OC Transpo Route 96

Map with route 96 shown in orange

Route 96 is a major bus-rapid transit route that travels between Terry Fox Station and Hurdman Station via downtown Ottawa and the Transitway. Selected route 96 trips are also extended to serve Stittsville Station and/or Blair Station. It is one of the busiest routes operated by OC Transpo, and currently route 96 is the only rapid-transit route serving Kanata and Stittsville. It is also the most congested route in service.

History

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.

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.

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. Sunday service to/from Stittsville has been increased to every 30 minutes as Stittsville is now a part of the Urban Transit Area. Previously, Stittsville was part of the Town Transit Area, meaning rural express fares were required on all routes, with the exception of route 96.

Starting in September 2006, OC Transpo added trips that by-pass Bayshore Station in order to speed up the service to/from downtown. The AM rush hour special trips started at Eagleson Station and the PM trips ended at Terry Fox Station. However, due to congestion on Highway 417 starting often before Bayshore Station, some of the special 96's (and West end express routes) were using the same route as regular 96's to avoid being caught in the gridlock. Since April 2007, the special trips start at Terry Fox Station and access Highway 417 directly via Castlefrank Road without travelling on Katimavik Road as Eagleson Station is directly accessible from the offramp at Eagleson Road.

In 2009, with the inauguration of a new Transitway corrdior between Bayshore and Pinecrest Stations, all D96 trips travel along the new section, and thus all trips serve Bayshore Station and the shopping centre, as well as all Kanata and Stittsville express buses. D96 trips in the morning still bypass Katimavik Road and Eagleson Road.

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 route 95 and route 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.

Future Expansions

There are no current expansion plans for the route in the West end in upcoming years as there are no further developments South or West of Stittsville. However, route 96 has been extended in the East from Hurdman Station to Blair Station on June 28, 2010 for selected weekday peak and all weekday midday trips in both directions. Route 96 still terminates at Hurdman Station for all weekend trips, as well as early morning and late evening weekday trips. This extension in the East is to ease full express buses serving Orleans of riders who do not need to travel beyond Blair Station during peak hours, as well as providing more options for OC Transpo customers.

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 Alexander Dennis Enviro500 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 than the articulated buses although with lower total capacity (including standing room only) than the latter due to the height restriction of the upper floor of the bus. [4]. Double decker buses were re-used on the route during the summer of 2009.

Due to the increased ridership on the 96 since the 2008 winter bus strike, the frequency of the route has not changed much, but OC Transpo is using more New Flyer D60LF articulated buses on the route along with the Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double decker bus to cope with the extra passengers using the route. Currently, half the trips are serviced with articulated buses, with the other half served by a regular bus.

Miscellaneous

Destination signs

Westbound

There are a few different destination signs used for Westbound 96 buses. They include:

• 96 STITTSVILLE VIA TERRY FOX: For trips that travel to Stittsville via Terry Fox Station, Bayshore Station, and Eagleson Park-N-Ride. These trips run every day of the week, including Sundays, usually at 30 minute intervals (60 minute intervals Saturday and Sunday evenings).

• 96 KANATA/TERRY FOX: These are the regular 96 trips. They end at Terry Fox Station, also serving Eagleson Park-N-Ride, and Bayshore Station. They do not serve Stittsville.

• C96 STITTSVILLE VIA KANATA: These trips operate during PM peak and bypass Terry Fox Station by turning from Katimavik onto Castlefrank towards Stittsville. These trips still serve Eagleson Park N Ride.

• C96 CASTLEFRANK: These trips also operate during PM peak. After serving Eagleson Park N Ride and Katimavik, they travel via Castlefrank and end at the corner of Castlefrank/Hazeldean. They do not serve Terry Fox Station.

• 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

Please note that all 96 buses do not serve Queensway Station when travelling westbound towards Kanata/Terry Fox and Stittsville. As well, the D96 Special Kanata no longer exits. As a result, all 96 trips traveling Westbound towards Kanata and Stittsville travel via Katimavik Road.

Eastbound

There are currently seven different signs for 96 buses travelling East:

• 96 HURDMAN : Most trips end at Hurdman Station. These trips run all day, every day from Terry Fox Station in Kanata, and occasionally from Stittsville Station. They serve Katimavik between Castlefrank and Eagleson in Kanata.

• 96 BLAIR : Some weekday peak period (AM and PM) and all weekday mid-day trips are extended from Hurdman Station to Blair Station via the Transitway. The routing is otherwise identical to 96 HURDMAN trips.

• 96 BLAIR VIA TERRY FOX : These are weekday midday trips from Stittsville that serve Terry Fox Station and Katimavik on their way towards downtown, Hurdman Station, and Blair Station.

• D96 HURDMAN VIA 417 : All these trips start at Terry Fox Station. They still serve Bayshore Station and Eagleson Park-N-Ride, but they do not serve Katimavik, using Highway 417 instead. These trips are AM peak only (between 6 am and 9 am Monday to Friday). Some of these trips are extended to Blair Station and are signed D96 BLAIR VIA 417.

• C96 HURDMAN VIA 417 : These are peak period trips to/from Stittsville and the corner of Castlefrank/Hazeldean that bypass Terry Fox Station and Katimavik by taking Highway 417 to Eagleson Park-N-Ride. They are otherwise identical to other 96 trips. Some of these trips are extended to Blair Station and are signed C96 BLAIR VIA 417.

All 96 buses travelling East towards Blair, Hurdman and Downtown serve Queensway Station. As well, during morning peak hours Monday to Friday, some 96 trips start at Lincoln Fields or Bayshore instead of Terry Fox to deal with the removal of express route 59.

Frequencies

Since its initial service frequencies, the service on the 96 has been augmented significantly. During weekdays, the 96 travels every 3–7 minutes during rush hours towards downtown and Hurdman (and sometimes Blair) in the morning (if the special D96 trips are included), and towards Terry Fox and Stittsville in the afternoon. Rush hour service is every 15 minutes to Terry Fox in the morning and to Hurdman (and sometimes Blair) in the afternoon. Midday service in both directions is every 12 minutes between Terry Fox and Blair, and every 24 or 36 minutes to/from Stittsville. Weekdays between 6 pm and 8 pm, Westbound trips are every 9-10 minutes to Terry Fox; Eastbound trips are every 15 minutes from Terry Fox. Between 8 pm and 12:30 am, service is every 15 minutes in both directions between Hurdman and Terry Fox. Service to/from Stittsville is every 30 minutes until around 11:30 pm in both directions.

Saturday service is every 10 minutes through most of the day (between 9 am and 7 pm) between Terry Fox and Hurdman, while Sunday service is generally every 15 minutes in both directions (between 8:30 am and 6 pm). Weekend early morning trips are every 30 minutes. Service to Stittsville is every 30 minutes all weekend, including evenings, until 6:30 pm on Saturdays and 5:30 pm on Sundays. There is Stittsville service terminating at the corner of Abbott and Stittsville Main on both Saturday and Sunday (Saturday until midnight and Sundays until 10 pm) at 30 minute intervals until 9 pm Saturdays and 8 pm Sundays (then service is roughly every hour). Service is only between Terry Fox and Hurdman after this time.

Morning weekday peak-period trips starting at Bayshore and Lincoln Fields were added in 2009 in order to handle extra passengers due to removal of direct-to-downtown routes from the west end in order of improved traffic conditions in the downtown core.

Communities Served

• Jackson Trails (Stittsville)
• Fernbank (Stittsville)
• Katimavik (Kanata)
• Glen Cairn (corner of Castlefrank and Hazeldean)
• Bayshore
• Lincoln Heights
• Westboro
• Mechanicsvlile
• Sandy Hill

Major Attractions/Locations along the route

• Goulburn Recreational Centre (Stittsville)

• Kanata Centrum (located adjacent Terry Fox)

• Hazeldean Mall (service at the corner of Hazeldean and Castlefrank)

• Nortel Networks headquarters (service on Highway 417 off-ramp at Moodie Drive)

• Bayshore Shopping Centre

• Pinecrest Shopping Centre

• Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre

• Deschenes Rapids/Westboro Beach

• Westboro Village

• Tunney's Pasture government complex

• Canadian War Museum (north of Lebreton Station)

• National Library

• Bank Street Promenade

• Sparks Street Mall

• World Exchange Plaza

• Parliament Hill (north of Metcalfe Station)

• Chateau Laurier

• National Arts Centre

• Major's Hill Park

• United States Embassy

• National Gallery of Canada (a short 5 minute walk from Metcalfe Station)

• Rideau Centre/Byward Market

• Rideau Canal & Rideau Canal Locks

• University of Ottawa

See also

• OC Transpo Routes
• Ottawa Rapid Transit
• 96 Stittsville Facbook Group

96 Stittsville Facebook Group: link title