rose by 4% during the period fromSeptember to November 2009 compared to thesame period in 2008. The service disruption andgradual return of service over the first months of2009 translated into a net decrease of 6.2% forthe year 2009 compared to 2008.

The average speed of transit users on board busesin Ottawa is consistently high as a result of theTransitway infrastructure. This in-vehicle speed hasstayed fairly constant over the past five years.Starting in 2009, the total travel speed experi-enced by customers, from accessing the system,through waiting for service, to reaching their finaldestination, has been simulated and may now bereported. This is a more informative performancemeasure that takes into account area coverage,frequency of service and transfers. The total net-work speed is estimated at 17.1 km/h in 2009, fortransit trips made within Ottawa.

The productivity of buses is described in terms ofthe average in-service distance travelled in thecourse of a day by any given bus that is part ofthe peak fleet. Productivity decreased by 2.3% in2009, partly due to the gradual service resump-tion over the first months of the year.

43.3 45.7 47.2 45.6 42.8

0

15

30

45

60

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Milli

ons

of b

us re

venu

e-kil

omet

res

(5.5%) (3.2%) (-3.3%) (-6.2%)

26.0 26.7 26.7 26.5 26.4

17.1

0

10

20

30

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Km p

er h

our

In-vehicle speed Total travel speed

(2.6%) (0.1%) (-0.7%) (-0.3%)

155 157 153

0

50

100

150

200

2007 2008 2009

Bus

reve

nue-

km p

er v

ehic

le p

er d

ay

(+1.1%) (-2.3%)


Ridership

OC Transpo offers over 6,600 parking spaces foraccess to the transit system by car. 5,391 ofthose spaces are concentrated in 11 majorPark & Ride lots that service all sections of theTransitway. Utilization remains high. Two addi-tional lots opened in December 2009, with plansfor their capacity to be increased. The building oftwo more lots is planned for 2010-2011.

4708 5161 5369 5391

80.8% 80.2% 81.3% 80.7%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

2006 2007 2008 2009

Urba

n Pa

rk-a

nd-R

ide

spac

es

Number of spaces available Average weekday utilization

(+9.6%) (+4.0%) (+0.4%)

Area Coverage (REACH)

98.8% of work locations were within a 5-minute walk from the transit system during peak periods. The Transit Tactical Plan hasexamined the effects of our very comprehensive area coverage. It predicts that slight reductions could generate significant sav-ings in annual operating costs which, if combined to increases in service levels, could have a minimal impact on ridership.

Area coverage indicates the degree to which the tran-sit system reaches out to households and jobs. Thepolicy targets for area coverage within the UrbanTransit Area during the peaks are for 95% of allhouseholds, and the work locations of 95% of allemployees, to be within a five-minute walk of a busstop or Transitway station. Outside of the peaks, thetarget is for 95% of all households to be within a 10-minute walk.

ALL THREE TARGETS OF AREA COVERAGE WERE EXCEEDED IN 2009.98

.6%

1.1%

0.2%

99.2

%

0.4%

0.2%

98.5

%

1.3%

0.1%

99.6

%

0.3%

0.1%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0-400m 400-600m 600-800m 0-800m 800-1000m1000-1200m

% o

f hou

seho

lds

Distance from transit

2008 2009Peak service Off-peak service


Occupancy

Comparing the service of Fall 2009 (September to November) with the service of Fall 2008 (September to December), occu-pancy increased from 58.0 to 58.3 on the radial routes (those going downtown in the morning), while it decreased on theother types. This is in line with the slight decrease in ridership (fewer passenger-kilometres) over the September-to-Novemberperiod of 2009 compared with that of 2008, while service levels were increased (more seat-kilometres).

Occupancy is the key measure of transit efficiency. By identifying the latent capacity of under-performing routes, occupancymeasures will support the Transplan process and the improvement of capacity elsewhere on the system, thus benefiting otherusers. OC Transpo is looking at ways of measuring occupancy in a more robust and responsive manner, by improving thesource of supporting data and how these are captured and processed.

Occupancy measures how much of the transitservice capacity offered by OC Transpo on eachroute is consumed by customers, in passenger-kilometres travelled per seat-kilometre offered.Occupancy varies by route type, according to therole that type of routes plays as part of the overallnetwork. Circulators and feeder routes are mostlyshort, local routes, while cross-town routes con-nect neighbourhoods without serving downtown.The policy standard for each group of routes is foraverage occupancy to equal or exceed that of2008. The policy target is to maintain or improveoccupancy from year to year, subject to a maxi-mum yet to be established.

OCCUPANCY INCREASED SLIGHTLY ON THE RADIAL ROUTES – THE MAIN TYPE OF ROUTES IN THENETWORK.

0.58 0.58

0.28 0.23

0.400.38

0.600.54

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70P

asse

nger

-km

s pe

r se

at-k

m

(mor

ning

pea

k)2008 2009

Transitway, Radial, Through

Routes - Inbound

Circulator andInbound Feeder

Routes

Cross-town

Routes

Express andRural Express

Routes



In the last quarter of 2009, OC Transpo operated the largest number of vehicle trips for any quarter since 2005. With vehicletrips more numerous (resulting from service increase) and shorter (resulting from route shortening or splitting), those trips notplaced into service may have had a lesser impact on customers than they would have had in the earlier context of fewer andlonger bus trips. Starting in 2010, OC Transpo will report on the number of scheduled service hours delivered, to provide a truerpicture of service availability.

The objective of the Maintenance “Total Rebuild”,one of the seven priorities of OC Transpo, is totransform the vehicle maintenance and servicingprocesses to increase vehicle availability and relia-bility. This will contribute to service availabilityreaching 100%, which is the policy target for avail-ability.

OC TRANSPO INCREASED THE PERCENTAGE OF SCHEDULED TRIPS PLACED INTO SERVICE, WHILEOPERATING THE LARGEST NUMBER OF VEHICLE TRIPS IN OVER FOUR YEARS.

99.28% 99.16% 99.21%99.59% 99.43% 99.62%

95%

96%

97%

98%

99%

100%

2007 2008 2009

% S

ched

uled

veh

icle

trip

s

pl

aced

into

ser

vice

Weekdays Weekends

target=100%



Unscheduled operator absences compound thechallenge of delivering the service as scheduled.Unscheduled absenteeism increased in 2009,consuming 7.3% of operators’ overall paidtime — primarily for personal illness, but alsoincluding family illness, injury and tardiness.Under the seven priorities of OC Transpo, anumber of initiatives have been identified toincrease employee engagement.

The rate of mechanical failures is a measure oftransit fleet maintenance reliability. It is based onthe actual number of breakdowns of busesassigned for service that required those buses tobe pulled out of service. There were 19,394 suchbreakdowns in 2009. A measure of operationaleffectiveness is the ability to minimize the numberof bus service trips affected by mechanical failuresand therefore the number of customers impacted.This measure shows an improvement for 2009,with 50% of the breakdowns not translating intoany bus trip being cancelled.

6.9%5.9% 6.4% 6.4%

7.3%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Unsc

hedu

led

abse

ntee

ism

rate

(% o

f tot

al p

ay h

ours

)

47% 50%

22% 18%32% 32%

35.8

29.232.2 33.8 35.0

0

10

20

30

40

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Mec

hani

cal f

ailu

res

pe

r 100

,000

veh

icle

-km

% M

echa

nica

l fai

lure

s

No interruption to service Some interruption to service Service fully cancelled

2005 data not

available

2006 data not

available

2007 data not

available



The average length of time that buses remainout of service following failure is a key measureof transit fleet maintenance efficiency. In 2009,buses requiring to be pulled out of servicebecause of mechanical failure were repaired andmade available again on the same day in 45.2%of cases. Starting in 2009, this measure is estab-lished from more robust information and docu-mentation than it could have been in the past.One of the direct outcomes of the Maintenance“Total Rebuild” – one of the seven priorities ofOC Transpo – is improved material and mainte-nance management, so that a bus is only pulledout of service for preventative maintenancewhen all parts and resources are ready anddown time is therefore minimized.

The Maintenance “Total Rebuild” priority ofOC Transpo is set on reaching utilization of 90%of the bus fleet. Currently at 77.8% for 2009,this is an important indicator of the combinedability to minimize the mechanical failure rate(maintenance reliability) and vehicle down time(maintenance efficiency). A key component ofthe Maintenance “Total Rebuild” priority is theintroduction of a quality management system forcontinuous improvement.

The bus fleet of OC Transpo went from being oneof the oldest in Canada several years ago tobeing one of the newest in 2009, averaging at6.7 years. A younger fleet reduces the need formaintenance resources, increases service avail-ability and improves in-service reliability andcomfort for customers.

45%

26% 21%8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

2009

% U

nsch

edul

ed m

aint

enan

ce b

y ve

hicl

e do

wn t

ime

Repaired same day Repaired next day

Repaired in 2-7 days Repaired in more than 7 days

77.8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2008 2009

% o

f tot

al fl

eet u

tilize

d fo

r

peak

per

iod

serv

ice

2008 datanot available

7.8 7.2 7.0 7.1 6.7

0

2

4

6

8

10

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Aver

age

age

of b

us fl

eet (

year

s)


Reliability (ON-TIME PERFORMANCE)

The global positioning system used at OC Transpo to track buses has made it possible to set a target of not running early andbeing no more than five minutes late, not only at specific time points but everywhere, along all routes. This may be the mostambitious on-time performance target for transit anywhere in North America. Even larger transit systems limit their on-timeperformance to published time points, a practice which would make OC Transpo’s on-time performance look better by almost10% (buses being more often on time at time points than elsewhere). Since April 2009, bus operators have been challengednot to strive to be exactly on time (i.e. at 0 minute flat) but rather to err a couple of minutes on the late side, specifically not tofind themselves running early (which exposes customers to missing their bus).

Afternoon on-time performance is more problem-atic because of variability in travel times throughdowntown, close to the start of peak-directiontravel. Simplifying the route network throughdowntown is gradually increasing reliability. Giventhe fixed road capacity and the growth in ridershipover time, the reliability of service through down-town in the afternoon will remain fragile until theopening of the light rail line. OC Transpo has alsoundertaken a comprehensive recalibration ofscheduled bus travel times to better reflect actualbus travel times experienced by buses in service,which can now be retrieved through the GPS system.

The policy target is for OC Transpo bus trips to adhere to published schedules 90% of the time.

OC TRANSPO HAS BEEN STEADILY IMPROVING, WITH THE EXPRESS ROUTES REACHING 83% IN THEMORNING AGAINST ONE OF THE MOST AMBITIOUS TARGETS IN THE INDUSTRY.

1% 1% 11% 3%31%

8%

53%

83%

3% 5% 1%1%

>5 Early 2 - 5 Early 0 - 2 Early 0 - 5 On-�me 5 - 10 Late >10 Late

% O

n-tim

e se

rvic

e

(m

orni

ng p

eak,

200

9)

Regular Commuter (Express)


Reliability (ON-TIME PERFORMANCE)

When making a reservation, paratransit customersare given a 30-minute window as their pick-uptime if served by van and a 15-minute window ifserved by taxi. In 2009, Para Transpo came veryclose to meeting the policy target of 95% of pas-sengers picked up within that policy standard of a30-minute window –— effectively the sameachievement as in 2008. This is while 2.1% morepassengers were carried by paratransit in 2009than in 2008.

Paratransit

94% 94% 96% 94% 94%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

% R

ider

s pi

cked

up

with

in

pr

omis

ed w

indo

w

(excludestaxi service)

(excludestaxi service)

(includestaxi service)




Security (OFFENCES)

In 2009, the rate of interventions by special constables increased, as public awareness of special constables increased andproactive management practices were implemented. These include sharper analysis of patterns and recent-past events, “intelli-gence mapping” on a daily basis, and more effective resource allocation and covert operations. Mischief (damage to property)was the leading type of offence in 2009, as it had been in 2008. It increased from 32% to 40% of all crimes dealt with. Theperception of safety by transit customers stayed essentially unchanged in 2009. The Fall 2009 attitude survey asked customersto rate on a scale from 1 (strong disagreement) to 10 (strong agreement) if uniformed law enforcement personnel and videosurveillance made them feel more secure, and how confident they were that OC Transpo staff could help quickly in case of anincident.

One of the seven priorities of OC Transpo is toenhance its safety culture. Several initiatives havebeen identified in support of this, including asafety management system with standardized anddocumented procedures, computers in Transit Lawvehicles for more proactive enforcement anddecreased response time, better management ofclosed-circuit television and security equipment,and more anti-graffiti efforts for both transit vehi-cles and facilities.

The policy standard for security is for the annualnumber of offences per 100,000 passenger trips not to exceed that of 2008. The policy target is for sustained improvement in offence rates from year to year.

MORE CRIMINAL OFFENCES WERE ACTED UPON IN 2009, THANKS TO SMARTER THAN EVER SECU-RITY TECHNIQUES.

0.740.50

0.67

0.96

6.5 6.6 6.4

0

2

4

6

8

10

0.0

0.3

0.5

0.8

1.0

1.3

1.5

2006 2007 2008 2009

Safe

ty s

atis

fact

ion

inde

x (1

to 1

0)

Crim

e ra

te (o

ffenc

es p

er

10

0,00

0 pa

ssen

ger

trips

)

Crime Rate Safety satisfaction index


Safety (VEHICLE COLLISIONS)

The rate of preventable collisions increased slightly, from 0.66 to 0.68 collisions per 100,000 vehicle-km, yet the actual numberof preventable collisions remained the same as in 2008. The fact that the preventable accident rate had increased in 2008 forthe first time in four years coincided with an increased robustness of reporting mechanisms. An important safety initiative iden-tified at OC Transpo is to further strengthen the reporting, investigation and analysis of collisions, for consistency and regula-tory requirements.

One of the seven priorities of OC Transpo is toenhance the culture of safety throughout the organ-ization. The implementation of a safety manage-ment system will recognize safe driving as part ofoperating procedures, and OC Transpo cyclical train-ing of operators, which was reinstituted on a fullscale in late 2008, now draws attention fromaround the transit industry.

The policy standard for safety is for the annual num-ber of preventable accidents per 100,000 vehicle-kmnot to exceed that of 2008. The policy target is forsustained improvement in preventable accidentrates from year to year.

THE RATE OF ACCIDENTS IN WHICH OC TRANSPO BUS OPERATORS WERE INVOLVED DROPPED BY11% IN 2009.

0.61 0.61 0.61 0.66 0.68

1.74 1.561.99 2.05

1.73

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Collis

ions

per

100

,000

veh

icle

-km

Non-preventable collisions Preventable collisions

Total = 2.35Total = 2.17

Total = 2.60 Total = 2.71Total = 2.41

As mentioned above, mystery shoppers are usedin many service industries as an objective way tomeasure customer experience, but OC Transpomay be the only transit system in Canada toapply this innovative approach to the extent itdoes. 2,016 anonymous observations were madein 2009 over a sample of routes, operators, daysof the week and times of the day. The score forride comfort was built upon occurrences of oper-ators waiting for reduced-mobility customers tosit (94% of the time), driving smoothly (95% ofthe time) and not being aggressive to othermotorists or to pedestrians (98%).

96

0

20

40

60

80

100

2008 2009

Scor

e fo

r rid

e co

mfo

rt



Revenue-Cost Ratio

For conventional transit operations, Council has set as a policy standard a minimum of 50% of operating costs to be coveredby passengers’ fares and other revenue, with 55% set as a target.

The level of cost recovery fell below the standard in both 2008 and 2009, the two years during which transit services were dis-rupted as a result of the labour dispute. Major contributors to the resulting revenue-cost ratio for 2009 were the very limitedrevenue collected through the first months of the year, and substantial resource costs spent on bringing the bus fleet back tobeing fit for service.

One of the seven priorities of OC Transpo is torealize cost efficiencies over the short term,through major changes in vehicle maintenanceprocesses and scheduling practices, among others.The Transit Tactical Plan has built a detailedapproach for the next 10 years to anchor the rev-enue-cost ratio at 50%, with opportunities toincrease it to 55% as a policy option, by the timethe light rail line opens.

OC TRANSPO ACHIEVED ITS FISCAL TARGETS FOR 2009, WITH REVENUE COMING WITHIN 0.2% OFTHE REVISED POST-STRIKE BUDGET, AND NO DEFICIT GENERATED.

50% 51% 50% 47% 43%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

% D

irect

ope

ratin

g ex

pens

es

co

vere

d by

tota

l rev

enue


Revenue-Cost Ratio

The gradual return to service through the firstmonths of 2009 had the combined effect ofincurring high operating costs while constrainingthe number of vehicle-kilometres. As a net resultof not operating fully throughout the year, totaldirect operating expenses decreased by 1.1%from 2008 to 2009, and the number of vehicle-kilometres decreased by 2.9% over the sameperiod. The decrease in kilometres having beenlarger than the decrease in expenses, the totaldirect operating cost per vehicle-km for conven-tional transit rose by 1.8% from 2008 to 2009.The total cost of operating Para Transpoincreased very slightly, by 0.4% from 2008 to2009, in spite of the exceptional pressures expe-rienced in the early part of the year, until con-ventional service resumed following the labourdispute.

The proportion of passengers using regular andexpress passes decreased in 2009 compared to2008, while in relative terms, there has been anincrease in the use of full fare. This may be directlyattributable to factors related to the gradualreturn of service over the first months of the year:some bus trips not operated for a few weekslonger than others, and the application of variousfare credits. OC Transpo will be looking at enhanc-ing product management and new growth mar-kets. In 2009, about 83% of fare revenues weregenerated by regular transit, 14% by commutertransit (express and rural routes) and 3% byschool transit (600-series routes).

$3.74 $3.64 $3.80 $4.11 $4.45

$2.13 $2.13 $2.33 $2.80 $2.95

$0.53 $0.57 $0.57 $0.79 $0.54

$0.24 $0.13

$0.00

$1.00

$2.00

$3.00

$4.00

$5.00

$6.00

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Dolla

rs p

er v

ehic

le-k

m

Direct opera�ng cost (non-fuel) Fuel cost Total direct opera�ng cost

Conventional Transit

ParatransitTot=$4.27

Tot=$4.22

Tot=$4.37

Tot=$4.88

Tot=$4.99

Tot=$3.03

Tot=$3.08

14% 19% 20% 19% 21%

50% 45% 43% 44% 42%

11% 11% 11% 12% 11%

26% 25% 25% 25% 26%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

% R

ider

ship

Full fare (cash, �cket, daypass)Commuter/express pass (adult/student/Ecopass/semester express, rural)Regular pass (monthly adult/student, semester regular)Discounted pass (senior/community, annual, regular Ecopass)


Revenue-Cost Ratio

Mystery shoppers were used to make 2,016anonymous observations in 2009 over a sampleof routes, operators, days of the week and timesof the day. The score for fare control was builtupon occurrences of the operator validating themystery shopper’s bus pass (93% of the time)and occurrences of the operator distributingtransfers only to cash or ticket depositors (99%of the time).

In 2009, fare inspectors changed the way theyconduct their business. More targeted interven-tions have meant that the number of passengerschecked decreased by more than one third. Yet,the quality of the checks that were madeincreased through better documentation andreporting, and the productivity of the fare inspec-tors also increased. The fewer checks made actu-ally resulted in an increase in the proportion ofprovincial offence notices issued, from 1.1% ofchecks in 2008 to 1.4% in 2009. In the secondhalf of 2009 alone, that proportion reached 1.7%.

98

0

20

40

60

80

100

2008 2009

Scor

e fo

r far

e co

ntro

l upo

n bo

ardi

ng


1.1% 1.4%0.5% 0.8%

5.6%

0.6%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

2008 2009

Fare

non

-com

plia

nce

Provincial Offence No�ces Wri�en Warnings Verbal Warnings


Accessibility (VEHICLES AND STATIONS)

Elevators and escalators at the Transitway stations were in service 89% of the time, and over 91% of the time that they werenot undergoing major rehabilitation.

In 2009, an external consultant completed a signif-icant amount of field work in both areas of scopeof a comprehensive accessibility audit of the transitsystem: a facility audit of transit administrativefacilities, transit stations, park & ride lots and busshelters, and a review of Transit Services customerservice policies and procedures. In 2010, the con-sultant will complete the remainder of the work.The results of the accessibility audit were pre-sented to Transit Committee in spring 2010. A com-prehensive roadmap to address the removal of thephysical barriers identified in the audit as well asthe development of customer service policies andprocedures will also be developed. Progress towardthe elimination of these barriers will be reported infuture editions of the Annual Performance Report.

The policy target for accessibility is to remove100% of barriers in the areas of transportation, the built environment and customer service.

THE PORTION OF THE BUS FLEET THAT IS “LOW-FLOOR” CONTINUED TO INCREASE IN 2009, REACH-ING 82%.

57% (524

buses)

65%(626

buses)

70%(713

buses)

75%(761

buses)

82%(856

buses)

92.0% 89.3%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Low-floor buses (% of fleet)Elevator and escalator in-service rate (% of days)

Elevatorand

escalatordata notavailable

Elevatorand


Elevatorand


“Next stop” announcements provide stop infor-mation to transit customers and are especiallyhelpful to those with visual impairments. Sincerefresher training for operators was instituted atthe end of 2007, the rate of calling out majorstops has steadily increased. Sustained effortsthrough 2009 have seen that rate approach 85%on Transitway routes and 69% on all otherroutes. The automated announcement systemthat Council agreed to purchase in the fall of2009 will, when installed, address several otherneeds as well.

40.7%

75.4%

55.8%

79.3%

58.6%

84.9%68.8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% M

ajor

sto

ps c

alle

d ou

t

All routes Transitway routes All other routes

Jan - June 2008End of 2007 July - Dec 2008 Jan - Dec 2009


Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The rate at which buses emit greenhouse gases can be affected by passenger loads, driver behaviour, fuel blends and vehicleand engine specifications.

As part of the priority of OC Transpo to create aculture of quality, key initiatives toward reductionsin fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emis-sions include the installation of a modified electricfan for bus engines and the implementation ofthe Smart Drivers program for operators. Targetedquality projects will also be implemented in sup-port of further carbon reduction, noise abatementand chemical and solid waste reduction.

The policy standard for CO2 emissions is for theannualized rate of grams of CO2 equivalent emis-sions per vehicle-km not to exceed that of 2008.The policy target is for sustained improvement in emission rates from year to year.

IN 2009, THE QUANTITY OF CO2 EMISSIONS DECREASED BY 1% AND THE RATE OF EMISSIONS PERVEHICLE-KM DECREASED SLIGHTLY OVER THAT OF 2008.

The rate of fuel consumption in litres per 100 kmdecreased by more than 3% in 2009 comparedto 2008 for the overall bus fleet. More recentbuses are heavier than older ones, they carrymore energy-consuming equipment and featureair-conditioning systems, all of which make themconsume more fuel. But the key initiativestoward fuel reduction and greenhouse gas emis-sions should help continue the decreasing trendin fuel consumption in the future.

1,842 1,795 1,801 1,805 1,800

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Gra

ms

CO2

equi

vale

nt

pe

r veh

icle

-km

(-2.6%) (+0.3%) (+0.3%) (-0.3%)

52.5

53.1

53.4

53.8

53.159.8

57.3

56.6

57.4

56.9

58.6

56.0

55.9

54.2

55.3

62.2

60.4

60.3

60.3

60.3

84.0

83.1

83.6

83.2

81.0

0

30

60

90

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Litre

s pe

r 100

veh

icle

-km

40-foot (1990 and earlier) 40foot (1991-1993)40-foot (1993-1998) 40-foot (1999 and later)60-foot (2001 and later)

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