STO Bus service for Connaught Area and vicinity

PETITION

STO Bus service for Connaught Area and vicinity

Whereas:

• The Connaught neighbourhood and nearby residents have enjoyed, up to the end of August, a first quality public transportation service;
• The “Société de Transport de l’Outaouais” (STO) held a public consultation in order to improve the quality of service for the Aylmer sector users and wanted to hear our concerns;
• A few residents of the Connaught neighbourhood attended the public consultation and were strongly worried about the STO changes that is affecting them;
• Representatives of the Connaught and Rivermead neighbourhood have warned the STO last June (by letter, phone and in person) of the problems resulting from the exclusion zone set up around the Rivermead and Hippodrome park-and-ride;
• Buses of the 4X routes continue to pass in front of the Rivermead and Hippodrome park-and-ride, without, however, stopping;
• The 59 bus route, the only bus that now stop in the Connaught neighbourhood and that goes downtown Hull and Ottawa, is most of the time full in the morning by the time it gets to the Rivermead and Hippodrome Park-and-ride, given that it now departure from the Allumettières Park-and-ride;
• The situation is even more frustrating in the evening, as the buses from the 59 route are not on schedule according to the STO user guide, or even worse, the bus reaches its full capacity in Ottawa which impacts the users working in Hull and are not able to board;
• Residents of the Connaught neighbourhood and surroundings often decide to take the 4X bus route and take unnecessary detours and risks by walking on Aylmer Road where there is no sidewalk (off street Honfleur).
• Residents of the Connaught neighbourhood live in the only eco-neighbourhood of the city, but no longer have access to the same public transportation services then residents of other neighbourhood.

We, the undersigned, users of the STO system and residents of the Connaught neighborhood or its surrounding areas, ask the STO officials to:

1. Restore a stopping area served by all lines of the 4X series at the earliest possibility, close earlier than expected the temporary Hippodrome park-and-ride, and move the bus shelter at the corner of the new Hippodrome Avenue to make it our permanent neighborhood stop;
2. Take temporary measures as soon as possible to relieve users living in the Connaught neighbourhood or its surrounding area, by:

• Adding more 59 bus routes during the hours that have proven to be the most problematic (between 7:00am-8:00am towards Ottawa and between 4:00pm-5:30pm towards Allumettières);
• Allowing the 4X buses to stop at the Rivermead and Hippodrome Park-and-ride when the STO controllers report that a 59 bus has not passed or is at its full capacity along the route between Ottawa and Rivermead (instead of expecting an hypothetical addition of another 59 bus who often do not make it on time to address an urgent problem).

CA Association Quatier Connaught    Contact the author of the petition